Chill

 Last week's 2 missile attacks damaged a hotel and wounded 20 people in the streets. The horror of war is never far off. Tragedy and fear is lightly veiled by a sense of normalcy. Christian students in Jerusalem gathered last Monday to pray for peace ... a new school year has started ... that the new school year will not be disrupted by more wars.

6.45am Jerusalem sunrise 

The weather has turned chilly and sunrise/sunset is later. Autumn is upon us. We're in the high Holy Days of Jewish feasts. last week was the New Year. Net week is Yom Kippur and 2 weeks later it's the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles). Given our present situation, It's no surprise that police have stepped up its presence and random street checks occur very frequently. 

My swollen left leg is hurting very much at the ankle for a week now. I limp. Last night I had a fever and was sleepless. It didn't feel good. It's always on my mind that I'm living on borrowed time. I don't have much time left so I'm not wasting it on non-consequential time-wasting things and people. It's about quality time before it runs out. 

Time flies

Sunbird on golden lily

Another week has passed. There were a couple of missile attacks during the week, reminding us that not everything is well or back to normal. We must continue to be alert. And daily life continues to be costly as a result of these tensions. Prices of food are still high, police presence is still visible and not relaxed especially during the weekends and feast days.

Autumn flowers are in bloom. My beautiful golden spider lilies have opened and yesterday a sunbird flew to it for its nectar. There are many butterflies as well. It's good to see that my little garden is supporting the ecological life of our stone and cement neighbourhood.

Goodbye

 After almost 15 years working at our General Library, my time to retire has come. The bypass surgery and the long and painful recuperation process mean that I no longer can continue with this work. So last Wednesday I passed the keys to Bro. Marco who will take over the directorship. He is however not trained for the job, which involves not only maintaining the modern collection of books but also the conservation of the ancient manuscripts, incunabula and ancient books. It also includes liaison with libraries of other Churches and universities around the world and locally. It was hard work but exciting as well. It was wonderful to meet new people, new interesting book facts and finds, and teaching students the basics of research and using the library to write. thesis.

To all the students, researchers, volunteers and visitors to the library, thanks for the memories!

Locking the door one last time

Autumn blooms

 

My roses in bloom

It's mid-September and the year is nearing its end with only 3 months left. Time flies. 

The hottest part of the year is over. Daily temperatures hover between 23 - 30 degrees. The nights are cool and even chilly. A sure-fire way to know summer is almost out and autumn is in is when the bobs begin to sprout. And that's exactly what my freesias are doing ... sprouting its first leaves. And the roses are blooming ... their autumn blooms before they hibernate for winter. a summer pruning was needed to encourage this autumn flush.

Autumn bloom

This morning I was back at Clalit for my usual checkup. I was worried about my swollen left leg and the painful wounds from the vein harvest. Doctor said I had a really major operation and it's only expected my leg to be swollen. It's a sign that my heart is still taking time to get used to the bypasses. It's working in a different way that it was not created for. Only when the foot stops swelling will I know the heart is habitualized and working optimally. 

Meantime the sternum is sore and breathing is difficult. Climbing stairs and slopes   is still difficult. But I must keep moving ... walking on flat terrain as much as I can, to get the heart pumping. It's very tiring for me and I need to rest every 50 meters. It's quite a challenge physically. Perhaps I'm an autumn bloom ... it'll be a late recovery but it'll be fantastic like my rose blooms.

Full moon

Full Moon

 It's been a month since mum died. I'm still trying to get used to it. I miss the daily phone calls when I ask her what she ate and she asks me the same thing. It's something I do to make her exercise her memory. She would ask "where is the colourful bird?" meaning Sunny; and "Where is the white bird?" meaning JJ; and "Where is the rosy cheeks?" meaning Dudu. The 3 birds always see her on the daily phone calls.

With my failing health and lots of changes in daily life here, I decided to return Dudu to her owner. I can't care for 3 birds anymore. Eventually I'll give away my aquarium as well. And maybe even Sunny the colourful conure. I'm also clearing off my collection of books. I'll be giving most of it away to students. I've not much use of it anymore as I realise old age and poor health is restricting much of my activities.

The chest and leg wounds continue to hurt severely. There are days when I only stay in bed because I can't move with pain. The leg suffers from sharp pains and spasms. And breathing has become very difficult as the chest feels tight. Sr. Thankamani who is a nurse and works in our community said it's normal as the sternum heals it pulls on the muscles. I certainly hope so. 

All in all it's not been a good month. Even the full blood moon and eclipse these nights fail to get me out to take photos. The body is just too tired. I'm no longer my former self.