Rain

Rain at sunrise today

It's raining as forecast!!! Well in Jerusalem it's more like a heavy drizzle. Rains have not come for the past 10 years. But last night the sky was orange and the wind was quite strong. I could smell the dampness in the air ... the pungent smell of wet walls ... something we have not experienced for many years. It was so exciting. Buddy was also very excited. It was something new for him. He kept flying around the room all night. During the night the temp. fell to below 10 degrees. Buddy came to hide under the blanket to stay warm. My one small radiator is not enough to keep the room warm so today I hope to buy another one.

Catholic Scouts' christmas shop

This morning the drizzle continued and the air was clean from dust and the ground was cool. After 10 years of drought, this is so refreshing and happy. I was so excited I think I went out into the courtyard 4 times to be under the drizzle. The dry hard ground was softened by the constant drizzle. Within 48 hours many wild grasses and flowers will sprout. The Mt. of Olives will be green again. I think the northern parts of Israel is having heavier rain than us. Maybe the Sea of Galilee will have its water level rise again to above the red mark.

Tensions at our northern border are escalating as Lebanon today called for its troops to be on the alert for war with Israel. This dreadful conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran is pulling everyone in the region to become pawns and proxies. Why can't they fight their own wars and leave us little countries alone? Yemen is on the brink of starvation, Syria is almost totally demolished, Iraq is equally collapsing, Lebanon is in chaos. http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Lebanon-army-chief-asks-troops-for-readiness-at-Israel-border-514782

As part of security, Israel is now employing cheap drones with cameras to survey sites instead of sending out scouts. https://www.timesofisrael.com/low-tech-drones-give-every-idf-commander-an-eye-in-the-sky/

Hopefully this cheap hi-tech will be able to help the financial situation of the military. The Defense Ministry today has declared that the present budget (US$16 billion) is no longer able to finance the security needs of Israel. It's demanding millions more. I'm just thinking of how many poor people we can feed and house with that money.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.823958