Cool weather at last

Flowering pigface

It's the weekend again ... the last day of Ramadan. It should be very noisy and crowded ... but it isn't. Police are everywhere and though not official, there's an air of a curfew. The borders have been closed with Palestine so arabs with permits to work in Israel cannot come. 3 days of practical lockdown again. I wonder if our streets around our house will be blocked. Next week it'll be the jewish feast of Pentecost or Shavuot and I think there'll be another lockdown/curfew again.

One good news is the Holy Sepulchre will reopen tomorrow. Social distancing is obligatory and a limit of 50 persons may enter at any one time. I've started celebrating Mass for the armenian catholics since last Sunday. The parish priest in Amman called to reopen the church and Sunday Mass be resumed. But of course all the rules must be observed as well.

To compensate for the closure and lockdown during the last days of Ramadan and the feast of Eid el Fitri, Israel is organising a drone display every night for 4 nights in various arab locations around Jerusalem. I hope to catch a glimpse of it tonight from our terrace.  https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/drone-light-show-to-feature-in-east-jerusalem-for-end-of-ramadan-628687?fbclid=IwAR1MkRwxZRhNZuFYZsUpgxzTb19-J1YAQlTFYMLNImLRcEm8ZUEHDfj6Xzo

Falcon in the sky

The heatwave seems to be over. Cacti and pig face love that heat and they've flowered profusely. Last night there was a cool breeze and the temp went down to 26 degrees. And today even with the bright sun shining, the cool wind is still blowing and it feels very comfortable. That of course will encourage people to come out and celebrate Eid el Fitri which starts tonight. Hence the curfew. The cool weather saw flocks of swallows crisscrossing the sky catching insects. And I had a surprise yesterday evening when I saw a cast of falcons ... between 6 to 8 ... chasing the swallows. It's a rare sight ... so many falcons at the same time in the same place. Let's hope the weather stays like that till August ... favourable to flora and fauna alike.