Thursday, July 10, 2014

Second Siren To The East...

...and keep praying until morning.

This morning I called DD's swimming teacher to see if her lesson was still on. It was. We went to the pool, they had the lesson and then, as usual, DD and her friends play in the pool for about another hour. They were in the large children's pool, about 80cm deep and with a life guard on duty. The parents sit round the edge on deck chairs, chatting and keeping an eye on their kids.

It's noisy with about 40 kids in the pool, 40 more in the main pool (olympic size doncha know), and another 20 kids in the enormous paddling pool for toddlers just beyond the children's pool. And I'm chatting to my friend.

Suddenly I see a surge of mothers heading toward the pool with stricken looks on their faces. I didn't hear the siren (I need to get the phone app asap) but I knew straight away what it was. I too jumped up and surged toward the pool, grabbed DD and ran for the shelter.

We didn't actually make it to the shelter as there were too many people filling the underground(ish) corridors leading to the changing rooms. It felt safe enough there so there we stayed for the obligatory 10 minutes. However people were already saying they'd heard the boom and seen the smoke.

When we returned outside I saw the smoke lingering above South Jerusalem where Iron Dome had intercepted and blown up Qassam Rocket. (It's only a matter of time before the new superhero movie and merchandise hit the cinemas.)

100 disgruntled kids left the pool early with 50 shell shocked mums. We stopped for hot dogs on the way home to compensate. And we got home just in time for the moonlight movie (if there is an air-raid the shelters are here, here and here). This week it was Shrek Forever. We almost had to leave in the middle as DD was too scared of the dragon.

13 comments:

  1. BTW pikud haoref asks people not to run to shelters but to walk fast. Most of the injuries so far have been from people having accidents whilst running for shelter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a figure of speech. No one ran, we all moved with some urgency.

      Delete
  2. I just love your attitude in all this, Rachel. Sending you metaphorical healthy chocolate truffles. They exist...I know this will cheer you. Once this is all over we shall both make them and eat them in tandem. Deal? xxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Needs musts I think. Btw - chocolate doesn't do it for me, I need something cheesey. But deal to tandem eating. :)

      Delete
  3. Huh? 7% of weight loss target????? Anyone would think you were stress eating. :) xxxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeh tat was last week before the war. All bets are off for the moment. :{

      Delete
  4. Thank you for your honest and frank posts over the last couple of weeks. I am in (mid) Canada and, while we hear some of the news, we do not hear much of the human side of your/their life/lives. I avidly read the insights your post. I will continue to pray that the God of Israel (and my God) will hear your cries and preserve you.

    Myra, from Winnipeg, Canada, with an aching heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Myra, and I will try to keep you updated from a personal point of view. xx

      Delete
  5. I've just caught up on the last few posts, best wishes to you and your DD, stay safe.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It affects every day life for you doesn't it? Hugs and stay safe xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it does. I don't think about it all the time but it's there. On the other hand, I think I am maybe one of the calmer mothers on the block. On the other hand, we are in Jerusalem and not in the south or centre. So far Jerusalem has been the least hit.

      Delete