Singing in the Rain

The awareness of the implications of the weather is very strong here. The summers are hot and dry and the winter we hope for rain. Year after year of drought has lead to the water levels to drastically drop in the Kineret, Israel's main source of water. Things have gotten so bad that they have had to redraw the red line indicating that the water level has hit critical levels. Of course there is variations in different regions.

There is a constant awareness of water levels. This summer a cap went in on water usages with a huge penalty for going over the limit. The number of people living in a home had to be reported to the water authority to make sure the cap levels are applied correctly. Channah is well aware that wasting water brings down the water level in the Kineret. Some days (especially in the summer) she will fill up the bath tub half way in order to minimize her water use.

The rainy season started early this year with the first Shofar blast on Rosh Hashanah. We had more rain in October than in any other October since they started keeping records in Israel. Over the last 5 days it has been raining a lot and hopefully it will continue.

With the amount of rain we have been having people are going to find themselves caught in the rain. Getting home wet and cold from a terenchal down pour or having things wet from an open window is unpleasant. Anytime someone has a complaint of discomfort they have due to the weather always includes a disclaimer that they are not saying we shouldn't have the rain. Plus people are generally happy watching the rain fall from the sky. We sure need it. Just another example of the connection of the people to the land.

What a tefillah

Withe the first blasts of the shofar the heaven opened up into huge raindrops. Im yertze Hashem this is a siman that the next year will not be as dry as this one was. At the other end- cohanim got up to do their thing and the whole neighbourhood lost power! What is the world does that symbolize?

All I know is that I think we shuld keep the same baal tokeah- maybe rent him out to other communities...

Oh my freaking gosh!

Holy hell. Was that considered normal for this time of year?

I have gotten used to being woken up by the wind. I have gotten used to laundry left out overnight being on the floor in the morning. I have gotten used to dust coming in through open window.

But bushes being ripped out of the ground? Laundry flying on it's own steam at least out of site (bye bye favourite black dress!). Not being able to go outside for being blasted with sand? Power outages across the entire country.

This is not normal. Is it?

I kept Channah home from gan today because I figured a day at home would not hurt her, but a day out just might!

The Sandstorm

This is the normal (incredible) view from our balcony. Truthfully, this picture is a little foggy. Normally the colours are even more brilliant and jewel toned.



This was our view during the sandstorm. We physically could not find the mountains.