Autumn

Acorns

As the weather cools to 16 degrees at night, and very humid with lots of dew in the early morning, many autumn fruit have ripened and are on sale in the streets. Pomegranates, dates, guava, peaches and dragon fruit. It's very expensive though. I noticed the acorns on oak trees growing as well. There're a couple of oak trees in the park outside Damascus Gate and I enjoy watching them flower in Spring and the acorns ripen in autumn. We don't have squirrels to hoard them ... but there're woodpeckers who do the same job.

I've been forgetting many things .. leaving them here and there and not finding them. I expected this. It's the 2nd week as I wean off prednisone and I know these are the side-effects. And I'm getting muscular spams as well. Right now my neck muscle is sprained and I cannot turn my head. It's such a bother. Now I worry if I will lose my way home. Happened a couple of times before. I'll have to write a note and keep it in my pocket so I can remind myself where I'm going.

Fighter planes were roaring overhead all morning. The war in the north has worsened and many on both sides are dead or wounded. Our annual Franciscan feasts in Nazareth have all been cancelled. Our friars in Galilee tell us of daily missile alerts and explosions. It's tragic.