Sirens

 

It was surrealistic. As my husband and I drove down Al Maqdesi Road on our way to the Kotel a siren sounded. Ten minutes earlier we’d seen and heard an ambulance and knew this was different, an air raid siren. Plus, my husband’s app announced we had a minute and a half to get to a shelter. But where? And how?   

Living in Shilo we have had only sirens twice in the last nineteen months of the war. Both times were at home, and it was simple to enter our shelter. This morning we were ducks out of water and not sure what to do.

The obvious action would have been to stop the car and seek shelter, but traffic, as can be seen in this photo, continued as normal. We saw two teenagers lifting their phones to the sky, most probably hoping to catch a shot of the Houthi missile. Pedestrians continued on their way to wherever they were going.

Finally, my husband spotted a parking spot. We exited our car and stood against a wall feeling rather silly. In the end, our action was unnecessary since the missile was intercepted outside Israeli territory. It was the third fired at Israel in a 24-hour period. Thankfully, none hit their mark.  May the miracles continue.