תושבת מדבר: I Protest Ageism

I drummed at the foot of the hills, just across the street from my place, this morning. Two cop cars with flashing lights drove past me without stopping; so, perhaps my guess as to what constitutes 100 meters is correct.

I exchanged lots of online messages this morning, while thinking about making the trip to Michlin Pharmacy. My intuition was screaming, "No," but I finally put on my mask and gloves and walked to the bus stop. My heart was racing-- was it my intuition speaking or the result of too much news? Who knows?

The electronic bulletin board at the bus stop indicated that only that the #2 bus was on its way, and the Moovit app on my phone said the #1 wouldn't come for another 45 minutes. Since Michlin typically closes at 2 o'clock for "siesta," I let that be my excuse to go back inside.

Back upstairs, I texted Oshrat, the social coordinator of the Yealim neighborhood, and asked her if she knows any volunteers in Mitzpe Yam who would pick up my prescription for me. I rationalized that teenagers have more resistance than I would. I've reconsidered making someone else go; I will walk down on Sunday morning. (Michelin Pharmacy is still not answering the phone, so I don't know if they carry my prescription.)

Two little girls were playing in the common area of the fifth floor, masks down over their necks. It's probably not within the rules, but who could complain-- not even the Israeli man who arrived on the elevator a few minutes after I did. They were so sweet and well-behaved (and their mom was probably thrilled not to have them underfoot).

My heart continue racing for an hour and a half. I (finally) made my bed and puttered around the studio, hoping to calm down. It didn't help.

Then, I received an email from someone at Open Democracy, a Russian organization that Maya put in touch with me. I'll be proofing their translation of a 30-page document to be submitted to the European Court of Human Rights. I'm pretty snobby about my proofreading skills, so this will make me focus and calm down. Unfortunately, the document won't be sent to me until the 6th of April.

Someone called from Ichilov. She didn't speak English. She wanted to reschedule my appointment and I told her I'd come in August. She was not amused, but when I said, Ani garah b'Eilat, she simply gave me an appointment. Maybe she's aware that the two roads out of town are closed and that Arkia is not flying now.

In the news: five times as many cases in B'nei Barkak than in the rest of Israel. No lockdown in Sweden-- it'll be interesting to see the results (they actually have a lower rate of infection than Denmark), but I'm glad I live in Israel. And, according to Maya, Russian Jews make matzo brei, but in boiling chicken broth.

I decided to go to the store before cat-feeding time. I asked Arlan to meet me. He couldn't come out because he was waiting for a homemade cake to be delivered. He is over sixty-years-old, so he has an Israeli volunteer to look after him.

My friend Jessica laughed when I told her that his volunteer is a teenager whose mom drove her around to deliver the cakes.

We accidentally (really) found each other in Canada Gardens, just after I fed the stray cats in my immediate neighborhood and got more lap time from the adorable cat that I'd met yesterday.

Arlan and I sat three lengths-of-David-Duchovny apart, while chatting about the music he's been listening to today (Rachmaninoff and Beethoven) and, of course, about world news.

We saw a several doggies. Here's a picture of an adorable, little dog chasing a ball that was bigger than his head.

On the way back from the store, I saw a Russian woman with a dog, feeding cats at the top of Canada Gardens; I suspect she's a regular cat feeder. (Her dog was very friendly.) I also saw a man with a huge bag of food getting back into his car; my guess is he's a volunteer. Local animal lovers started soliciting volunteers to take care of cats in the now-closed tourist area, but seems to have expanded to the whole city.

I watched i24 News for a while when I first returned home:

Hungary vs Sweden (totalitarianism vs complete irresponsibility)
Robots working in Italian hospitals
Should American prisons send inmates home?
Zoom conference calls can be hacked by pranksters and criminals
U.S. terminology for lock-down and government phone surveillance are "shelter in place" and (I think) "contact tracing."
Many Israeli leaders, including Bibi, are in quarantine
The world wide death toll... (and 34 deaths in Israel)

While chopping veggies for my dinner, I cut my hand very slightly with the knife. I immediately texted my friend Helen, who was a matron with the NHS before she made aliyah. She always takes my medical questions seriously-- in fact, we really only talk when I have medical concerns... I'll have to correct that as soon as lock-down is over!

Helen and I chatted for a while, and she mentioned she hasn't see groups of kids in the park. I hadn't really thought about the fact that everyone seems to be following the guidelines.

Israelis doing following rules? Things must be serious!

We both feel very lucky to be in Eilat. I had known that the hospital here hasn't been expanded since it was built over fifty years ago (the city has expanded greatly since then). I did not know they only have two ICU beds! So grateful that the mayor closed the two freeways into town. Eilat has always been the place that other Israelis escape to; our city couldn't handle an influx of people! (The hotels are closed, but campsites and relatives' homes would be possible housing for people from the Center.)

Speaking of accidents with knives, many folks on Facebook have been posting pictures of fabulous culinary creations that they've made while "sheltering in place." Here's the best I could do: