Look -- up on your screen: It's a cat! It's a screen! It's a blog post!

Yes, I know, it's been six weeks since I posted; six weeks of living my life. It's surprising how quickly the new and unusual has become routine.

Today is nothing but routine. It is Yom YaAzmut - Israeli Independence Day. The modern state of Israel is just 68 years old - not that much older than I, and look what this tiny country has accomplished.  Even in the midst of my daily routine, I look around me in wonder at the beauty and harmony in which we live.  Yes, we are surrounded by enemies. Yes, we are the most reviled state on earth, yet life here is so sweet, so joyous, so united.

So on this day with no ulpan, I sit on outside with my iced coffee, my laundry drying, my flowers blooming, and oh! I got myself both a passion fruit plant and a honeysuckle and am at last creating
my dream terrace.
 

Last night, I heard the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra play Hatikvah, the Israeli National Anthem, and I my heart swelled. Don't misunderstand - it's not a fairy tale. Yesterday was Yom HaZikaron, when we remember those who died for Israel, and in the afternoon I sat with a friend whose son was killed fighting that we might live.  She wept.  His loss, even after all these years, filled the room and I thought about all the empty spaces left by the 24,000 who died for us.

24,000 - just that we might exist.
I stand with Israel.