Yesterday I shared with you a bit of excitement in our neck of the woods. The terrorist attack in our local mall, the rocket and drone attack from Hizbulla. There were rumors flying around my What’s App groups and thankfully all proved to be false. The morning and early afternoon started off with a bang, but was over as quickly as it blew up.

I’m not sure if Israelis are just super resilient. Perhaps they have learned to live with all that goes on here. Perhaps the people have things to do and are just getting on with living their lives. I guess we all just stay calm and carry on. It’s as if the frame of what is normal just keeps moving over bit by bit and one grows accustomed to constant drama.

By early evening, just about an hour before sunset, when the temperature begins to drop just a little (it’s so hot here!!!) and the breeze picks up, the parade starts. It’s a “thing” here to go outside a take an evening walk. For exercise. To walk the dog/s. For socialization. It seems the entire country empties out and walks the streets and promenades. The children go out to play football (soccer) and basketball. The playgrounds are filled with laughing toddlers and groups of pre-teen girls huddle together. It’s actually very wholesome.

After the craziness of the day, I was still surprised when we went out to take our dog for a walk. The weekly yoga class was happening on the patio the reform synagogue. Pilates group was meeting in the park. There were a few vigorous ping pong games going and no one seemed concerned about anything at all.

So far, today, things are quiet. People were shopping for their Shabbat meal ingredients. Buying flowers. Bustling around the town. No jets strafing the sky. There’s rumors of an imminent hostage release/ceasefire deal with Hamas, but we’ve gone through that before. This time, it’s supposed to be very very close to being accepted by both parties.

Anglo and Israeli alike know that the Biden admin has been putting tremendous pressure on both parties. If they can claim a MidEast peace deal and all is great again, they feel they can win the upcoming election. A lot is at stake for Joe &Co.

In the meantime, I am busy preparing for the Sabbath. The house is cleaned and the salmon is marinating. I made a cold blueberry soup (fresh cold fruit soups are very popular here during the summer) which will be topped with fresh cream. Tomorrow we shall have a light chicken salad with fresh cherries. I’m still working on the side dishes and trying to figure out what I can do for dessert. I pray for a very uneventful weekend for all of us around the world – and that the captives in Gaza will be set free or rescued.

Shabbat shalom.