Of palms and Daylight Saving

My palm

Jerusalem is today official on the red alert for terrorism. Palm Sunday is in 2 days time and literally thousands of pilgrims have poured into the Old City. On Good Friday, the jews will celebrate Passover so it gets even more crowded. On our Easter Sunday the Orthodox churches celebrate Palm Sunday while the jewish Passover enters the 2nd day. Fear of terrorists attacking during these very crowded feast days are very real and everyone must be careful.   https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5188385,00.html

I bought a palm for Palm Sunday. The old vendor who comes once a year to weave these palms and sell them in the street, I saw him seating at the corner near the Holy Sepulchre. He had woven several already so I bought one from him. It costs 30 shekels. I then went to M. Teresa's convent for adoration and confession but the sisters there hinted that they wanted one so i gave it to them. This morning I passed by the street again and the vendor was still there. He had woven even more ... and the loose leaves he made into crosses. I bought another one and he gave me a cross as a gift. I stuck the cross on my door but the palm remains on my altar till Sunday.

A first ... an airline has actually flown into Israel over Saudi Arabia. Since the foundation of the State of Israel, all flights to and from Israel are banned over muslim and arabic airspace. But this thawing of relationship between Israel and Saudi has seen this first ever flight route which cuts flight hours by 3 hours.   https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-world-first-air-india-crosses-saudi-airspace-to-israel/

Bread and cakes

Taking about time ... we switched to Daylight Saving last midnight. But many of us forgot. My computers had automatically switched I thought it was a mistake ... I thought Daylight Saving will start tonight midnight. Luckily I went down to the bakery to buy bread and saw the other guys already going down to the chapel for Mass. Well there were others who slept through and still others who came late for work and school.

Now we'll have to get used to this new timetable for a couple of days till the body gets used to it. Meantime it's Friday in Lent ... which means lentil soup. I've avoided eating all Fridays in Lent but today I decided to do real penance and ate a bowl of lentil soup. I utterly dislike it. Luckily the sisters of M. Teresa baked some bread and cakes and gave them to me ... with a jar of blueberry jam. So I'll eat that for evening to break the fast.