Snowman, Snowdog, Snow damage and empty shelves

More snow fell overnight, and the accumulation was as much as 20" in some places. Jerusalem is cut off, and people are making comparisons to 1948 and 1967. A bit exaggerated, but there are parallels. The 2 highways connecting this city to the rest of the world are closed, and while no one will starve and rationing won't have to be imposed, there's been no delivery of fresh food.

We took a walk this morning, starting with the supermarket. We only needed a couple of things, but the lines were so long we gave up - what we needed wasn't that important. We were able to buy fresh challah and dessert at the bakery next door. No one had newspapers. I asked the owner of a kiosk if he expected to get any and he said probably not. We walked down the middle of the streets, which were more or less clear. There was minimal traffic and we had to get out of the way from time to time. Again, we don't have proper shoes. My Crocs penny-style loafers are fine for shallow puddles, but not for the kind of snow and slush we walked through. Sid's water-repellant boots got soaked. We made our way to the Inbal Hotel, thinking that if anyone would have newspapers it would be a hotel. No luck, not at the Inbal and not at the Dan Panorama, where even the gift shop was closed. There is no public transportation so people can't get to work. There has been considerable tree damage; the trees here aren't made to withstand the weight of heavy snow and there are lots of downed branches. The only real concern (and so far it hasn't impacted us) is the branches that have fallen on power lines. There have been some power outages, altho considering the magnitude of the storm there haven't been massive failures. I did talk to a couple of friends who lost power for short periods of time. But everyone is in a festive mood, and those of us who braved the weather to go out had the pleasure of experiencing the best part of something which is being called the storm of the century - kids building snowmen (one accompanied by a snow dog) and having snowball flights.

                                                Snow covered orange tree (above)

                                                     Snow covered cactus (above)
                                                   
                                               

                                                  Empty shelves where bread used to be (above)