The Garden

Our apartment is the next to last building on a dead end street. We have a private entrance, through a silver gate. The courtyard outside our front door is divided into two areas - the area closest to the gate is a dirt patch (perhaps once a lawn, as there is a lawnmower stored there) with a really tall palm tree and a flowering bush.  Hadara loves to dig for bugs and direct adventures in this part of the yard. The other part of the yard is paved with ceramic tiles where we have a small kids' art table, weatherproof chairs, and some potted plants. We keep some of the kids' toys and the strollers out there and sit out there most every day - it's really an extra room for the house.  Our yard shares a very low dividing wall with the building next door. There's a small clearing which allows us to step over the wall and into our (favorite) neighbor's yard. We both keep our doors open every day and the kids (their 3 and 6 year old and our 4 and 6 year old) meander back and forth between the two houses multiple times each day.

I write all of this as a preamble to tell you about their garden, which has now become our garden as well. There is a palm, an olive, a pomegranate, and an almond tree growing close to the dividing wall and providing shade for our courtyard. There are beautiful jade plants hanging from their trees in baskets. Geraniums keep the jade company. And then there are the herbs which I have always dreamed of growing near my kitchen. There is rosemary, luisa (lemon verbena), sage, and tarragon.  Many nights, we go pick herbs to make a cup of tea. On Fridays, I pick fresh herbs for Shabbat cooking. When we need a pick me up, I get a handful and carry them around with us for a little while.

I wish you guys could come and share a cup of lemon verbena tea with me now.  Breathe in deeply and pretend you can smell the herbs from there - maybe they'll bring a little bit of Jerusalem sweetness to your Shabbat.