see http://bogieworks.blogs.com/

Over the course of a couple of years of commuting to and from work on my scooter, I've become a bit more intimately acquainted with some of the communities along the way than was previously possible in a car.

For example, I smell the countryside (for good and bad), and hear a lot more of what's going on in the areas through which I pass.

There is a stretch of road not far from Karmel in the South Hebron hills along which I see school kids walking at a certain hour of the morning. Last year I become acquainted from afar with a group of young boys there who used to wait for me and wave as I passed on my shiny red scooter. I always waved back, and it became a bit of a tradition.

Yesterday morning it was drizzling so I was riding a bit slower than normal. When I arrived at the stretch of road where the school kids were walking, I saw that instead of waving, the small group of boys seemed to be shouting something and waving their fists.

As I pulled abreast of them and slightly opened my helmet's face shield, I heard them clearly shouting "Itbah Al-Yahud" (death to the Jew!), and one of them tossed a rock, which passed over my head.

I guess they are learning more at school than just reading, writing and arithmetic. So sad.