life in Israel now

 You already know that I hate everything about this war. Trump and Hegseth are such liars and so unconcerned about the loss of human life. I was relieved to hear from my friend Joseph Zitt who now lives in Israel He is a great writer and a very special human being.

Sunday, March 1, 12:11 AM

Update: I'm back upstairs in my apartment after yet another alarm, some sixteen hours later. We've had about twenty. I lost count when, somewhere around number seventeen, we had several in such close succession that I wasn't sure whether to count them as one or more.

The next to last one had the biggest booms that I've heard during the wars so far. A building in Tel Aviv took a direct hit. Media are showing an utterly destroyed building burning. Of course, they aren't saying exactly where it was.

I headed down the stairs to the shelter from my third-floor apartment the first few times, until my knees informed me that they weren't in a mood to do that again. I've been taking the elevator since then.

People in the shelters are tired, but in a generally upbeat mood. We've all been through this before, enough times that we can get down there quickly.

The shelter also serves the neighborhood. There are several new dogs coming in with their families. Each growls when others enter. One young girl repeatedly swings a sort of mermaid Barbie doll around by its hair, lets it fly in an unpredictable direction, then crawls across the floor to retrieve it. Her brother slithers between the legs of chairs as if going through a tunnel.

We've been ordered to stay in the shelters each time until we hear the All Clear announcements. Those rarely happen. People gradually wander out. Most, but not all, of the time, we have time to get back to our apartments before the next alarm sounds.

It's just past midnight now. I hope to get some sleep tonight, but I'll be ready to head downstairs again if needed.

—

Monday, March 2, 12:01 AM

The sirens continue, just about once every two hours, between 8 PM and 2 PM. Residents and neighbors tromp down to the shelter each time. While, in theory, anyone can sit anywhere, people keep landing in the same seats. I choose a white chair directly across from the entrance.

At around 11 PM, I hear the biggest booms ever. Later, I hear that an apartment block in Tel Aviv was hit.

letter from Israel

 I worked with Joseph Zitt back in my Big Box Borders days. He moved to Israel in 2017 and is a wonderful writer who finds humor in the little things even during the war. Let me know if you want to subscribe to his daily newsletter. All are welcome. From yesterday, a snippet:

Buying locally has always been important here. The country, being quite small, is heavily dependent on importing. Fortunately, shipping by sea seems still to be happening. Some companies have redirected routes from a port close to the fighting to one further away. That port is actually owned by a company from India. Nobody wants to mess with them.

There's a national event every year for shopping locally online. It is theoretically happening yesterday and today. I have gone to the site but, even running it through Google Translate, I can't figure out how it works or even if it's happening at all. It never has worked for me. I must need some sort of secret handshake that locals don't realize that other people don't know.

The supermarket is less crowded than on most Thursdays. People are shopping less, and many stocked up on food at the start of the war. More information keeps coming in about the effect of the war on the economy, due to work absences and hesitancy to buy things.

Manny is home safe

 Here is his email, and yes, Heidi and I will join the candlelight vigil.

Hi Mary Ann, I am back in San Francisco.  As the United States began to evacuate its citizens from Israel I was able to jump on one of the few commercial flights leaving the country. I felt so much love from this community while I was there. Thank you.   Everything is changing there but here everything seems to be just as I had left it.  I walked into my apartment and immediately felt an emptiness that I can't quite shake. When I was in Israel I did not allow myself to listen to the stories of the people who were murdered in the terrorist attack committed by Hamas on Saturday.  But now that I am back, I have. And my heart continues to sink.  There is now a war and so with war many more lives have been and will be lost. I have family that's been deployed and we know that thousands of innocent Palestinians have already died in the ensuing conflict. It is sadness all around.  As can be expected in a time of tragedy the discourse has already become so toxic, so filled with finger pointing, name calling, and anger. Throughout all of this I want to make sure we are remembering and centering the people who have been caught in this conflict and are no longer here on this earth as a result.  So that's why Manny's is organizing a candle light vigil this Thursday at 7 PM where we will acknowledge and remember the innocent Israelis and Palestinians who've died in the last week. I hope that no matter where you stand on this issue you find time to come by and pay respects to the folks who are gone.  See you soon.  -Manny

showing our colors

 San Francisco City Hall is right here along with the Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building as we all support Ukraine during Putin's attempt to take over that country. The news is so very upsetting and I try to unglue myself from the TV, but that isn't easy. So proud of the brave Russians taking to the streets over there to demonstrate against the war. Stay strong citizens of Ukraine.