blog, israeli politics, my life in tel aviv,

Since almost everything opened yesterday, I have been scared to leave the house.  It seems like a no-brainer that everyone mixing together is going to create a wave – one like we have experienced numerous times in the past year.  

and tomorrow we’re going on the Israel Trail – mostly along the polluted beach.  I’m still recovering from our last visit to the beach.  It was just the beginning of the oil spill and the tar along the coast.  We don’t seem to be talking about the identity of the ship that perpetrated the crime because we are trying to make peace with our neighbors, but we’re really in trouble because we’re not containing the spill.  We’re just mopping up.  What’s more important? Turtles or peace?

 

february 22, 2021 – which masks for purim? Read Post »

blog, my life in tel aviv,

Instead of going out to nature today we wound up cleaning up the tar from our shoes from our walk a couple of days ago.  Even though Ezi took the cleaning outside, the whole house smells of kerosene.  And the situation has gotten worse 

The whole coast from the northern border down to Ashkelon is full of tar.  Friends who are more active than we feel today have gone to the shore to help clean up, and some even volunteer to spot creatures wounded by the tar – turtle eggs for example.  The cause of the tar is probably dumping some ship from the north, but whatever it is, it is deadly to the plant, fish, amphibian and animal life here.  We’re under siege.

later: it seems that this tar comes from a ship that got flipped in the storm.  That may mean the leak will go on for a while causing even more damage to the environment, and apparently, to the health of those who are trying to clean it up. 

february 20, 2021 – tar Read Post »

blog, my life in tel aviv, ,

yes, the sea was still wild after the storm.  not evilly wild, maybe even joyfully wild.  But we made the mistake of trying to walk along the shore and after filling our soles with tar and soot, it chased us away.

 

 

Even the buoy couldn’t stand up to the storm.  

 

And the poor trees along the shore suffered as well.

i keep thinking of the poem by Adelaide Crapsey: “On Seeing Weather-beaten Trees”

Is it as plain in our living shown, 

by slant and twist, which way the wind has blown

 

 

and the city, as always, endures

february 18, 2021 – by the sea Read Post »