UPDATE FROM THE REAR FRONT

I'm sure the trip is more interesting that the war. It *was* more fun, but as this war is pretty much going on in both my front and back yards and missiles seem to chasing me, I'm going to write about the war and go back to the trip later.
It's just too much sometimes to sit at home glued to the news on TV. Yeah, I know, I can always change the channel, but that doesn't seem to be an option these days.
On Tuesday, my neighbor Golan and I went to the kibbutz that made Harley Too to get a new charger. That excursion was uneventful and H.T. is now all charged up and ready to go. The only thing I'm using him for these days is to take Peg walkies. On the way home, we decided to have a neighborhood BBQ and stopped to pick up stuff for it and had a lovely cookout with the neighbors who were still here. Most have taken off for safer places. We decided to do it on a nightly basis. The feeling of defiance is wonderful. The #1 Hizzbully won't stop us! After a beer or two we managed to sleep through the noise, which is mostly our artillery shooting from just inside the town line. It is loud. On Wednesday we went to see my friends at their green house between Afula and Nazareth. On the way there we saw a plume rising from a neighborhood just outside Nazareth proper. We had discussed what to do in my front garden the day before. Golan loves making gardens so we picked out a bunch of stuff, including a water fountain, and two cool purple mushrooms after sitting for a few hours under a huge shade tree there and chatting. When it was time to go, Golan and Yaakov went out to the Disco to load the stuff I bought. The fountain is heavy, made from ceramic and they stuffed cardboard around it so it wouldn't break on the way home. While they were out there was a barrage of missiles. One hit in Nazareth and killed two kids. Another hit a water main in Afula and then one landed on the road between Afula and Nazareth right outside the green house, not even 50 meters (yards) from the tree. I was inside a green house that is just black netting with not so much as one solid wall. Golan and Yaakov were outside by the Disco and threw themselves on the ground with two of the plants. As my back was to the entrance, and as I couldn't see them, started yelling their names. Because their ear drums were almost destroyed by the explosion it took a few minutes for them to answer. They were ok, if shaken. We got the rest of the stuff in and I forgot the fencing we'd found earlier. Gee, wonder why.
In no time at all, the cops closed the road in both directions and informed us that we were stuck there until further notice. An off road biker showed up out of nowhere and offered to take us to the main road through the fields. Off we bounced after him, finally using the Disco for what it was made to do, with a ceramic fountain in the back. Yes, I was still a bit shaky. That was a proper missile, not one of the dinky katyushas I'm used to up here. And it was close! Driving over the rough terrain helped settle me and when we got to the road, decided to stop and eat at the first place that was open. I must start being more aware of the people who travel with me. Golan was starving but I can, and often do wait until I've finished everything on the to do list for that day to eat. Poor Susie suffered greatly from that while we traveling. I can't even look at food before 1400 and can go until late at night. I guess I do know that not everyone is nuts like that. So we stopped and had a great lunch, then continued homeward. On the way we went by a few other sites that were hit and wildfires had started. That particular barrage had sprinkled missiles all over the Galilee. When we finally arrived home, we decided that as we had eaten, we'd just sit out and have a few beers while watching the light show from the outgoings. One of the neighbors arrived and sat with us for a while. He goes to all the shelters in the neighborhood to see who needs what and we told him about the folks around here who are getting things delivered to their homes at the expense of those in the shelters. Corruption as usual. I'm not having it, and named names. There are also a few pictures for added proof. We'll deal with it after the war ends.
I stayed in yesterday-Thursday because I didn't feel like being adventurous after the previous day's close call. Golan came by and pulled weeds and sprayed the front garden so it will be ready to do next week. Even more neighbors took off for places unknown so it was just me and Golan outside last night. I took Peg for a quick walk, and saw our shells whizzing over head. Then I brought out a few beers, and we sat there (in Danny and Orna' entry) because it's off the path and not in the open. It was kind of fun to watch the flash as they were fired, then follow shell as it soared over us. Then, I saw a flash from the wrong direction and we heard the boom a few seconds later. We decided it was time to call it quits and went home. Turns out that flash from the wrong direction was two Apache helicopters crashing into each other. At the time we had no idea what it was and figured that flashes from that direction meant it was time to go in, so we did. As I'd had a short nap in the afternoon, I was far from ready to sleep, so watched a few shows until 0300 and drifted off. At 0945 I took Peg walkies and came back to a slightly better interweb connection. If it holds I just might have a scream up at the other blog. If not, I'll get organized for Shabbat.