On Picnics by the Sea, and Things to Come

Is Yemen going to go? I say yes. Hubbie says no. Is Syria going to be next? I say ‘better not, or we’re going to end up with an Iraq next door,’ while hubbie says ‘only if the guy makes a deal regarding Israel.’ I’m willing to make a bet over that one. Is Bahrain going to go? We both think yes. No bet then. Libya? Well, I said no two weeks ago, hubbie said yes, but that was before the Americans got involved, so the stakes have changed. Not fair. Saudi Arabia? I say ‘yes’. Hubbie says ‘no way, Americans won’t allow it.’

When there's water, you need to throw a stone in it. That's the rule, when you're a child

Are you having conversations like this over dinner? I bet you do, but only if you live in Lebanon.

Things are moving in this part of the world. Except for Lebanon. Although it is an incredibly vibrant county, it’s got its slow and quiet moments too. We’re in a slow period right now. But we all know of course, that whatever happens outside, be it Syria, Bahrain or Saudi Arabia, the ripple effect will reach Lebanon. And then things won’t be so quiet anymore. 



How to fly a kite



So SIL thought – because of things that will inevitably come our way – that a picnic was a good thing to get the kids out of the house. I love picnics. So we piled kids, food and a large assortment of junk you need when you take kids (like ours) with you, into the car, and on the road we were. I don’t think our kids are that different from other people’s kids, but maybe it is because we are ‘odd’? Or we go to ‘odd’ places, maybe? Because somehow our kids always fall in the water, step in glass, tumble down rocks, find wood with rusty nails on the beach and then sit on it, or get tangled up in barbed wire. This picnic was a good one though, in terms of injuries. Just one kid scraped himself. 



Leave it to a teenager to fly a kite and BBM at the same time.

 We chose the coast. It was quite windy though on the seaside. Why don’t you go somewhere less windy, you say? Well, the cousins had kites, and kites need wind. It ended up being – what my SIL calls - a 'Syrian Picnic'; a picnic out of the back of the car. I’m not quite sure why she calls it a Syrian picnic; maybe because of the haphazard nature? It's a little improvised?

A Syrian picnic in the back of the truck

The Lebanese have an issue with the Syrians, pretty much the same the Dutch historically have an issue with the Germans, although these days that sentiment is pretty much gone. Mind you, I’ve got two Syrian colleagues. One is Syrian by marriage, the other Syrian by birth. They are well aware of the antics, and can laugh about them as well.

Spring is in the air; storks are flying north

But I wonder, if Syria is next in line, what is going to happen here?