15 Jerusalem Street Scenes at Year End

In Jerusalem, Israel,

every year after the holiday season,

I wait for things to quiet down.

However, it never seems to happen.

This year after the Trump Jerusalem announcement,

 the mainstream media reports spewed forth about imminent unrest.

But the streets have remained “normal,”

as a huge US flag hangs on the Municipal building

together with flag of Jerusalem and the 50-year anniversary banner.

Before the recent drenching rains,

the weather was warm, almost like summer.

Friday morning, on a photo walk to Yemin Moshe,

there were so many photographers out

it was hard to get an empty street view.

Though weather had been dry for weeks,

the private gardens were beautiful,

with citrus fruit drooping from full trees.

Birds were perched above the synagogue door,

and on the bare branches in Teddy Park.

Fall colors are not easy to find in Israel,

but during a stroll through these Yemin Moshe lanes

you can find a bit of most anything.

But not all is a stroll through the park around here.

Much touted before it opened,

the cafe in Gan Haatzmaut, Independence Park,

is now an empty shell.

This new access ramp for the bank was just completed.

Now, after weeks of work,

one can enter without going up steps.

But so much for optimism about progress,

yesterday it was ripped out.

I have no idea why,

or how long will it take to rebuild.

At Municipal Hall there are large posters of photos

displaying future building projects in Jerusalem.

Any bets when they will be completed?

Walking yesterday I saw

a man sitting and reading,

against the walls of the Old City.

While along Jaffa Road,

people were sitting outside in cafes.

For winter, it was not such a bad day,

even though I was wearing a winter coat and boots.

This bloke in shorts said he was from Australia.

Well, it is summer there.

No time to fiddle away,

this was part of an art piece at Mamilla Mall.

There last week, but gone yesterday.

This large piano is still outside in Zion Square,

for the use of young and old.

It is still December,

but large signs are already up, this one  in Tzahal Square,

near the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel.

The Jerusalem Marathon is set for March 9, 2018,

and tens of thousands from near and far,

young and not so young, are getting ready

to again enjoy and race through the Jerusalem streets.