The View From The Top: The Tour, Part Two

The other night Edan and I went up on the roof to fly the parachute we made out of a plastic bag from the makolet (corner store) and a Lego man. The sunset and views were so amazing that I went back down to the apartment and got my camera. This is what twilight in Jerusalem looks like from the roof of our building.

Here is where we hang our laundry. I put my white sweater up there to dry on Monday and when I went back up there today to get it it was gone.

This is Edan flying his parachute. While trying new parachute-launching techniques, Edan accidentally flew his creation into someone's underpants. Ha! Notice the Crocs, trademark of every Israeli schoolkid. I love that his are purple. Mine are just plain black and I feel pretty uncool as a result. And, the view from our kitchen window that caught our attention and prompted our trip to the roof in the first place. Classically Israeli elements of this image include the apartment buildings all faced with architecturally and municipally mandated Jerusalem stone, the ever-present air raid siren, and the sun setting to the west over Bethlehem. The Middle East, our home sweet home for now, is both incomparably tortured and inexplicably beautiful and this photograph captures that well I think.