The Sound of War

42 kilometers away from Harsina (a/k/a Remat Mamre) as the crow flies, a tunnel implodes in Aza. My family and I hear the explosion like a massive thunder clap on a clear, blue day. My daughter-in-law identifies the cause immediately, says she hears them often in Bat Ayin, another 12 kilometers to the North along Highway 60, says sometimes the entire yishuv shakes. Four months out of America and all delusions of longitude have been shattered by a bomb 42 kilometers to the Southwest of my home. News is no longer something I watch on television or listen to on the radio. Hamas is smuggling in missiles, mortar shells, small arms and spare parts, preparing to end the latest cease fire, one way or another. The IDF has taken down one tunnel. There are others. It is here, it is now, it is me and mine. It will happen like a thunderclap on a perfect, clear day.