BOOM!! BANG!! BANG!! BOOM!!! I went out onto the balcony and looked toward the city, streaks of fire were rising into the night sky and exploding into a fire ring of confetti colors, some times a spark would escape from the ring and explode making it's own ring of fire. Across the valley, over the Old City, was another display of fire in the sky. Two displays at once, how marvelous, it was Independence Day in Jerusalem.
The morning started with us doing police parole at a memorial park called Peace Forest. Peace Forest is one of the many places that memorial ceremonies, remembering the soldiers who died during the War of Independence, were being held. Police and soldiers and Don and I (wearing our official police vests) were mingling in the crowd and checking the surrounding area. I'm sure that everyone felt a lot safer knowing that Don and I were there to protect them! At 11:00 AM horns sounded all over the city, we stood at attention for two minutes listening to the horns and giving remembrance and honor to the fallen soldiers.
In the afternoon Don and I hung around the apartment, I read and Don studied. For dinner we walked to the Old City to a pizza place in the Christian Section (both meat and cheese on the pizza, what a treat!!) then walked up into the "New" City to see the celebrations. The venders were just setting up there tables loading them with cans of Silly String, canned snow, and bonkers (inflated plastic hammers for hitting each other on the head). Already some kids were covered with the white fluff, had florescent rings around there necks, and were chasing each other and laughing as the snow and string flew. We stepped into a little shop and had cheese cake and coffee and watched the activity in the street. The evening had turned cold and windy, Don and I were not dressed for cold, so when we left the sweet shop we headed for home. It had been a good day ending with fire confetti in the sky and then music from the many celebrations around the city sneaking through the doors and windows of our apartment and lulling us to sleep.
Shalom.................Bernice