Loud booms this afternoon, but no alarm as rockets landed in the sea.

Full on red alert this evening with interceptions a minute into the alarm which is the minimum amount of time we have to find shelter.

More interceptions later but no alarm. These were rather close to us even if the rockets were going to overfly us.

We got our baby back to sleep, but our nerves got a little rattled.

My two biggest problems right now are missing being in my own home and facing bankruptcy because of all the toy and clothing shops in the area. (In addition to my granddaughter, there are two other children, both evacuated from the North, I enjoy spoiling.)

36 or so hours of calm has been appreciated. I hope it continues. While it has been nice getting acquainted with my neighbors in the stairwell, we are ready to move on.

We have Thanksgiving plans in Rome and overpaid for El-Al tickets. I had intended to use vouchers from other airline's cancelled flights to pay for the trip, but they have not announced relaunch date. Ideally, I would like to change to fly Aegean there in order to help with my *Gold renewal. If there are still rockets, it will be disorienting to be somewhere where there are no sirens for a long weekend.

If there are still rockets, any chance of the trip convincing your wife that going to the US or staying elsewhere for a while may be the best option?

Neither war is ideal, but war in the north is much more of a worry for my family.

Today, we went up to Hod Hasharon for an Israeli BBQ with friends which was a sign of normalcy. No rockets from Gaza in the last 29 hours so let’s hope it stays calm.

There continues to be an increase in rocket activity in the North but that’s more Dovster area of expertise.

You're a good man Charlie Brown

הישאר בטוח חבר שלי

Powerful
 

I have to go to my kibbutz tomorrow to pick up winter clothing. I was planning on going today but the rain was so strong that it made driving dangerous. Hezbollah opened fire this morning hitting a moshav about 4 kilometers from my kibbutz -- apparently, rain was not the only dangerous thing falling out the sky.

be safe
and if you need a coffee break on the way drop a DM

Nesiah tovah - I will recite tefilat haderech even as I normally wouldn't pray for a simple trip.

Small victory today, my puppies felt happy enough to play wrestle with each other. This was a daily activity throguh October 6. They are physically healthy - it is nice to see their emotional health and their owners returning to normal.

Hang in there people…

I thought I'd join in the conversation. It's been relatively quiet where we are, in the Shomron, though we sometimes here the booms and feel the impact from the attacks in the center. So far our concerns are firebombs on the roads. There are security convoys escorting civilians to and from the center. Worrying about the family members who've been called up, & a few more who've been told to be ready at a moment's notice. Nerve-wracking.

I drove to the kibbutz today to get my winter clothing. The drive north took about an hour -- but the return trip took closer to two hours. The traffic was caused by a load of trucks, from various companies, but all seemed to be carrying construction supplies (especially concrete). I tend to doubt that they were going to Gaza to help rebuild the houses (and tunnels) that were destroyed and don't know if they were going to the Israeli communities that were attacked by Hamas or if there is a plan to strengthen the security rooms in Tel Aviv or other cities.

I also stopped in an Arab restaurant for a lamb lunch, which added about 30 minutes to my drive (in addition to the two hours I mentioned above). When I arrived where i am spending the war I had a load of packages, but could not find the heavy jacket and rain coat which had been my main reason for going. Tomorrow is supposed to be very rainy and I dreaded the thought of going back,but finally found what I had been looking for. They were well-hidden under a bunch of sweatshirts.

Losing your mind, eh?

I thought that it was already gone:p

How was the lamb luncheon? Yummy?

Stay safe all. Continuing to hope for peace and security.

After a month of freeloading off my daughter and son-in-law, yesterday I moved to a wonderful village about a 15 minute drive from there.

I am renting a nice, furnished house, with a large living room, two bedrooms, a small but adequate kitchen and two patios (one small, one large). Total cost, including wi-fi, is 3000 shekels per month. That may sound like a lot but it converts to only $792 per month. As I was required by the government to leave my house, it is paying me 200 shekels per day, which is double my rental.

There are quite a few people in my situation and the people here are fantastic. Yesterday, one woman cooked and delivered to me a dinner which was so large that I could only eat half and had the second half tonight (remember, it is almost 8 pm here). Three other women phoned yesterday offering to cook meals for different nights. (Nope, unfortunately none of them are 22-year-old single Swedish blondes.) The village has a number of different activities planned, and I was invited to all of them. One that I will definitely attend is a concert of Elvis' songs.

There is a doctor, a pharmacy, and a grocery store here, all about a 3 minute drive from the house I am staying in. The woman who owns the house I am in runs a public relations/advertising agency. It is a small operation (2 women) and neither speaks English well. They have been so nice to me that I told them I am a writer by profession and suggested that anything they write in English (which basically means "pidgen English") they send to me first and I will do a professional re-write at no cost to them. Even when the fighting is over, I told them, they can send it to me by email and I will continue to fix it up. They were thrilled by my offer.

I had to go to the doctor today to get some prescriptions. He is an Arab whose English is limited (as is my Hebrew) and our conversations were a bit stilted until I asked where he studied medicine and he said in Italy. From that moment on, my appointment went much more smoothly as we chatted away in italiano.

On one hand, the people I've met here are the kind I would like as life-long friends. On the other hand, as I turn 78 in about 3 weeks, the odds are that any life-long friendships will not last very long. :cool:

Dovster - so happy you are finding community and support. Sounds like a good situation in a bad time. I hope you can return to your home soon, but also that your new friends continue to light up your life

Dov,

Do you still remember what to do with a 22 year old single Swedish blonde?

Stay safe my friend

Not really, but I have made a lot of notes in my younger years that I can use to remind me.

Thanks for the update Dov. I’m curious how this new house size is compared to where you lived on the kibbutz. Are most people from your kibbutz renting homes around other parts of Israel?

Most are staying in hotels.

Is the question if he remembers what to do, or if he can still do it?

That is why the Good Lord created little blue pills.

A few days ago I was shopping in a local mall and the salesgirl wanted me to apply for a credit card that works with her store's chain (and that of a few others). She told me that I would get a 50 shekel discount on my purchase that day, 200 shekels taken off the price the first time I used the card, and future discounts that the card will offer. I agreed to take it. Today I received an SMS from the credit card company telling me that because of the war they are not sending out any cards but I will get mine when the war is over.

As a FTer, I was shocked by the inhumanity of not issuing credit cards!

No second thoughts stopping alone in an Arab restaurant?

None at all. Israeli Arabs, except in a few cities, tend to be patriotic Israelis.

I was thinking, ole Dov's gonna need that new CC to wine & dine that 22 yr old Swedish blonde! Jokes aside, I'm glad you and everyone here are safe and will remain so until what will hopefully be a swift conclusion to the war.

Maybe they can issue the card number and let you load it into Google Pay or Apple Pay.

No, but today they notified me that they have produced the card and gave it to a delivery service to bring it to me at my house. Good luck with that -- not only am I not at home but the IDF will not allow the messenger to get within 3 kilometers from the kibbutz.

In the meantime, I have been having a double Thanksgiving. My son, daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter invited me on Sunday to a very expensive restaurant for dinner -- my treat.

Today, I invited Marina, Polina, and Olga to a steakhouse, adjacent to a shopping mall. As Russians, they had never heard of Thanksgiving, so I gave them a brief review of the holiday, starting with the Pilgrims and ending with Santa's arrival in the Macy's Parade. Most of their winter clothing is in their apartment in Kiryat Shemona and the city is off-limits. (The mall is about halfway between where I am staying and where they are). I have bought them winter clothing over the past two weeks but this time I told Olga (age 7) that I want to take her to a toy store. After dinner, we went into the mall and before getting to the toy store, passed a clothing shop that had heavy flannel PJs, with Mickey Mouse decorating them. She obviously liked the PJs but kept refusing them until I explained that they are in addition to a toy, not instead of one.

Then she was in heaven! She kept hugging me and holding my hand from the moment I told her we are going to both stores until I got into my car to go home. My only regret is that Olga, who is beautiful, is not 20 years older.

It you had but one wish, wouldn’t it be more prudent to make yourself younger?

You could teach Olga a new word: lagniappe. ;)

Thanks Dovster
we had our holiday in Chicagoland with friends where the husband is Israeli. His brother is 64 (not 70) and is a conscripted logistics driver for idf et Al for stuff because he has a commercial license. The daughter used to work for a birth right program and told us about many texts videos received etc on 10/7. How can we not discuss stuff happening when they know people who are deeply involved daily both living in Israel and knowing people affected. They knew the Evanston hostage family. They knew orthodox people who had to drive on shabbat 10/7 (Saturday) and talk on the phone - Jewish people will understand this meaning more than others might. Basically orthodox people don’t use tech on Shabbat. Also they knew people at the festival.
I had to self-ban myself from the PR thread. I discussed a little with a Jewish FlyerTalk friend when we had a mini DO.

hang in there.

I had a rather depressing day today. I needed to go to the hospital in Safed, for a routine treatment (every two or three months) but that is not what made the day depressing. Safed has not been evacuated, but most communities north of it have been. On the way back, I wanted to eat at one of several restaurants I like but found that most of them are closed, as are many stores, some temporarily and others with signs saying they have gone out of business,

Hang in there, Dov. We all hope that the hostages, the soldiers, and the border communities will all safely be home soon!

Is the kibbutz an absolute no go area, or are people permitted to visit and take care of things?

What happened to livestock in evacuated kibbutzes that had livestock?

Kibbutz members are allowed in for one hour on most days to get things (eg: winter clothing) out of their houses. However, they must get permission in advance which will be granted if Hezbollah is not being unusually active in our region,

The law of unintended consequences reigns on. Dov, as bad as the obvious since Oct 7th, I never ever thought of this. Very depressing indeed

We had previously planned a Thanksgiving trip to Rome to visit friends. Since there was a temporary stop in the fighting, my daughter and I continued onward to USA.We are now en route back to IL.

hope you made it back okay :-)