(31.August) In a perverse twist, many find these sounds reassuring because they connote home. Switching into war mode might be easy for the Lebanese, as our geopolitical position has been one of decades-long contingency. We sit on a figurative volcano, waiting for the next eruption. The poor infrastructure left over by the civil war twenty-five years ago institutionalized a state of vigilance. We can now rely on generators when the electricity gets cut and private water distribution companies thrive during the summer. Paradoxically, Lebanon creates stability from chaos.