Moonrise, sunset, colors, silence

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The light and colors were beautiful when I went walking just outside of town tonight between 7 and 8 pm! 
I had the whole desert all to myself. 

Meitar Forest is always green. 

The dry season is beginning and all the green grasses have turned golden. 

In the east -- moonrise over Meitar. 

In the west -- sunset. 
And to all a good night. 
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Where'd everybody go?

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I've been negligent lately in my blogging and blog-visiting, but I have an excuse!
I've been preparing for, partly hosting, and then emotionally recovering from an all-too-short visit of my family from Australia.

Under welcome clouds and a welcoming committee of birds, my Naomi, Dean, Eyal, and Libby and I walked over to our local "desert." 

It was the day of the Sukkot holiday, so everyone else must have been dwelling in their sukkas or away on vacation or napping, because we were the only ones out and about. 
Imagine having the whole Meitar Forest to yourself for your picnic.

Then we headed home on the dusty Israel Trail.

Naomi had everyone hose off the dust from their shoes and feet, because the very next day they would  be starting the long journey back, flying from Tel Aviv east to Hong Kong and then another long flight south to Sydney. 

So for ABC Wednesday, N is for Naomi and her husband, (who had to continue on to some professional conferences in Europe) and their kids who were nice enough to come north to visit.
But for not nearly enough time. 
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(Linking also to Our World Tuesday.)

More about the old forester's tower

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 Just to finish the report from my previous two posts about the dedication of Mitzpe Noam, a new forest lookout and monument for fallen soldier Noam Rosenthal, here are better shots of some "ruins" which share the hilltop.  
Many readers were asking about the barbed wire.

A little bit of barbed wire was recently put around the abandoned cabin to discourage further graffiti and desolation.

I can't find much information online but apparently in the mid-1980s when the community of Meitar was begun and the Meitar Forest was planted, a forest ranger was stationed on the highest hill, with a lookout tower to watch from and a simple cabin to live in. 

Before the addition of barbed wire, I once went inside the old house and snooped around.
It feels quite mysterious and full of history.
If you enlarge some of the photos, you might get the feeling. 

I heard rumors that the Keren Kayemet/Jewish National Fund afforestation authority plans to renovate the place, especially now that Mitzpe Noam is completed right next to it, and open it as a way-station for Israel Trail through-hikers to overnight in. 

Let's see what happens . . . 
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Our new place to pause on the Israel Trail

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And now about the February 10 dedication of Mitzpe Noam that I started to tell you about in the previous post.

Many, I think more than a hundred, came to honor Noam Rosenthal and his family.
Noam was a son of Meitar, our town.

Noam was only 20 when mortars killed him along with four other soldiers on July 31, 2014 during the 50-day fight with Gaza.

His mother, father, brother, friend, and his commander,  the mayor, and a representative from Keren Kayemet gave moving speeches.
There was hardly a dry eye in the audience.
Then the red ribbon was ceremoniously cut above the stone compass which shows one of Noam's favorite sayings: "Live always says northward."

His chevreh, a tight-knit group of  fine young men (seen in the photo) who every Friday evening would get together on this hilltop and make music, wrote moving things on the rock about Noam's legacy, how they would always think of him and miss him.

His family wrote these words about memory and memories.

Noam's favorite instrument was the piano; he played mainly classical music.
And so they designed this meeting place in the shape of a grand piano.

I hiked back to the Noam Overlook a few days ago and found it being enjoyed by a few families.

This is the view from the edge of town.
Mitzpe Noam is on top of the hill.
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday, hoping wars will someday not be a part of our world.
And for ABC Wednesday, the letter G is for a grieving family and a good boy, gone from us.)

UPDATE Jan. 2019:  The place now has a sign:

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Former forest ranger's camp

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In honor of F day over at ABC Wednesday, feast your eyes on this fresh fruit!

Friday was the Tu BiShvat holiday and food filled the long table.
A new lookout was being dedicated in memory of a fallen soldier, but more about that in the next post.

The former forester's watchtower and hut reminded us of the early days of Meitar, founded in the early 1980s.

The overlook on the high hill in the forest now looks down on our town of almost 9,000 and Meitar is still growing.
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Hiking the forest on Tu BiShvat

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Hello again.   Happy Tu BiShvat!
Today on the Hebrew calendar it is the 15th of Shvat, which according to ancient Jewish law is considered the birthday or New Year for our fruit trees.
In modern Israel it has become a happy day of going out into nature and enjoying the now-blooming wildflowers, and some groups plant young saplings.
As you see in this photo, the leafy trees are still in their winter leafless stage, but spring will soon come!
Our town is lucky to have the Meitar Forest right in our "backyard."
Many of us were out hiking in the hills today.

At one picnic spot we chanced to meet this couple.
They came from the American Midwest to hike the Israel Trail, which goes right through our forest.
They did not camp right here but had only put up the tent to let it dry from the morning dew while Turkish coffee was being boiled.
Good luck to these brave young souls!

Gotta love modern technology -- charging the cell phone with solar power!

You can learn more about Tu BiShvat customs (there is even a seder meal!) in my previous posts.
And there is more about the 950-kilometer-long Israel Trail, including a map, in these other posts.
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The memory of trees and of water

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An ancient place of water in the desert is now inside  Meitar Forest.
A modern cautious person must have rolled a stone on it to reduce possible danger to hikers. 

Deep . . . 
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Today is World Water Day , coming a day after  International Day of Forests.
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