The wall of our apartment which faces the the street is made up entirely of windows. Our dining table is situated so that if we wish, we can sit at it and look out the window at the Mediterranean Sea and the mountains across the bay.
However, there is also a several story home (perhaps apartment building) in our view. The family whose doorway is directly opposite us got a puppy this past Christmas. I'm pretty sure it was Christmas because they had a pine tree draped in colored lights in their house - I'm pretty sure they don't do that for Hanukkah.
Anyhow, they got a pretty white puppy in December. Mark and I frequently watched the family interact with the dog on their porch during meal (and other) times. Sometimes the kids were a bit cruel, sometimes the puppy tried furiously to get into the house, sometimes they took him for a walk ... whatever, we watched the puppy grow into a happy, healthy ... bigger puppy, since I suppose he's not really out of puppydom yet.
There have been several episodes that have been rather outstanding. For example, the time the puppy kept getting into the house and then kept being led back out of the house (he's not allowed in) ... we were rolling with laughter and imagining the mother (who is clearly the one who doesn't want it inside) increasingly frustrated by the fact that she was being ignored, while the small children just couldn't get the door closed fast enough. As a result, the young boy would try to kick the dog away. Of course, the dog didn't like that much, so in the future, any time the dog came near him, he'd kick and the dog, thinking this was a game, would try to grab the boy's leg in his mouth... that was hysterical to watch (as no one was actually being harmed). And, fortunately, they eventually got over that.
Another time, more recently, it was still cold and raining out. The owners got a small plastic box (a cat carrier?) and put it outside as if that would appease the puppy. Really, I don't think our cat, Chi, would have been happy in there! Once we saw the poor thing actually wiggle his way in there because of the rain and wind. It was really quite pathetic.
Just a few days ago the puppy decided to get more friendly and would happily wag his tail and 'guide' any walker past his 'dominion'. People would frequently try to convince him to stay put to no avail ... he never strayed past his apartment block, though. At one point, he decided to go into the courtyard below his apartment. We wondered where he was going and what he was doing... to discover he'd stolen someone's towel! He was so happy and triumphant. He brought it back to show to ... the mother! She wasn't exactly happy, took it from him and put it out of his reach. He kept trying to jump and get it, until his rather short term memory distracted him with something else to play with.
So, now you know one way we spend our time. This is also a warning to those who live in Haifa - don't do anything too private on the sidewalks around our house! :-)
You mean you've never heard of the Hanukkah bush?!? All my Jewish friends from my childhood had one. (Really, I am not making this up.) I bet this is an interesting time in Israel with Passover and Easter. The two holidays are inextricable linked, since the Last Supper was the Passover Sedar, yet for almost two thousand years the connection between the two religions has been denied. I would love to just be able to observe the comings and goings as people prepare for both of these holiest of holy days. The ritual, the symbolism is so rich. (Spoken like a true believer.)
Hmm... well, if nothing else, it seems like our area of Haifa has been one huge party this weekend, fireworks and all. (they love fireworks here)
One of my friends saw a red liquid running out of a building, went to check it out and discovered they were killing a lamb in there... there ya' go, the richness of the symbolism I suppose!
Hey, . . . I guess if you are going to eat lamb, there will be blood. We tend to prefer our killing aniseptic and removed from our sight, but we still like roast lamb. Okay, so it can occasionally get just a little too real. Sorry about that.