In which My Dad Kicks ‘A Lebanese out of the Car’

There are many things I like about this country. One of these things is its relative safety. The news, especial if you have never been to Lebanon, will insinuate otherwise, but if you’ve been here once, you will understand that this society has an overall safe feeling.

So safe, that I do not think twice of giving my car keys to a total stranger .

You see, finding a parking spot in this town is like mining for gold; they are so rare, especially in front of the premises where you need to be, that it is always an occasion of great joy when I manage to find a space right in front of the store.  

This has created an intricate industry of valet parking and abandoned lots that are turned into makeshift parking lots. But the demand is so high that they will invariably cram more cars into a parking than it can possibly accommodate, and so they ask you to leave your key. This allows them to shuffle cars around, including yours, during your absence. 

And so this evening, while buying an ear thermometer, I left my car, and keys, at aparking lot next door to a shop.

My dad, 101 years old, is visiting from Holland, and he was in the car. He had just been in and out of the supermarket, and since this thermometer thing was going to be a quick stop, he chose to stay in the car.

And as I hopped into the store, I left the car keys with the parking attendant. I told the parking attendant that there was someone one the car.

When I got back to the car, some 5 minutes later, he did not want my 2,000 pounds. He looked rather ‘odd’, I’d say. “No, take your car,” he said.

When I got into my car, my dad said, rather alarmed, “There was this Lebanese that wanted to start your car. At first I thought he might have made a mistake, but he started the car!”

The parking attendant, I thought. He must have had to move my car.

“So what did you do?”

“I told them to get out of the car. ‘This is not your car,’ I told him.”

“And what did he do then?”

“Well, he got out of the car.”

Well, that explains it.

 101, and he kicks people out of the car. 

When Life Interferes with Blogging

Sohmor. It looks all idyllic, but this was one valley I would't hike again. They had some very interesting fossils though.

I am not really productive these days. Well, I am productive, but not on this blog. It is partially because I am also participating in a #365grateful project on Instagram, so that’s where some of my inspiration goes. I need to publish one picture a day that makes me grateful. And although I could publish many on most days, once it is out on the web, the desire to write about it has dissipated.

A horse I encountered on the road somewhere near Qaraoun

Another factor is that I have a new job, and I am really into this one. But as I am new to it, it requires a lot of preparation time. I work with a different group of clients: A much more responsive group, but also a group that requires more intensive groundwork.

I ran into some goats as well, on the road somewhere near Kubbeih

Besides that, I am busy with a number of projects outside work and blogging, so there’s goes part of my energy.  I have started a crochet course, for instance. Not that I will be a granny anytime soon, but I have always wanted to be able to crochet. My mother knew how, my grandmother knew how. But I did not. I have books, hooks and yarn, but never had the skill. So now I have found someone (a very lovely and hip gentleman, no less) who is teaching me the finer aspects of double crochet, slip stitches and waffle patterns. And I greatly enjoy it.

The weather is perfect for hiking

And I seem to be doing an awful lot of hiking these days, courtesy of hubbie, so the lounging on the couch (which greatly inspires blogging) is kind of over for the moment. Maybe in winter time again. The weather has not been exactly conducive to ‘couch sitting’. It is almost December, and I still haven’t gotten my winter clothes out of the closet.

Aregu Sisay Abateh, 3rd place on the half marathon 

It is not that I am not doing anything interesting either, quite the opposite. I did the marathon (well, 7 kilometers of it). Our housekeeper, Aregu Sisay, ran the 21 kilometers and won 3^rd place. Quite proud of that. And I’ve done road trips to the Beqaa valley, Laklouq, and Lake Qaroun, and visited some mysterious fossil field in a gorge of the Litani River (which, by the way, is horrendously polluted). I hike a lot. We’ve acquired a fifth dog (!) which has caused the old aunt that lives in our house to abandon us, as she hates animals. And then there’s friends that organize dinners. And my daughter's social life. Boy, don't get me started on that.

A different view from Beirut

And then I got a little boat. I should say ‘we’. I did not pay for it, nor did I do anything to restore it. But I sit on it now and then. And it is the most awesome little boat there is. It’s a boat from the sixties, it has this huge ‘French Riviera Alain Delon James Bond’ feel to it. 

And talking about the sixties, I just heard I have another project coming up; the restoration of an authentic Volkswagen Van (T2) from that era. I saw it on the road to Rashaya, you know the ones, they transport school children I it. My daughter and I have wanted one forever - she has decided she will become a hippie. Now we will have to complete fix it, restore the inside, and turn it into an original camper van. I intend to do it myself, so there goes what's left of my weekends.

A Pumpkin stand in the Beqaa Valley

And the bizarre fossils I found in Sohmor. If anyone can fill me in on this one, I'd be much obliged.

And my father is currently visiting. At the ripe age of 101. He was here in May, but hey, at the age of 101, time is of importance. I think he is also tired of his own cooking, and since one of my sisters in-law, the one that often cooks for him, is currently on a holiday, he figures he might as well eat in Beirut for a while. So he requires some time and attention.

And yet another dog has been added to the tribe

Now you know why I have not been posting that often at the moment. It is not that I am planning to quit. I’ve maintained this blog for 10 years (!) now, and intend to keep on going for many more years. It’s just that life has been interfering with my blogging. 

Fall

My favorite street with the picket fence

The rains have come; the first of this year. They hale the end of the Indian Summer.

The rain always comes rolling in from the sea. It starts with the wind picking up, slowly at first, but soon it turns into gusts of wind, and sand and debris from the past 8 dry months are whipped through the street. I like that moment, just before the rain rolls in. It is usually very early in the morning when the wind picks up. I am on the street, and you have to squint against the wind, as you are pummeled by city dust. You hear doors slam left and right in apartments and buildings, as people are still used to the summer season, and all the windows are open.

The walnut trees in the park are losing their leaves

Plastic bags fly through the air like lost balloons, and sometimes bits of laundry soar around as well: someone forgot to bring in the laundry the night before, and no clothes pin can stand this force. And then, just as I enter my house again, the rain starts.

I like the rain.

Very conveniently the clock has advanced an hour, and so now it is dark when I come home from work. Fits with the season.

The Virginia Creeper is fabulously colored. Indian Summer is over though.

And it seems we have a president. It took a good two and a half years. 

While driving to Beirut yesterday, my daughter and I got caught in the orange traffic jam surrounded the whole process.

"Are they going to blow this guy up?" she asked.

"Well, the last few survived the job, so it is safe to assume this one will too."

I think I would make a very good president," she adds.

"You can't be president," I reply.

"Why not?"

"You've got the wrong religion."

"Swear."

"No, you must be a christian."
"I celebrate Christmas and Easter. Doesn’t that count for something?”

Poplar tree lanes

Not in this country it does. And so I leave you with the last fall pictures up in the mountains.

Late night walk in the park . We were lucky there was electricity. Impossible to walk here in the dark.