Shachar

Dateline Jerusalem — "Summertime, and the livin' is easy" — the George Gershwin music from "Porgy and Bess" — was the lullaby that I sang to my children and then to my granddaughter to "hush" and soothe them when they were babies.

Dateline Jerusalem — Today the siren went off, and my entire office in Jerusalem had to scramble to "safety" — to the bomb shelter in the building.  Problem was that no one heard the siren but me. I only heard it because I sit by an outer window, which was open, and I knew when the siren was supposed to go off.
 
The shelter turned out to be a "safe" room across the hall. 

Dateline Jerusalem — To describe a supermarket in Israel, one must put emphasis on the "super."

It is sort of a Costco without the need to buy in quantities.

There are always sales. Other than a few items, the prices are comparable to the U.S. or less expensive. They are located inside the mall or in large shopping centers.

Dateline Jerusalem — It is 7 a.m., and I left my home 15 minutes ago. 

My job does not start until 9. 

I am on my way to work via a comfortable, air conditioned "tour" bus with brightly colored corduroy velvet padded seats. 

The trip to Jerusalem in the morning has views of orange groves (Rehovot is the citrus capitol of Israel), grapevines, olive trees, acres of land planted with rows of corn and onions, tomatoes grown above ground in greenhouses, sunflowers, and beautiful flowers the names of which are unknown to me. 

Dateline Jerusalem — As Israel's Independence Day (Yom HaAtzmaut) often is referred to as "BBQ Day," Lag B'Omer is "Bonfire and BBQ Day." 

[Editor’s Note: Due to technical difficulties, “Our Eyes in Israel” did not appear in last Friday’s edition. Ms. Shachar will resume her regular schedule in tomorrow’s edition.]