The sun kind of fell into the sea today around six-thirty.  It was hard for me to tell the exact time because I was very busy with my first beer and almost missed it.  And I didn’t even take a picture of the first autumn moon.  It was a little weird anyway, some pieces of the circle hidden by clouds and making it look like someone was taking little bites out of the sides.  It was even a bit chilly, for the first time since we started coming here regularly this summer, and I realized all over again that the whole ritual of sitting in the sukkah is kind of our last chance to mark this unique change of seasons.  

There was a man at the beach with a lulav and etrog, and Ezi refused his request to bless them.  “I’ve had enough of blessings, of having them forced on me,” he said, speaking for so many liberal Israelis.   But I felt blessed all the same.