Let It Snow

it is 3:00 p.m. in the holy city of zefat. we have been on snow alert since last wednesday. it has snowed on and off for days. the schools were closed and it was too nasty to be outdoors. the snow never really stuck for long. we had huge cracks of lightning and thunder that were quite unpleasant. there waasn't any sun and so the kids didn't get to play in any of the snow. my hugest worry was that the power would go out. after a couple of days of trying to get a gas balloon, i finally succeded before shabbat. we found an independent salesman. i did all of my cooking for shabbat on wednesday. i baked cranberry muffins and a lemon cake. i made rounds of oatmeal. i spent the entire day cooking meals for the week. we ate well on shabbat. i prepared candles in strategic places all over the house. as it turns out we didn't need them. i think i made 3 runs to the supermarket between sunday and monday to buy bread, milk, veggies and lots of nash and chocolate. i imagined being stuck in the cold without hot food and drink, so i kept my gas on. as it turned out, we didn't need to. it was reported to be colder than -5 celcius. i can't ever remember such cold. i had 3 heaters going to keep us comfortable. we still were all in multi layers of clothing. you would not expect such weather in the middle east. in jerusalem people bought out shovels, oil heaters, and generators. after last year's storm, nobody wanted to be unprepared. i think we all kind of panicked. the kids, little and big, were all going stir crazy, and everyone was uptight being home. i'm used to being a shut in. on saturday all of the water boiler caps exploded. most people were left without any water. i have a turn off valve in my house so we were only left witout hot water until this morning. i think we spent way too much time together as a family, camped in front of my new heater, for hours at a time on shabbat. i ran to the electric apppiance store on wednesday to buy another heater. it was pouring outside. the large supermarket was having a grand opening and they were literally, giving away things. i was under pressure to get home to pick up the kids so i couldn't really buy anything. i am glad the 'storm' is over. we are being told that we may be in for another round of snow. it is absolutely freezing outside. i have no desire to go anywhere. i do have two hospital visits next week. last sunday there was zero visibility on the roads in zefat. it was hair raising until we got to rosh pina, a nearby town. i got to tel aviv at 4:30 a.m. i was finished at 6:00 a.m. and headed by bus to the train station. i enjoyed a fast ride back. i couldn't rest when i got home. the reported storm was freaking me out. i did what i could and bought a ton of candles, 2 gas balloons, and tons of food. the rest is up to the above. let it snow.