The Commute OR Me and My Mazda 5

I started working in Tel Aviv two weeks ago and have been commuting there twice per week. The drive takes about 75 minutes and usually gives me time to ponder, relax and enjoy.... and to stew a bit when the traffic backs up in Tel Aviv.
Around 7:30 I hop in to my car. I stop at the front gate to see if anyone needs a liftimToday I gave a lift to a fellow who just made aliyah to Neve Daniel a couple of weeks ago (I think he is part of the 7th family that made aliyah to Neve Daniel this summer).
Then I glide down from the heights of Neve Daniel to the Hebron Jerusalem road and make a left turn towards Jerusalem. I spend the next 5 minutes enjoying the sun gleaming on the Judean Hills and sharing the road with many donkeys carrying Arabs. For some reason I enjoy calling out Donkey everytime we pass one and when with the kids we all guess how many donkeys we will pass on the 10 minute ride to Jerusalem (usually about 4 or 5)
Then I turn left before entering the Tunnels and drive towards Beitar, a city of approximately 10,000 Hareidim living just over the Green Line. Shortly after passing Beitar I go through a machsom (checkpoint) and wave good mornings to the young soldiers manning their posts.
And then starts the most fun and beautiful part of the drive - the long winding descent to Beit Shemesh. The beauty of this section of the drive is so enjoyable. The danger on the road lies not in the tight winding turns but rather the possibility of missing one of these turns while you are enjoying the beautiful tree covered hills. During these drives it often strikes me how lucky we are to have moved to this beautiful country of ours. Somehow just viewing the beauty of our land gives me a feeling of wholeness and wellbeing. I must admist that the fun is enhanced by the comfort and handling of our new Mazda 5 which feels more like a car than a minivan.
About 20 minutes later I arrive in Beit Shemesh and turn right towards the main Jerusalem Tel Aviv highway. This highway usually backs up fairly close to Tel Aviv but it doesn't take too long. I wind my way to the Shalom Tower (about 400 feet tall and the tallest building in Tel Aviv for decades but it is now dwarfed by the real office towers of Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan). I park in a parking lot near the office which is paid for by my employer.
The trip home is similar but the views are altered as I now enjoy the fading light of the days as sunset is close to 6:30 now. I also get to enjoy some of the talk radio on the way home. I am able to gauge the improvements in my Hebrew as I am able to follow the conversations more and more. I turn on the air conditioning when I get in the car to go home as the temperature has been in the low 30s in Tel Aviv. As I ascend from Beit Shemesh to Gush Etzion I put the windows down and watch as the temperature guage drops to the low to mid 20s as I climb the hills and the sun sets behind them.
Although the 10 minute drive to Richmond Hill was surely easier, the 75 minute drive to Tel Aviv has its compensating factors. I guess over time I may be less enamoured with the trip especially when doing it on a daily basis but it will always be special to some extent.