Snow in Jerusalem

NED missed her hasa’a (van to school) this morning.

I had plans to work on my new mom’s group booklet today. But instead I drove NED into Jerusalem so she wouldn’t miss another day of school.

I called my childhood friend, J.E., who made aliyah with her family 6 years ago to see if she wanted to meet for breakfast.
I left the house at 9AM and we agreed to meet at 10:15 in Givat Shaul.

As I left Chashmonaim, the weather turned from bad to worse. It went from hard rain to pelting sleet. It’s been a long time since I drove in weather like this. Without snow tires on, I felt myself skidding through every puddle. The drive to Jerusalem is like driving on a roller coaster. You go up and down hills and around sharp turns. At times we were literally driving through rain clouds. I couldn’t see anything in front or behind me because of the fog and the rain was beating down on my windshield. I must admit it was a little scary.

As we passed through the security checkpoint, I felt so much hakarat hatov (appreciation and thankfulness) for the soldiers who had to stand out in that horrible weather for my safety. I made a mental note to buy them some bakery goods as a thank you on the way home (of course I completely forgot, getting absorbed in my own life again. Next time…)

Then it just started snowing. Big white snowflakes. The ground was too wet and not cold enough for any of it to stick (or “catch” as NED kept calling it.) it was exciting. I was excited for NED that she got to see snow. She wanted me to pull over on the highway so that she could stand in it. And I should have because by the time we got to her school, the snow had stopped.

But I tell you. People panicked. People thought schooled would be closed. Groceries were jammed. For all of 15 minutes, Jerusalem was in a snowstorm and then it ended. Disappointing to the children, I’m sure.

The snow stopped but the rain kept falling. Non-stop.

Enjoyed my breakfast with J.E. Am so thankful to have friends like her here. We are in similar places in our lives. Different but yet the same.

So my basement is still leaking. There has been so much rain (Thank G-d!!!!) that the walls have started to crack and water is leaking through the cracks in the walls. I feel so bad for the landlord. He’s never going to be able to sell this house! The basement becomes a swimming pool. How is he ever going to fix that?

Not my problem, I guess!

I’m rambling boringly.

Tomorrow I’m off to the hospital to visit my cousin.

I hope yours is a happy day!