Jerusalem: Good, Bad and Ugly Week

Jerusalem, Israel,

what a week!

Heavy rains fell over Shabbat,

strong enough to wash away layers of ad posters.

Effects of a municipal strike were being felt,

but I went looking for something good.

After the winter rains,

buds were popping out on branches.

In the Valley of the Cross there were

signs of new growth and small pools of water,

and a favorite sight,

rakefet, cyclamen, growing in rock structures.

 Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, had puddles and

 unattended, uncollected garbage bins.

The Old City was not affected,

 as the municipal strike went on for another day,

but in most neighborhood bins were overflowing.

Only the street cats and birds were happy.

Overflowing trash on the streets

near Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk,

was not only an ugly sight,

but unhealthy and dangerous as well.

A friend saw these photos and

thought it was the aftermath of a terror attack.

On Agrippas Street, people waited for buses that did not come,

since buses could only pass through the ugly mess in one direction.

In addition, the mess by the shuk which overflowed on to the streets

caused the light-rail trains to stop running.

Jaffa Road became a pedestrian mall,

perfect for the occasional skate boarder.

Thousands trudged along to find transportation.

However, by walking along Agrippas Street,

I did find a new and colorful piece of graffiti,

and poorly translated signs

are always good for a smile or laugh,

like this one posted across from Cinema City

near the Supreme Court Building.

The strike is finally over.

It will take awhile to clear the mountains of trash accumulated

  while the mayor and finance minister feuded.

But at least children are back in school,

so parents can go back to work.

Now back to normal?

It has rained again, and the sun has come out again.

It’s that time of year when the water from the tap

is colder than the water in the refrigerator.

Hope we can go back to complaining about the cold.

But if reality gets too ugly again,

 we can go to Beit Avi Chai to see a movie.

It’s free.