[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img] Dateline Jerusalem — Thunder and lightning. Wind-blown downpouring rain. Unusual weather for this time of year in Israel when the skies are normally pools of powder blue brightened by the golden heat of the sun. Springtime. And although the temperature is warm and my windows are open to the fresh air and sweet smelling colorful blossoms surrounding my apartment building, the rain continues to fall. Much needed sustenance for the parched dry land I call home.
Just yesterday a friend and I met in the middle of the street as the sun beat down upon us as we spoke. Shading our eyes from the glare, she suggested we cross the street to stand in the shade. It was so sunny and hot. Along the way I met another friend who mentioned her trip to the beach earlier in the week. The Mediterranean Sea, with its clear blue, aquamarine and turquoise waters lapping up the white powdery sands of Israel's western border, reminds me of the sparkling waters of the Caribbean. Its waters are so clear you can see the fish as they swim by. Definitely not like the dark, murky waters of the Pacific Ocean abutting California's coastline.
Although only 2 percent of Israel is water, and much of the country is arid desert, the country is known to have the greatest number of plants in the Mediterranean Basin. Because rain is scarce and there has been a major drought over the last several years, Israeli families are on water rationing while seawater desalinization plants are working fulltime and drip-irrigation sustains agriculture. Also, because Israel basks in the hot Mediterranean sun most of the year, almost every household in the country has solar water heaters.
Today's rain is a blessing since the drinking supply of the country is at a dangerously low level. The weather is pleasant except for the occasional gusts of wind spraying the rain throughout the area. Since I am currently unemployed, I leisurely sit snuggled on my sofa reading a good book while I glance out my shuttered screen-less windows, listening to the raindrops as they fall, not having to worry about wading through the rivers of muddy rainwater on the flooded streets of my town as I once did trying to get to work.
L'hitraot. Shachar