Last week of January

Dewdrops on the table

 Still freezing cold today. Highest temp at daytime was 7 degrees. Large dewdrops have accumulated over our terrace table. The wind is back blowing chills though not as forceful as the last few days. And the weekend is upon us. I would have finished my weekly homework if not for a request to correct an article. It was ghastly ... first I had to understand what it was all about, deciphering the italianised english ... then rewriting entire paragraphs to make it coherent. It took me 5 hours to complete 15 pages. By 12pm I was mentally and physically exhausted. I just couldn't get around writing my own 2 pages of homework after that.

Fresh veggies

One good thing about this cold ... the vegetables are growing very well. A walk through the streets of East Jerusalem will testify to the luscious winter crop. Tomorrow I should be out of my self-isolation and though it's still lockdown, I can go out to buy medicine and food. 14 days of isolation has depleted my food stock. I might also buy some of the vegetables. A bit of fresh food is better than all the canned and dehydrated food I've been eating for the past 2 weeks.

Instead I cleaned the room and the birdcage and prepared the laundry which I usually do on Sundays. `then I had a long chat with the family. One of my nieces was married and I was up at 3am to watch the live stream. It was very lovely and exciting. We talked about who will be married next and about the next generation. We're growing old. A fact that time cannot reverse. January will end this week ... see how time flies?

There was an earthquake several days ago near Cyprus. Shocks were felt here in Israel. A constant reminder that we're overdue for a massive one. The last one was in 1927 and it destroyed many churches and even more houses. Every 70-80 years Israel suffers a deadly quake and newspapers are constantly telling us to be ready for the next one.