Page 29 - Issue 28
P. 29
From the car we see a viper, long and checker-
backed. It feels eerie somehow, since only the night
before Doron’s father recounted running
into one that day and almost being bitten. I
think about it for a minute and realize it
demands no supernatural
explanation—during snake
season it’s no surprise we’d all
come across one sooner or later.
It’s huge and deadly, but watching it
from within the car, all I can feel is awe.
Since almost no one else is out in nature, I see more
birds than I ever have: storks, hoopoes, pheasants,
hawks. We drive slowly, and every few minutes
Doron points in the sky and says, look. I’m never
sure what I’m going to see.
Look: a bright turquoise bee eater.
Look: a fire burning in the distance.
Look: a short-toed snake eagle swooping down.
Look: a trail of smoke across the sky above Gaza,
above Ashkelon, above Sderot.
Look:
