Celebrating 60

As years go this last one had more than its fair share of lows. Admittedly the high of a new Grandson can't be topped but both losing a parent, Eliyah in hospital again and Gila getting meningitis meant that we were relieved to see in a new year a couple of weeks ago. The day after Rosh Hashanah Ben, Tali and Noah arrived for three and a half weeks and with Samuel and Sophie staying with us for a few months my wish to have all my children together for my special birthday was fulfilled.

Although, I don’t like the expression bucket list, I do have a list of things I would like to do over the next few years; some are recent additions to my list and some have been on my list for many years. There are any number of reasons which might stop one doing things, which have nothing to do with kicking the bucket - opportunity and cost are just two mundane reasons that spring immediately to my mind. So my 60th birthday seemed to me the perfect opportunity to tick some items off the list and share the experience with my family. After a few false starts I handed the planning over to Gila and Malcolm. Malcolm booked a beautiful hotel in northern Israel on the Kinneret and Gila sorted out the activities. Top of my list were abseiling and water skiing.

We had a small window between Yom Kippur and Succot so set off bright and earlyish on Tuesday morning. Malcolm had hired a minibus to take us on the hour and forty five minute journey to the Setai, with Alexander joining us later as he had work commitments - I wonder whose son he is!!!

Only Alexander, Samuel and Sophie were up for the abseiling so having settled the others at the hotel we were picked up and taken to Nachal Jilibun. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I didn’t realise we would have quite a long and tricky hike downhill to reach the top of the waterfall down which we were going to abseil and the realisation that this was our return route increased my sense of foreboding. Arriving at the top of the waterfall our guide proceeded to take out multiple ropes and hooks from his giant backpack and started tying them to the rocks and a hand rail! Thank goodness Malcolm ( Mr. Catastrophiser) wasn't with us. The drop was 400m, the highest in the Golan, and although we were abseiling next to the waterfall we would end up in the pool at the bottom and have to swim to the side - fulfilling my love of swimming in natural pools.

As the strongest, and fittest, Alexander went first so he could help the rest of us in the water if we needed it. With him safely down we agreed I would go next. I was surprised at how calm I felt leaning out over the edge of the drop - after all you are going down backwards so you can’t see how far you could fall! For the first few metres it was fine but as I progressed down I found the process of holding the harness with one hand and feeding the rope with the other progressively harder and harder. By half way down I was really struggling and wondering how I was going to finish the descent. I wasn’t worried about falling as I knew that the main rope was being held at the top by our guide but my brain couldn’t work out how I could get down other than by my own steam. I was tearful with relief when Alexander called out that I was nearly at the water and he swam over to help me unclip myself from the ropes. The water wasn’t nearly as cold as I expected and a joy to swim in as I had hoped. Alexander bounded back up the cliff to inform the others of my experience and they very sensibly decided it wasn’t for them. Bless him, Alexander then came back down to help me clamber over the rocks until we reached the steep path taking us back to the top of the waterfall. The hike back to the taxi from the top was tough because I was tired by then but as the worst was over - the abseiling- it was a relief to be heading back to the hotel. The others had had a lovely day playing with the babies in the pool but no regrets from me, I had hated it but was still glad to have done it, and the location was stunning.

The next morning we were picked up and taken to a water sports centre further round the lake. Tali and Noah decided to stay at the hotel and the rest of us were split between two boats, water skiers in one and tubers/banana boaters in the other. Alexander and Samuel, as snowboarders, had already expressed a preference for wake boarding and the look on the instructors face when I said I would rather water ski quickly convinced me that I was more likely to be successful at wake boarding (or water boarding as Malcolm calls it!). After my surfing experience I had no expectation of being able to get up on the board never mind staying up but I still wanted to try - and I did it and loved it! Pride is not an emotion I often feel about myself but I was so chuffed when I got up first time and enjoyed the exhilaration of bouncing along the water. Although the Kinneret is called a sea (Sea of Galilee) it is not salt water, being fed from the Jordan river, and surprisingly warm, so falling in was as enjoyable as the boarding. We were all successful although Samuel was superb and there was time for some swimming and diving in the beautiful water before heading back. Diving off a boat has always been on my list - the last time I did it was as a teenager in the South of France ( shout out to Cathy, Tricia and Glasspool) and it will stay on my list forever.

The other boat had also had a great time, although Eliya was not impressed that he wasn't allowed in the water, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the hotel.

The next day was my actual birthday, and departure day. There are not many better places and no better way to celebrate than with ones family and it was a lovely mini break for everyone. The babies were delightful and the children were on good form too!

The birthday plans for the week were not quite over yet. I have never had my ears pierced because my father didn't like it and in the back of my mind I always though I might get it done when he was no longer around. It sounds a bit weird put like that and it did feel a bit weird but I certainly don't regret not doing it earlier. So here I am at 60 getting my ears pierced. My lovely girls came with me, more for the fun than moral support, and as girls with multiple piercings they were very excited!

No prizes for guessing what I was given for my birthday!

I have some more plans for the year and as Malcolm's birthday year was a bit of a wash out we have some lovely joint plans too..... but they will have to wait for another blog!

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom