Too cold

Frozen pigeon

 Snow fell on Wednesday-Thursday midnight. It was slight and never settled. The snow melted immediately as it touched the ground. But northern Israel and Palestine saw several centimeters of snow. Mt. Hermon which is the highest spot in the country is blanketed with snow and roads leading to it are closed. 

Sub-zero degree temperatures have continued every night. It's so cold, birds are frozen to death. We found a dead pigeon in our courtyard. They usually hide in our awnings during storms, but this time the cold snap is too prolonged for even the hardiest birds. Buddy and JJ are lucky they have a warm room to live in.

Mind you, the severe cold weather has led to a stop in violence and clashes and attacks. It's always like this ... when it's too hot or too cold, nobody comes out to cause trouble. Mother Nature has a way to control human behaviour. The streets are much less crowded than normal as people avoid going out despite the sunny weather. The rains have sotpped. But next Monday it'll be back with a vengeance. We see the forecast as heavy showers and temp drops again.

Empty streets in the cold

Infections have reached an all time high, and gladly the cold is preventing people from gathering so hopefully there'll be a drop in infection rates soon.

Yesterday I had a bout of loss of memory. I had to go to the pharmacy but halfway there I forgot why I came out or where I was. Luckily a student was with me. We sat for a while and he slowly explained why and where I was going. Then we continued on our way. Maybe it's fatigue. Maybe it's the cold. Things no longer are the same for me. I must be more careful now. I'm deteriorating.