Jackhammers

I don't know what they're called, but have you ever seen or heard those construction contraptions that are driven by someone and which dig into hard rock to break it up? I'm calling them jackhammers, and jackhammers happen to be my least favorite sound in the world, followed closely by the beeping trucks and vans make when they're backing up.

Click here to hear what these jackhammers sound like...

About a week after we moved into our new place, the jackhammers began breaking up hard ground in about 1/4 of the construction site across the street which is still not built up (bottom left in photo). I'm not sure what they're planning for that piece of land, nor if they're planning on digging as deep as the rest of the site already was in order to build what they've already built. My guess is it's going to be another month before they're all done. Then who knows what new and interesting noise will replace it.

It's kind of humorous really. Dave and I have had to make jokes about it, because of course they would start digging through hard earth when we thought they were done with that "noisiest part of the construction." Not only is it loud and pretty constant, but it's a violent sound, an obtrusive energy that can easily come into our apartment. And they usually start bright and early anywhere between 6:45 and 8:00 AM. It kind of makes our apartment shake if I'm really focusing on it.

To sort of cover it up, I need to play music much louder than I'm used to playing music. Luckily, watching Dahlia boogie down and shake her little tushie to Elton John (today's selected musical serenade) always brings a smile to my face.

I think I've written before that there are no rules in Israel, or if there are, no one follows them. That means if they feel like starting the digging 15 minutes before 7:00, when they're legally allowed to start, they do. And if they feel like using the crane to lift something at 10:00 PM, they do. Luckily, the one rule they do follow is not working on Shabbat, and they often don't work on Fridays either. I can't tell you how deeply I've come to appreciate the silent stillness of Shabbat in Jerusalem... not only in the past almost 2 months, but especially in the past 2 weeks.

This afternoon when we were all home, I lay on the couch listening to Elton and doing a sukoku puzzle, seeing how well I was able to sort of tune out the hammering. I thought about what skill I'm developing through this experience, wondered what I might realize in retrospect about the purpose of this strange year in Jerusalem. I said to Dave that maybe it's about learning how to be calm amid a storm. Really calm, not the kind of calm on the surface that causes the storm to fester inside my body.

In a way, I'm kind of floating through this experience to some extent. Not all of me, but the part of me that otherwise would just lose my shit every day around 4:30 PM. Kind of like that time of day I call the witching hour, when Dahlia often melts down a little, releases some stress by throwing a tantrum about nothing, crying about baloney, jumping on me and getting in my face in her little rough way, and/or laughing hysterically. Sometimes I wonder why I don't let myself melt down on a daily basis... I know she must be feeling some stress about hearing jackhammers all day long, too.

I guess I should head to bed, because even though Dave is letting me sleep in a bit tomorrow morning, I don't know how much quality rest I can expect to get after 6:30 AM. As dear Ahri reminded me recently, "Just be thankful you're not a construction worker." I hope those guys are wearing ear plugs while they work.