Not a Pretty Picture

Police across the United States and around the world are entering and closing down

“Occupy” protest camps and tent cities.

 Around Gan Sacher, Sacher Park, there is major landscaping in progress,

but it is still “occupied” by homeless people.

The encampment

set up on a major thoroughfare

takes up a sizeable section of the park.

It is not a pretty picture.

Wood is ready to burn for heat and cooking,

a reminder that meteorological winter begins today.

Structures are covered with plastic to protect them from the rain.

Inside the park, fences have been installed,

a garbage bin is in place,

 as are a Tzedekah box to collect money

and primitive washing facilities.

Many passers-by complain about the appearance of the park.

The irony is that those tents in the sun can be a whole lot warmer

than the old stone buildings in Jerusalem that get no sun in the winter.

The tent dwellers may save a lot of money on daytime heating costs,

but it is not a pretty picture.

To end the week with something positive…

everyone can take part in Hamshushlim, an annual Jerusalem event with

hundreds of museums and restaurants offering reduced prices

and free entrance on Thursday nights in December.