New Year 1

Rain clouds in the morning

The weather has continued to be dark and damp this morning ... well in a way it should be getting like that but only after the feast of Sukkot, ie after the autumn harvest. The last day of the feast was once (2000 yrs ago) celebrated with the offering of the water libation and the prayer for rain. And after 10 years of drought, we really need the rain. The municipality workers are preparing for it because for the past week they have been clearing out the drains. I certainly hope it'll rain very hard this winter ... never mind if it floods ... we need the rains very much.

Soon kueh and Ku Chai kueh

I sprained my back muscle very badly early this morning ... or rather it was cramping very badly. And it hurt very much. I could not get out of bed or stand. I wonder what happened. I just woke up and the right back muscles spasmed. I cannot reach back to put ointment so I just had to live with it all day. Disaster. It was 4am and I wanted to warm up so Singapore breakfast .. as I have done every Sunday in summer. It's a little consolation for me as I don't get a vacation from work. This morning I managed, with much pain, to steam some Soon kueh and Ku Chai kueh. That's bamboo shoots and garlic chives respectively. It was really very nice ... and a little comfort for the pain in my back.

The jewish New Year begins tonight and we expect alot of blowing of the ram's horn as stipulated in the Bible. The City will stop for 24 hrs and resume daily routine only on Tuesday. Not all tough ... the more religious ones will stay closed as it's days of repentance leading up to Yom Kippur in 10 days time. Apparently there were plans by terrorists to disrupt the feast days but were thwarted by the israeli military.   https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-weve-thwarted-terror-attacks-in-recent-days-meant-to-disrupt-new-year/

And in the south, trouble in Gaza is seen as ongoing though Israel understands the gazans themselves are tired of war and don't want trouble. Nevertheless the army chief expressed support for building a port in Gaza so the livelihood of the gazans would be improved. Now that's humanitarian.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-southern-chief-says-quiet-in-gaza-isnt-in-the-cards-but-a-port-might-be/

And up in the north the army is in active drill in case of a war with Lebanon. It's pretty unlikely but flexing the muscles once in a while reminds the enemies what potential resistance they will face.   https://www.janglo.net/index.php?option=com_adsmanager&page=display&catid=99&tid=452905

Frankly despite all these posturing, no one is serious a war will break out. No one wants one.