Snow!!

It snowed in Jerusalem this past weekend! Snow is rare in Israel, but we can have snow in Jerusalem on occasion because of its high elevation and colder temperatures than most of the rest of the country.

In my time living here, I have seen about 3 snowstorms. The usual course of events during a snowstorm is that it snows a little during the night…you wake up with a 1-3 inches on the ground…the city shuts down because there is no infrastructure to cope with removing the snow…and by midday the sun has melted all the snow. Life quickly returns to normal and everyone enjoys an unexpected vacation day.

But this past weekend’s storm is beyond exceptional. It started to snow early Thursday morning and then continued off and on through Saturday. The storm essentially paralyzed the city. All roads leading to Jerusalem were closed and the only exit out was via a few trains running to Tel Aviv. It is now Monday morning and the buses are still not running as normal and the roads are still very problematic. The main problem is that temps have hovered around freezing all these days and Mother Nature is not helping to remove the snow. While many in Jerusalem area suffered power outages because of downed trees fallen under the weight of snow, we were thankfully not effected and had continuous power. However, the days of freezing temps outside has made it difficult to keep our unheated home warm. We have our tricks to help, but it is till very, very cold!

Where we live, on the outskirts of Jerusalem near Bethlehem, we are at a lower altitude than the highest peaks of Jerusalem. The difference in height (and therefore temperature) meant that we saw lots of snow fall from the sky, buy only had minimal accumulation during the storm on Friday night into Saturday morning.

The view that greeted us when we woke up Thursday morning.

Elizabeth loved looking at the snow.

Because we had no snow in our neighborhood, we went to visit friends in Jerusalem on Friday morning. There was a break in the storm Friday morning, and we took advantage of the sunny skies.

Elizabeth bundled up and ready to go.

When one lives where snow is rare, one does not have essential snow gear. J and I have ski clothes, so we were well prepared. But shat do you do for the little one? Improvise!! Elizabeth’s snow pants is a garbage bag with holes for her legs duct taped to her rain boots. We can’t take credit for the ingenuity…it is our friend’s invention. But it very effective. She stayed perfectly dry!

Hello!!

Exploring snow and all its fun. It’s soft!!

J did the hard work of our snowman construction.

He is beginning to take shape!

Hello, funny man, as Elizabeth named him :)

I love this sweet girl and how having her in my life is helping me rediscover the simple joys in life. I can’t remember the last time I built a snowman!

My favorite picture of the day. Her face is priceless.

Sarah spent the morning staying warm in the home of our friends. She was well cared for by these three beautiful ladies.

But of course she needed to have her first snow documented.

The view from our kitchen window at storm’s end on Saturday morning.