Life in the gutter

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A gutter on the go in a back alley of Jerusalem -- for ABC Wednesday G-day.
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Seeing it made me start singing the kid song:
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"The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Up came the sun and dried up all the rain,
and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again. "

The good old tinsmith does wonders with his mallet.
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(Yes, it's a photo from winter. We are still in the 30s C every day this August. I can hardly wait for winter!)

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An enclosed garden in the middle of new Jerusalem

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Come, step through the (almost always locked) little door in the big gate, enter a hidden garden.

The monastery wall separates you from busy Agron Street, the big hotels, and modern Jerusalem.

The church was built from the 1880s until 1927.

The convent, school, guest hostel, and church belong to the Catholic Arab women's order called the Congregation of the Rosary Sisters.

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More about them in my earlier post.

Sit in the shade of an old olive tree

and enjoy the lovingly-tended gardens.

A scarecrow in a keffiyeh guards the sisters' vegetable garden!

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Hope you enjoyed today's visit in the secret garden for That's My World Tuesday.

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Bench for catnaps

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The neighborhood stray cats have taken over the young neighbors' little sitting corner.

It is too hot for the kitties to do much else than snooze in the shade.
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A peaceful picture for Camera-Critter Sunday.
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Action above and below-ground

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A battle in the skies of Jerusalem?!
Who will win, the mast of Calatrava's Bridge of Strings or the giant cranes?
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The cranes are working in a deep pit that we saw in a previous post.
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The crane's shadow, for Shadow Shot Sunday, suddenly curves as it hits the side wall of the 80-meter-deep pit.
There is a big machine near the air hose. I think they are starting to bore a tunnel for the future high speed Tel Aviv-Jerusalem train.
This hole will someday be the train station, and it will double as a bomb shelter.
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The bridge, or at least the top part of it, is for Louis la Vache's Sunday Bridges.

The sabra passes hands

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I love this photo.
The Muslim opens a sabra for a nun while the Jew takes their picture.

During sabra season, this Arab woman sits on the ground at Denmark Square in Jerusalem

and sells the sabras she has brought from home.

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At prayer time she spreads a little rug among the bushes and prays.

She is the only Muslim woman I have ever seen praying in public.

I like her. Someday I will find a way to open a conversation.

So far it has only been, "Please, may I take a picture of you and the sister and the sabra, no faces?"

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In yesterday's post, readers and I talked about sabras and Sabras.

But you know, tsabar is originally an Arabic word; it was adopted by modern Hebrew.

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Sabra cactus can grow to five meters tall and is also very wide.

Arab farmers used to plant them in rows as living fences against intruders.

Whenever I am out hiking and come across a straightish line of sabras "in the middle of nowhere," I can guess that there might have been a village there around the middle of the previous century.

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Sabras--the taste of summer

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It's sabra season!

I tried to get a picture of a big sabra cactus through the bus window and ended up with a bonus--a reflection for James' Weekend Reflections.
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My neighbor was outside on his steps peeling the prickly pears, so I went over to watch and to sample some sabras.
He himself is a Sabra (a native-born Israeli), so since childhood he has known how to pick and peel this fruit of the cactus.

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I asked to learn his secrets of painless preparation of the fruit:

1. Pick them at 5:oo in the morning when the thorns are still soft from the dew.

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2. Put them on the ground, turn on the garden hose, and brush them with a stiff broom.

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3. You can then also soak them in water for a further softening of the remaining stickers.

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4. Hold the sabra in one protected hand, as illustrated.

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5. Cut off the top and bottom of the fruit.

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6. Make a cut from top to bottom.

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7. Reach in and pull out the slippery bare fruit with your bare hand.

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8. Bless and eat (and pray that no barb gets stuck in your finger, or worse yet, your tongue).

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Trees in a row, happy for dusk

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Enlarge and see the silhouettes all in a row.

The sun had just gone down behind the farthest ridge, across the valley from my hill, giving each individual tree a nice silhouette.

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Sunset is a blessed moment, a waited-for and welcome turning point after long hot days of relentless summer sunshine. For people and animals for sure; maybe even for trees?

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More skies of the world over at Sky Watch Friday.

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A bike lane, in Jerusalem?!

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Jerusalem is going to have a dedicated bicycle lane??
Hard to believe!
The pictures of bikes along the new sidewalk is a good sign though.

As we saw in yesterday's post, Jaffa Street is getting ready to have its first-ever tram, in April inshallah.
The new sidewalk has been made, trees have been planted, and little shelters for future tram riders have been built.
In the photo above, the light rail tracks are to the left of the station.

Here's how that part of Jaffa Street looked in December 2008 when the rails were still above ground.
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This is the way I often walk from the Central Bus Station to the Mahaneh Yehuda market.
It is faster to walk than to sit in a bus that is trapped by the congestion of having only one or two lanes open for traffic.
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Living in Jerusalem takes a lot of patience.
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You know, I'm thinking now . . . they probably are making a bike path in order to keep bike riders off the tram lane.
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Dressing the poles

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The tram/light rail is making progress toward its predicted April completion date.
All up and down Jaffa Street I saw cosmetic touches being made, before my very eyes!

The poles that will supply the overhead electricity for the trams got beautified!
First the two workmen wrapped a skirt around the base.
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Then, with drill in hand, they wrapped her--I mean IT--with the top part of the crenelated skirt that slid down and got tucked into the base
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Ta-da!

Complete with beautiful decoration--the lion of Judah, symbol of the Jerusalem Municipality.

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Fuel for faith's flame

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When next you see a flame of faith lighting the darkness,

give a thought to my friends who freed up time to fill flasks of fuel for the vigil lamps.

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Fondly posted for F-day at ABC Wednesday.

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Water + shade

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A black cat finds shade under the table near the monastery's fruit trees.

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For today's That's My World Tuesday let's drive north to the Sea of Galilee, to the Greek Orthodox monastery and Church of the Seven Apostles.

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Quoting Wikipedia,

"The church marks the site of the ancient village of Capernaum . . . . The village is frequently mentioned in the Gospels and was Jesus' main base during his Galilean ministry. It is referred to as Jesus' own city and a place where he lived. It was in the synagogue of Capernaum where he first started to preach."

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But for the last month Israel has been suffering from an intense heat wave, and the only salvation Israelis and many tourists seek right now is how to be saved from the blazing sun.

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We are obsessed with finding enough shade to keep from fainting and enough liquids to keep from getting dehydrated.

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You smile along with these stones when you discover the little outdoor spigot with a cup chained to it and the reassuring painting which invites you to drink free potable cool-ish water.

What does the sign say in Greek, anyone know?
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This thick tree makes a natural canopy and mercifully shades peacocks and pilgrims alike.
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Bridge over the Citadel moat

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It is very little, but it is a bridge.
And today it is for Louis la Vache's Sunday Bridges.

The wooden bridge crosses the dry moat around Jerusalem's Citadel, also (erroneously) called the Tower of David.

Here's a shot from the other side.

You pass through the ornamental gate, cross the bridge, and enter the Citadel.

Antiquities inside date back to the 2nd century BCE, but most of what we see today is from the Medieval period.

After the Ottoman victory in the 16th century, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who also built the present Old City walls, constructed the monumental entrance.

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Mega mister

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Israel is starting our 4th straight week of ridiculous temperatures averaging ten degrees C above the normal.
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At Yardenit, near the Sea of Galilee, it was well above 43 C or 109 F in the shade; so the management turned on a big mister fan for the poor tourists.
I think that's what you call it.
It made shpritzim in a huge wind.

Blogger friend Robin* started a meme called Summer Stock Sunday.
The theme is activities and memories of summer.
I think the hottest August in recorded history is what we Israelis will remember about the summer of 2010.
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Wish I had that huge misting fan at home . . .
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*Robin and her family drove up to visit my village last April. That was a sweltering day too, but fun to meet them for the first time.
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Losing his grip

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Surprise surprise! I turned on the light and found this little guy trying in vain to climb out of my bathroom sink.

After taking a video of his brave and energetic but futile efforts, I gave him a boost up and out.
He ran behind the washing machine. Fine with me.
He is welcome to stay.
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The fly swatter made a pretty pattern for Shadow Shot Sunday and my little animal friend is good for Camera-Critters.
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To see a big green perfectly camouflaged outdoor-type chameleon, click here.
And one which lost half its tail is here. And another whatever-they-are-called on my ceiling.
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UPDATE! Wikipedia has a whole very interesting article about the Mediterranean house gecko or more commonly Turkish Gecko as it is represented in its Latin name Hemidactylus turcicus.
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UPDATE 2016:  National Geographic's explanation on the gecko's difficulty in the sink.
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Dutch tulips in Jerusalem?

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The two signs on the side of this van was what I was after at the time, in 2008.
Had I known that James would start his Weekend Reflections meme in the future, I would have focused more on the car windows.
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This is what the Hebrew means in English.
Reflected is Christ Church and their guest house, located in the Old City near Jaffa Gate.
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It is the oldest Protestant church in the Middle East, built in 1849.

Inside the glass showcase you can read some of their history.
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For ideological reasons, Christ Church is not my favorite place, but they DO have an unusual little bench inside the guest house.

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Blue gets monotonous

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This is the countryside of our Jerusalem Hills, also known as the Hills of Judea.

Ancient agricultural terrace walls all around.

Summer means blue cloudless skies and lots of heat.

Summer knows no green on the ground, only dry brown.

The rains end around March and begin again only in late September or October.

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SkyWatch Friday posts are pretty boring here at Jerusalem Hills daily photo during the long hot summer.

Be patient.

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Sitting inside history

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Just behind the Old City ramparts stands the ancient Citadel.
Now, for the first time in thousands of years, it no longer serves a strategic purpose.
Also known as the Tower of David, this fort has been turned into the museum for the history of Jerusalem.
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I went searching for benches in the Citadel courtyard.

This one sits inside the remains of a tower, part of the city fortifications from the Second Temple period (1st century of the Common Era).
This tower was built on an even earlier tower.

If you'd like more shade, try sitting under the olive tree.

You could sit for hours, just enjoying the uniqueness of each stone in the wall and in the ground.

Nearby, the postern leads to a secret passageway connecting the moat to the interior of the Citadel.

The herb garden is in memory of Nehama and Menache Mani.

The benches are just beyond that solitary arch.

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From the tower, the view of the courtyard and of old and new Jerusalem and beyond is fantastic!

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Environmental education, eco-tourism, encounters

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Eco-tourism, environment, ecology, and education are good starters for ABC Wednesday's E-Day.

The Jerusalem Bird Observatory is a wild acre in a prime location at the heart of the city.
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Even its buildings are ecologically sound, very "green."
See the roof of the Visitors Center? It looks like a prairie!
When the winter rains come that will all hopefully be green and flowering.
It is a real "living building."

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Enlarge the photo and you can see the red tile roofs of the Nachlaot neighborhood in the distance.

Inside the bird watching hide.
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Here is what everybody was looking at.
Birds on the trees, birds on the birdbath and the feeder.
There is also a pond out there.
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Behind this special wall will be nest boxes and bat boxes.
You can see flecks of bright colors. These are the recycled colored bottle caps the material is made of!

Behind the rustic bench, the new gift shop offers nature books and T shirts, maps, and many nice things for kids too.
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The JBO is the national bird-banding (ringing) center. In fact, they have a USAID grant for a joint Israeli-Palestinian ringing project.

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Let's let their website explain:

"The JBO has four main goals: (1) environmental education (2) conservation research (3) eco-tourism (4) creation of a common forum for Jews, Christians, and Moslems. This project is the first of its kind in Israel and promises to fill a vital role currently lacking in Jerusalem's environmental framework."

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"Birds know no geographical nor religious boundaries. Their conservation and the pleasure they offer are a true common denominator that can bring people together: Jews, Christians and Moslems.

The JBO is situated physically and symbolically in the heart of Jerusalem, between two of the most important institutions in the State of Israel: the Knesset and the Supreme Court.

The JBO serves as a meeting place for people from all religions willing to practice tolerance between one another and towards the environment.

By promoting joint conservation and educational projects, the JBO is a useful tool for bringing people together. "

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More photos, more birds, at the 21c Israelity blog.

And a good video, 3 minutes, at YouTube, including the new-born babies of the JBO's resident porcupine!

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Wall anchors of Jerusalem

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Stars on Beit Tavor, 1889, built and lived in by architect Conrad Schick.

It is That's My World Tuesday, so let's take a walk through Jerusalem and search for wall anchors.

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"An anchor plate or wall washer is a large plate or washer connected to a tie rod or bolt. Anchor plates are used on exterior walls of masonry buildings, for structural reinforcement. Being visible, many anchor plates are made in a style that is decorative."

-- Wikipedia

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Here is an S-shaped one on a house. See it, on the left?

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BTW, the spire belongs to San Salvador, the monastery we saw in my Aug. 14 post.

This is the view of the steeple from inside the Christian Quarter of the Old City.
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Horseshoe-shaped anchors on the old Hansen's Hospital (Jesus Hilfe).

I think the technical name for these is patress plates.

Anybody know?

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Then there are the plain rectangular anchors, like these on a back building inside Notre Dame de Sion, the convent of the Sisters of Zion in Ein Kerem.

A house in Ein Kerem.

Oi!

The big medical equipment-lending volunteer organization called Yad Sarah had its humble beginnings in this old house.

The anchors are way up by the roof.

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Wall anchors hold together the old hotel just inside Jaffa Gate, inside the Old City.

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Reader Wil once blogged about wall anchors in Europe.

She asked if we had them in Jerusalem too.

This post is the answer for her.

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