Thursday, February 26, 2015

Hail, hail, the gang's all here*

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My kids all came to Israel for the week of Feb. 9-15 for their father's funeral.
That was the week of wild weather -- dust storms, thunder and lightning, and to the north snow.


We left Tel Aviv soaked and bedraggled after gale force winds and driving rain caught us on the way to the train.
Here son Edo holds hailstones that awaited us at our destination on that last day together, the new Elma hotel**.
But he was also squinting because the sun had come out.  Go figure.


Here is the view from the hotel, which hugs the southern slopes of the Mount Carmel range.


And looking to the other direction, inland.


West of the greenhouses and fish ponds and farm fields -- the dark blue of a wavy Mediterranean Sea.


Lots of agriculture.   (All the photos can be enlarged with a click or two.)


The weather changed back and forth rapidly in the 24 hours that we stayed at the hotel.
This dark and threatening sky was at 3:00 in the afternoon. 


Then just two hours later came this beautiful light.
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*One version of the 1917 tune: 
(listen on YouTube at the link)

"Hail, hail, the gang's all here,
Never mind the weather, here we are together;
Hail, hail, the gang's all here,
Sure we're glad that you're here, too!"
 . . .
**UPDATE: Just published in XNet/Ynet!: stunning aerial photos of Elma hotel now and as it was in 1968, when it was Mivtachim (a rest & recreation place of the Histadrut).\!  Also interior shots.

(Linking of course to SkyWatch Friday! )
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18 comments:

  1. Quite a lot of greenery surrounding there- and such dramatic skies. Little surprise that it could lead to inclement weather.

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  2. Your country, beautiful as always! <3 it!

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  3. Some really beautiful views! I am sure the weather will get better soon...

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  4. Lovely views of the country and the pretty sky. Happy Skywatching!

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  5. I've been hearing about the crazy weather from friends with family in Israel and friends in Israel. I'm sorry for sad reason your children came to visit, but glad you had time to spend with them.

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  6. looks like how its been here minus the hail. similar skies but nice to see what it looks like there :-)

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  7. Wonderfull fields agriculture, and a pretty sky,greeting from Belgium.

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  8. I am sorry that the family had to come together for such a sad occasion. I lost my husband 18 mtgs ago . . .
    Lovely changing skies and and fertile lands. If I did not know that your country needs the rain as much as mine, I could almost envy you. We only had one brief rain event during this long extremely hot summer.

    I am glad you could 'enjoy' at least this one week with your children around you.

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  9. It must have been good to see all of your children together. The hotel has really changed over the years - much greener surroundings now.

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  10. Beautiful views, Dina !
    I like the green and the sky in the last pic, not so much the hail...

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  11. Dina, I did not get that it was your son in the photo, and the caption was extremely clear! I'm getting old...

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  12. Vad fint att få se dina bilder. Har inte varit där förut.
    Tack för att du visar.
    Ha en fin fredag
    Meta

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  13. Last week we had snow and today 27c
    Shabat Shalom DINA.

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  14. Sadness for your family and beauty of the land to remind us that life goes on. What beautiful photos!

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  15. Beautiful country with beautiful views.

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  16. It's so wonderful to see handsome Edo again. Hail and sun? Very interesting. Maybe Edo is used to it coming from the west coast.

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