10-17-2022: Swim in the Mediterranean

This morning Shira and her mother arrived to pick up Eitan. They were on their way to a family gather. Peleg stayed home with Gadi, but the report is that he is feeling much better. Eron arrived to have breakfast with us. Today’s fair was French toast, yum!

We sat around the table talking until Shira, her mother and Eitan left. I spent some time talking politics with Eron. It’s interesting to hear the varied perspectives on the upcoming election here in Israel. The Gilad family is anti-Netanyahu and they hope he doesn’t get enough votes to form a coalition and be back in power.

Carol and I made sandwiches to take to the beach. One of Christine’s requests was to go to the seashore. Mishmar HaEmek is only about 30 minutes from the Mediterranean so it’s fairly easy to have a beach day. We went to a town called Dor where we had access to a very nice beach. I’m actually very surprised to see that there is not that much beachfront development, at least not in this area. I’m sure that on the outskirts of the big cities there is, as we saw looking down the beach in Jaffa.

We managed to find some shade and to commandeer a few chairs. It was only a few minutes before we all hit the water. The sea was relatively warm, except for the part about getting in and the waves hit you mid-torso.

We all had a lovely swim in the sea. There were some waves breaking close to shore, but most were outside of the swimming area. We did get to bob up and down in the swells, which I love doing.

Once out of the water, I went for a little walk up the beach. The swimming area is a little bay and is surrounded on the north and south by rocky formations. And what I found out pretty quickly is that the lovely sandy beach turns to mountains of sharp seashells in the rocky areas. In bare feet, I didn’t get too far.

The sandwiches we made provided a satisfying lunch and we sat in the shade enjoying our surroundings. There’s something about the sound of waves, the cawing of birds, and the shrieks of little children that makes for a great beach day.

Carol went back in the sea while Christine and I walked down the beach. It was a lovely day, not too hot due to a constant breeze from the sea. Except for about 30 seconds of rain that occurred while we were in Tel Aviv, the weather has been clear and hot, typically in the mid-80s during the day. The nights are starting to get cool, though, which is a relief to everyone, I think.

After a wonderful afternoon at the beach, we returned home. We ate at the apartment and then watched a movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. David loved it, he’s seen it before, and finds the themes in it very interesting. Truth be told, I bailed out well before the movie ended.

Another wonderful day in Israel, thanks to the incredible hospitality of Carol and David.