A young olive tree in a roundabout

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Meitar has many roundabouts and each one has its own beauty and character.
One single olive tree.
It will grow.

Shabbat shalom and happy Earth Day.
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Meitar = tent cords for lengthening

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The yellow part of this sculpture symbolizes the cord of a tent.
This cord or rope is known in Hebrew as a meitar.
Meitar is the name that was chosen for my town when it was first planned in 1984.  

The prophet Isaiah told us to

 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations, spare not; lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. 

 הַרְחִיבִי מְקוֹם אָהֳלֵךְ, וִירִיעוֹת מִשְׁכְּנוֹתַיִךְ יַטּוּ--אַל-תַּחְשֹׂכִי; הַאֲרִיכִי, מֵיתָרַיִךְ, וִיתֵדֹתַיִךְ, חַזֵּקִי.
  --  (Isaiah 54:2)

You can even see the tent and cord expressed in our logo.

The vision of Meitar's founders was to build a mixed community, a mix of  all kinds of Jews (Ashkenazim, Sepharadim, religious, and non-religious) and even some Muslim Bedouins, with all working and living together in a constructive and warm community spirit.
Openness and acceptance--it is our way of "enlarging the place of our tent" and make it welcoming, with true desert hospitality.
It is an enlarging of our own heart, too.

This is what makes me feel that Meitar, a little town in the Negev desert,  is the place where I belong.

And this is today's challenge for March 1 Theme Day in our City Daily Photo community; see where other bloggers around the world feel at home at City Daily Photo.

Play with Google Maps, especially Earth map, to see how Meitar is kind of in the middle of nowhere.  :-)
Shalom!
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Sitting with a cello

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My town, Meitar, has many roundabouts and each one has something beautiful in it.

But my favorite is the cellist.

Enlarge the photos and you'll see she is sitting on two wooden boxes.

( B word for ABC Wednesday.)
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Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light / What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

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The setting sun glowed tonight through an Israeli flag.
The roundabout at the center of Meitar has been decked out with flags for the last month.

The sun dips into the Mediterranean Sea, along the beaches of the Gaza Strip, which is about 30 miles or 50 km west of my town.

We are in the third day of a 3-day ceasefire.
If we awake to Red Alert sirens early tomorrow morning you will know that Hamas did not extend the ceasefire, and we will be watching the sky for in-coming rockets.
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Linking to Sky Watch Friday.
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UPDATE Friday morning:  Promptly at 8:00 am Hamas renewed their rocket fire.
In the last two hours 20 rockets were fired at our south. 
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Still-bare trees and soon a dog park

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Every roundabout in Meitar has a different centerpiece.
This one has two silk floss trees with sharp spikes on the trunk.
If you enlarge the photo you can see what looks like big cotton balls hanging from the branches.
So far they are slow in getting their leaves back, but soon the trees will be like the silk floss tree I showed you in August, full of flowers.
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In back of the traffic circle is Gan HaZeitim, Olive Tree Park.
Inside it,  the local council is planning to build a dog park.
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