January 15, 1973

Snow.  There’s snow over most of the country except Tel Aviv, where we’ve had downpours, making everything a big pile of mud.  Last night there was hail.  My son Ben was very excited to wake up and see the ground covered in white.  Down in the south there’s flooding.

The roads are closed and the buses aren’t running.  The electricity goes on and off during the day and night.  The electricians and technicians were supposed to go on strike for three days, but they postponed it for three weeks until the weather gets better.  Otherwise, there’d be no electricity at all.

The longshoremen ended their strike. Not that it mattered.  The seas were so rough that all the ships pulled out of port because they were afraid of being beached.  During a break, we took the kids down to the sea.  The waves were really spectacular.  Lots of dead crabs and fish in the sand, though.

Saturday my husband’s niece Carmelite’s new husband is returning to the States without her.  It’s going to take at least two months for her to get a visa.  All the family gathered at Abe’s father’s apartment to see him off.

I go into work. But with the weather very few people are making the trip in.  (This is why my mother received this letter on official Tel Aviv University stationery. )