Walking free

Before the war…..it sounds strange saying that as if this “little” war has changed everything. OK, not everything but a lot in our consciousness. We (Irit and I) lived in the apparent illusion that we are living in a reasonably normal Western country and that our lives and those of our children are fairly safe. That might sound ridiculous to the average American or European reader who sees images of war and suicide bombers on television and thinks that we live our whole lives with a helmet on our heads dodging the bombs.

But the reality of everyday life for most Israelis is pretty mundane except in times of war. Most of us have jobs, we have families, we going shopping in supermarkets and malls. And I go jogging a few times a week in the pleasant streets of hilly Haifa and sometimes in the beautiful Carmel forest. But I haven’t done this for a month now – Irit wouldn’t have wanted me to be outside when Katyusha rockets were falling, and I accepted that it was better to be safe than sorry. This morning, 24 hours after the cease-fire went into effect, I went out jogging with our dog for the first time in a month. It’s amazing how we don’t appreciate enough what we have until it’s taken away from us. I certainly hadn’t appreciated what a privilege it is to be able to go out for a walk without fear or tension. Soon we’ll all forget again and take everything for granted. Or maybe not. Many of us (in Haifa) feel a lot less secure than we did before.