Memorial Day

Bedouin women selling mulberries
and vine leaves at Damascus Gate

Today is Yom haZikaron ... memorial day of the fallen Israeli soldiers since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Sirens will sound at 10am for a minutes silence and the whole country stops (at least the israeli part of the country).

Tomorrow begins Independence Day celebrations. It's a national holiday and there'll be an air and sea show along the Tel Aviv coastline. Last year it was cancelled because of the Gaza war .... missiles and rockets were fired into Tel Aviv from Gaza. Anyway the arabs will soon celebrate their lost of land on Nakba Day. It's two sides of the same coin. In the end, the fact is everyone wants to live a normal life ... no wars, no fights ... just a co-existance where everyone wins.

Peaches and plums

Life is pretty quiet without Miss Bird. There is no more clucking and whistling or imitating the telephone ring. Buddy is quite nervous being alone now. I have to buy him some toys to distract him and keep him busy otherwise he screams his head off for attention. Yesterday we could hear him 3 floors down, across the courtyard into the street.

Anyway summer is practically upon us. Daytime is hot ... over 28 degrees. But nights are still chilly around 12 degrees. The first summer fruit are on sale: lots of peaches, plums, pears and mulberries. I should eat more fruit.