Climatic Zionism

The sun was struggling gamely to make its presence felt amongst the gloomy clouds, gathered menacingly above the Old City as I braved the drizzle on my way to work. It was a lost cause however as more serious rain started to fall, leaving me cursing my lack of umbrella and dodging the puddles, trying to keep vaguely dry.

I left behind a country, famous for a population that spends most of its time bemoaning the weather but English weather is not really all that bad - it's certainly wet but far from extreme - none of the seemingly never ending storms that Florida has suffered this year, nothing like the almost annual flooding that Bangladesh puts up with. Waves of both heat and tidal varieties only happen overseas.

I hate English weather because it is grey and unpredictable. Looking out of the window to overcast, depressing skies for 8 months a year leads to depression in extreme cases - a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and even in the so called "warm" months, well laid plans can easily have to be cancelled due to a downpour.

Here, I know that despite this morning's downpour, the sun will have its hat on this afternoon or tomorrow. Here I know that between April and November I won't need to pack my umbrella "just in case". Here I know that when it rains it is a blessing and not a curse.

I was sent a link this morning to the website of an Israeli photographer with some beautiful pictures of last winter (amongst many others). Another reminder of how beautiful our country is.

Many people dream of retiring to the sunshine - my Mother returned to England after her latest trip here and quickly came to the conclusion that she should be spending more time here - on a semi permanent basis at least once she retires in a couple of years. There are many wonderful reasons to live in Israel. As far as I know, none of the great Zionist thinkers declared themselves to be Climatic Zionists but I think that it should be added to the list....

Gilly