Karen Alkalay-Gut
November 11, 2018
this staying at home most of the time is getting to me - i don't accomplish any more this way because i get visitors all the time and even if i didn't there is so much going on in my neighborhood there's no time to work. and i can't write about my neighbors because that would be gossiping, but i'm pretty sure none of my neighbors would ever read these pages.
There's also the news that one could write about. but it's all treading water. Gaza nibbles away at our fields and our lives, our politicians remain certain that they are right, and nothing can be proven. Accusations of graft, bribery, prevarication, even though they surround the prime minister. don't manage to stick to him. ceasefires, peace talks, etc, remain beyond our reach. but that's a grumpy convalescent talking.
November 12, 2018
whatever made me write about treading water? hundreds of rockets are falling on Israel and citizens are being injured as I write. This is the result of an incident something like the television series, "Fauda", in which a targeted operation goes awry and chaos breaks loose. Hamas knows we don't want to intensify the battle, and warned us not to react to their hundreds of rockets, but we have no choice. So we're on our way to a big altercation.
the thing is they know how we are going to react, we know they know how we are going to react, and they know we know. so they are planning for this.
for some reason i feel like sleeping in my clothes tonight.
November 13, 2018
Ezi wakes us up at 5:45 to get ready for the hike he will take without me today. he goes through the motions easily, mechanically. he will not be going to any place that might be a target, he says. me, i am not so sure. my old apartment is not secured and i usually run to the shelter downstairs. last time i grabbed two grandchildren and carried them the two flights down and it took me months to straighten out my back. Not that I think today Tel Aviv will be bombed. but i always think that tel aviv will be bombed and while i admire the towers that are being built, i often look at them as dangerous.
So Liberman once announced that Haneya will be dead in forty eight hours, and now it is Haneya calling the shots. we have a cease fire - we made a deal with Hamas and they are rejoicing. we, on the other hand, are casting blame all over the place. that's what we do -
November 14, 2018
Liberman quit. In some ways the fact that the minister of defence who has failed so miserably in the past couple years has quit comforts me, in other ways I am sure that all his decisions have been overridden and that will continue no matter who takes over that position. what we need is elections, but who has stength for it? the fact that the government has methodically given positions to those skilled in other tasks and totally unsuitable for the job they're given in order for them to fail and be a foil to the PM.,.. you've heard this all before, probably from me as well.
After a little break I have returned to check my shoes at Apos. I have been doing this for 9 years and remain amazed at the improvement i've found with my knees and back. this means I am almost a decade younger than i look.
November 15, 2018
As I lay in bed recovering from what in retrospect wasn't such a hard day, I begin to think of what my grandchildren are doing tonight. Let's see: one is the country's champion in gymnastics for her age, one is on the glam jiu jitsu team, one is... No wonder i'm tired. But the emphasis on sports in recent years is truly impressive. all the 'runs' in Tel Aviv, the (partial) bicycle paths, the sports clubs, etc. they all indicate a definite interest in health and fitness. And of course all this health and fitness - to my mind - encourages a narcissism, a concentration on one's body that is the opposite of social community. of course the older people, like me, try to combine their movement with groups, joining teams, hiking, etc. it's interesting how the spirit of a country evolves.
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