What's That White Stuff? And Why Is It So Cold?!

28 December 2006. Har Gilo.
“Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In J'lem, snow is glistening…”
"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. And even though I have a hundred places to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...”.
“…Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling ‘’ahlo! Ma hamatzav?’”
If you have seen any news blips on your TV lately saying something about snow in Jerusalem, they’re not kidding. Tuesday night, the wind began howling, the rain falling, and a HUGE thunderstorm kept me in that frustrating place between a really good sleep and being wide awake. On Wednesday morning, I forced myself up, out into the blistering cold and onto the bus to ulpan, all the time thinking, “I should have stayed in bed today”. (On a side note, I am really glad that I got up. This guy I really like was riding the bus to work in the morning and took me out for coffee before we went our separate ways. Of course, had I known I was going to see him, I would have put some makeup on or something…oh well) I made it to ulpan and afterward, already soaked from the ten minute walk to the bus stop, got on the first bus home. Baruch Hashem (thank god!) I got home when I did. Around 2pm, it began snowing and hadn’t stopped when I went to bed around midnight. Here are the pictures. The sequence goes: yesterday afternoon, when I thought I should take a picture, not sure if the snow would stick around or not, last night, when I truly felt as though I were ‘walking in a winter wonderland’, and this morning – wow!









As you can see, the skies are clear and sunny this morning, although that cold, biting wind has come back. Somebody said (I think it was FOG, oops! Fox news) that Jerusalem gets heavy snow only once every seven years. The forecasters are predicting a likely return of the snow tonight, but we’ll see. As long as it’s gone by Sunday morning, I’m happy. Today, I’m just hanging out at home. I don’t even want to hassle with trying to get off this mountain today. Tomorrow my good friend Levi (aka Travis Fink, for those of you who know), who just began his army training/service last week, is coming for Shabbat. Yay!! I’m so excited to see him in his green uniform, although I know he’s just going to sleep the whole time (new soldiers are infamously sleep-deprived here), but that’s okay with me.