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Morning Birdsong

I hear their voices like morning birdsong when they head out for school. I see them in restaurants (no matter what the hour), in museums, in bookstores.

I'm reading the English edition of HaAretz in a coffee shop, when I feel a hand rest on my shoulder. I turn my head and find a small boy, leaning way back as he drinks from a very large bottle of water. He needs something to brace himself. I smile at his parents to assure them that it is OK with me.

Why wouldn't it be OK? Jerusalem is crowded and complicated and often insane. People drive like there will be no tomorrow, but children are invited and welcomed everywhere--so much more than in the U.S. "Aha!" I think to myself. "You people are hoping for a better future, aren't you?"

Parents enjoy the San Simon Park seesaw with their toddler.

It was school-fieldtrip day when we visited Ein Gedi (a desert oasis, about two hours outside Jerusalem).

Posted by Ilene Weismehl  at 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments 1