Pull Out The Candles, Winter With a Bang

We've been waiting a long time for the rain. It's not even a matter of the chronic drought that has plagued the Land of Israel in recent years. Our neighborhood's sidewalks had been been dug up, replaced, recovered for "upgrading" which caused a definite deterioration in the air quality. For half a year, the entire dry season or longer, we've suffered from the resulting sand and dust. It has been so bad, that not only are our houses full of sandy dust, but I couldn't even eat my grapes straight from the vine.

Last night the blessed rains began, and electricity for miles around stopped. Periodically we had a much weaker version; only the new Led lights in the kitchen and the television worked well. Then it was black again, with the exception of the full moon. I lit candles and ended up sleeping in the living room.

This morning, after a couple of tries, bli eyin haraa, not to tempt the "evil eye," we're all lit up again. The flora, bricks, concrete and pavements are starting to shine. And now we'll discover whether or not the new white stone "covering" of the path is dangerously slippery or not.

Although the forecasts had been for daytime rain, we were blessed with a nighttime deluge. I say "blessed," because the first rain is a hazardous time to be on the roads here. The buildup of months of oil and sand combine dangerously with the rain contributing to serious car accidents. At least at night fewer people are on the roads.

Gd willing none of our or anyone else's electric appliances had been damaged/destroyed by the on/off power. As I write this I can see the clouds shrinking and the blue sky emerging. Tree branches are swaying like hyperactive dancers. Do you think I can do some laundry?

Being Prepared for Electricity Problems

I gave up pretty quickly this past week when looking for Shabbat guests. It only took a couple of "negatives" to stop me in my tracks. The weather forecast was for winds, and everyone was told to prepare for "power outages," aka being without electricity. Considering that we only have electric heaters and electricity for cooking, I figured that possible guests wouldn't be very happy if the house and food were cold, plus dark and dingy.

We stocked up on "yartzeit candles" that claimed 48 and 72 hours of light. I lit two in the kitchen where I work and two by the Shabbat candles. And when I lit the Shabbat ones, I lit a lot more than usual, so in case the electricity went out while we were eating, there'd be some light.

This photo was taken after Shabbat before I put out the 48 hour candles

And now to tell you that it was just a regular rainy winter Shabbat, no drama. We had electricity, thank Gd. It was drizzling when I walked out to take a walk, so I just walked back in.  A "lazy Shabbat" is allowed on occasion. I did make it to shul and to my usual shiur, class.

Shavua Tov

Have a Wonderful Week

Preparing for the Cold and Snow

On Tuesday, before the snow, I took a couple of walks. The winds were blowing absolutely awfully strong, so I did need reasons to get out. I went to the local super-grocers, which is larger than a grocery store מכלת makolet, and smaller than a supermarket, especially since there's no green grocer department. I did more shopping than usual there and hope that he, the owner has made lots of money from the weather.

Later in the afternoon I went down the hill again, but this time to the neighbor who hosts a weekly Tihillim, Psalms reading. On the way I spotted busy electric company workers bringing us emergency generators.

This way, by truck on safe dry roads was much better than last year when the snow had destroyed one of the electric control towers and they helicoptered in emergency generators.

At home I finally decided to add some insulation, temporary at least, to the open livingroom, dining-room kitchen set up I have. The once nice wooden door with pretty windows to the merpeset, balcony/terrace leaks heat and lets in freezing cold air and wind. So I pinned an old quilt mattress cover up on it with thumbtacks.

It may not be perfect, but it has improved things. Note the towel rolled up to keep cold air from coming in under the door. Better late than never.

Considering that colder weather is predicted for Friday and Shabbat, I'm not a happy camper, but that's winter, and it is supposed to heat up on Monday.

Doing Dishes by Candlelight

The other night there were some strange electric outages. Strange, because there was no wind, rain, cold or heat to put strain of any sort on the system. It was a warm, spring night. We needed to neither heat nor cool the house. I was tired after a long day of work, Pesach cleaning and shooting pictures at a neighbor's Bat Mitzvah.

The darkness continued minute after minute. I needed to wash the dishes. The sink was overflowing. So I took a candle and set it up by the sink. I really couldn't see much, but since I also wash by feel, even though I do wear gloves when doing the dishes, I just began scrubbing. I figured that if any were still dirty the next day I could just return them to the sink.

So I did the dishes, and in the end they were all clean. The electricity returned. I have no idea what the cause was of the outage.

All that remains to clean up is the candle.