Desert storm and other plagues

Jerusalem in a desert storm

There was a terrible hamsin blowing yesterday. The sky was yellow and overshadowed with the fine desert sand that blew from the south. The atmosphere was stuffy and everyone was coughing. Bad weather for asthmatics. Still I had to go to work ... it was dreadful to walk out in the open. The hamsin (meaning 50 in hebrew and arabic, and Pentecost in greek) is an expected feature during this period between Easter and Pentecost. It's exactly 50 days between these 2 feasts.

Moth in my garden

Well the hamsin is blowing a whole host of weird things into the City. First we had locusts 3 weeks ago ... a whole plague-full. Then at the beginning of the week there were thousands of big black beetles. Harmless but they were awfully big. Then a few days later we had moths by the swarms. I found them in our courtyard and garden. They were not very big but I didn't fancy walking and squashing them underfoot ... making a mess. And they're innocent insects. Tried to leave them among the shrubs and trees.

Today is the last Friday before Ramadan begins. Muslims come by the thousands to pray at the Al Aqsa mosque and feast before the fasting begins on Monday. They fast from sunrise to sunset but after that they feast all night. It's been reported that muslims eat more during Ramadan than normal times. 

2 days after Ramadan's start, the State of Israel will commemorate the fallen soldiers of Israel. It's a very sombre day with no entertainment or mass media on a festive mood. Then as it ends at sunset another feast begins ... Independence Day. That's very festive and there'll be the annual flypass of Israel's latest aircrafts. I love it. Usually I go to our house at Jaffa to watch it life. The aircraft use our church as a landmark. They fly directly overhead ....very low as well. But this year I'll be in Jerusalem. With all these arab and Israeli celebrations taking place within a week, security will be crazy and borders will be closed and police blocks will be up every few meters. Now that's the real plaque.