 |
| Anyone have a snorkel mask? My street after the storm. |
wind and rain. In fact, it always starts with wind and rain.
Every winter, there is wind, rain, often followed by afierce storm. Frozen golf balls drop from the sky, the wind whips off branches
and the water level rises. What was minutes ago a soft sunny day soon looks like
devastation. Sewers overflow. Streets are flooded. The power goes out. Trees
fall onto cars and poles fall onto streets.
sit in traffic. Cars sit in the middle of intersections. Drivers sit on their
horns.
why does the power go out for hours and hours everywhere? Why does my cell
phone network not work for an entire day? Why must I lose my lifeline to Waze, and
be shoved into a traffic nightmare? (If Waze had worked, it may have warned me
that it would take three hours to go five kilometers and I would have nestled
up with my daughter and some cookie batter.) And, why are there never policemen
to guide traffic through gnarled intersections?
So if this happens whenever there is a storm, why then did I
get behind the wheel? Did I really have
to drive my daughter to school? She could have stayed home and baked cookies. Unlike thousands of Israelis sitting in the dark, we
actually had electricity this time.
But I did get behind the wheel and was inspired when I saw
one traffic light working. I carried on, edging on into what soon became an
asphalt can of crushed sardines.
trucks merged into cars, and three lanes merged into two and sedans morphed
into ATVs, trying to navigate side walks and building sites.
too late to turn back. I put the car into park and sat. My philosophical
daughter sat and read to me how Siddhartha, later known as the Buddha, found
tranquility in chaos. I inched along, and as she read about Siddhartha sitting
under the Bodhi tree, drivers sat on their horns.
solve?” I asked, interrupting her enlightenment.
said wisely, reading about on about the path to tranquility.
part of Kfar Saba, plunging frustrated horn honking Israelis into intersections
that soon became parking lots.
found myself in yet another p’kuk (traffic jam), I told my daughter that this was enough and we
were abandoning ship. I parked the car at the side of the road and decided to walk
the rest of the way to her school in the pouring rain. My daughter, now in a
blissful state of serenity, happily followed as we tried to navigate past
fallen trees that blocked the sidewalk.
We have returned to the Dark Ages.”
shoes and decided to run home. Anything is better than driving, I reasoned. The
car could wait for another day.
cars. As the rain pummeled my face and I scraped by fallen trees, I felt
liberated as I was actually moving faster than everyone else. I breathed deeply and enjoyed the process of
eliminating my pent up frustration and finding my own path to tranquility.
a their own way to a bodhi tree.
abandoned car. The streetlights were still out along the roads and the traffic lights
stared blankly at me. At least there was no traffic, but soon enough, commuters
would be honking and enraged.
 |
| Take me to my Bodhi tree… |
There are still 50,000 homes and businesses without
electricity. Half of our street has been without power for 36 hours so far.
Apparently it is mostly due to a dispute between the government and the Israel Electrical Company. No doubts. This is the Middle East.
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