Our Golan Heights on high alert

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Across the Sea of Galilee, the Israeli Golan Heights rises. 

Just a few weeks ago I accompanied two Christian friends from abroad to the holy sites around the lake.
It was peaceful and quiet and the many tourists on the shore were happy. 

East of the Golan, in Syria, Iran has been building up bases from which to attack Israel.
Their first attack came last night with a salvo of 20 missiles fired toward the Golan. 
Needless to say, Israeli responded swiftly. 

I hope you are following the news. 
There are many Israeli online news media sites that have all the details. 
A new phase is starting, and it doesn't look good.
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Wind-whipped palms

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You could tell the direction of this morning's cold strong wind by the direction of the palm branches. 
Despite the gray sky, the Negev did not get rained on.
Today's rain, and even some snow, fell more to the north. 

We visited Idan HaNegev, a big industrial park that is being built near the Bedouin city of Rahat. 
The huge SodaStream plant is already in operation there, and we got to go in to see and hear the machines and the workers.
More on that in future posts. 
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Winter skies, winter tree

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It's definitely winter now in Israel: rain clouds, bare branches, and jackets.
And fruit is growing on the sabras.
A picture from our trip to Zippori in the Lower Galilee last Wednesday.
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(Linking to Sky Watch Friday.)
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Gray on gray

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It was a cool gray day in Jerusalem today, with a few drops of rain.
Heavy clouds were sitting on Mt. Scopus at the end of the street.
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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In the pre-drone era

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Things were more primitive way back in 2010 when I took these pictures.
Before drones came into popular use, people used small helium balloons! 

Enlarge the photo with a few clicks and you will see the cables attached to the suspended camera.

Apparently the archaeologists and/or the architects and engineers needed aerial photography of this exciting and welcome new National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel.  
Back then the construction was just beginning; now it is almost completed. 

Our City Daily Photo bloggers group has our monthly Theme Day today.
The subject is Photographing the Photographer.
In my post you'll just have to imagine the photographer, down on earth holding the tether. 
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(Linking also to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Davening birds?

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This is the spot where I often walk out of Meitar and into Nature.
It was Friday just before sunset, Sabbath Eve, and all these birds were on the wire as if in a long prayer line. 

I approached quietly, slowly, respectfully; but there came a point at which they could no longer abide my presence.
And they took off. 

Shabbat shalom! 

(Linking to Camera Critters and to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Surprise clouds at sunset

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Not just here in the Negev desert, but all over Israel, July has been crazy hot.
One heat wave after another with no respite.
Temps in the high 30s (near 100 degrees F) in the shade (if you can find any shade). 
Even our nights are too warm, which is not normal. 

During my sunset walk I was treated to these strange clouds and, mercifully, the breeze began to blow. 
Our summer skies do not often have any clouds.
And the long hot rainless summer can last for eight months.  

Shabbat shalom! 
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Sinking sun between two trees

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Sunset in the desert just outside my town.
It was 7:15 pm.
Just before and after sundown is the coolest time to hike.
The Jewish day begins at sunset, not at midnight.
Now it is Friday night, the beginning of the Sabbath, so wishing you  Shabbat shalom.
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Watch the wind

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Walk four minutes down my street and you will abruptly be in the wilderness. 
Here's a little video I made on a windy afternoon, just because the golden grass was rippling in waves so gracefully.
What was all green during the winter rains now becomes golden and soon, in the long dry summer everything will be brown. 

When I walk alone in the desert at this season I can't help but sing an appropriate song from my youth:

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin' lazy circles in the sky.

We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!

 -- from the musical Oklahoma! by Oscar Hammerstein 

You can hear it on YouTube. 

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 (As you may have guessed, I'm linking to ABC Wednesday's O Day and to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Still green, to the flock's delight

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Sheep grazing next to Meitar Forest!
(Enlarge the photo to see them better.)
For this lovely scene I have only to walk five minutes from my place here in the Negev town of Meitar.
I've lived here for several years and go out hiking often, but this is only the second time that I have sighted the flock.
The first time was in this post, where you can meet the young Bedouin shepherd and his charges.
Shabbat shalom.
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday and Camera Critters.)
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Free range organic farm

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Friday a neighbor-friend picked me up and we drove out to visit a big organic farm and to buy goat yogurt, white cheese, and labaneh.
This mega-dog was in a paddock with some bucks and rams.

Many of the cattle were basking in the warm sun.
It is not often that you see free-range cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens these days.
It made me happy.

Only the parrots were enclosed.

The view from the farm's dairy and shop has changed since I was there last summer.
The West Bank (which starts just across the road) is now behind a concrete separation wall.

The security fence and/or wall is not yet finished.
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(Linking to Camera Critters and SkyWatch Friday.)
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Up out of the fog, into the sunlight!

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The river flows right next to the Community of Grandchamp, a canal diverts some water through and even under the monastery, and we are also close to Lake Neuchatel.
Having all this water around, the air is saturated with humidity for many months during the gray winter.
Sometimes the nuns just get the urge to drive upward in search of the sun.

And last Sunday we did!
First you go up the Jura Mountains a few hundred meters and enter a dense band of fog.

The band of fog is even worse than our misty greyness down on the plain.

But finally, at about 1,300 meters up, you come out into the bright sunlight!   Yay!

And as the hotel's name promises, at the top you have a view of the spectacular Alps way on the other side of Switzerland!

If you enlarge the photo you see the jagged alpine peaks in the distance and the rounded Jura mountains in the foreground; the white stuff in between is fog.

Lots of beautiful places to hike to.

Just across the cattle guard, one of  the trails ascends.

It was freezing cold windy up there, but look at all the Swiss folks climbing up there!
The ski lift is on top.  But no snow.
It's OK. We'd rather see sun than snow.
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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The ALPS appeared today!!

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The glorious Alps were showing this afternoon!!

I've been here in Switzerland exactly two weeks and today was the first time the Alps appeared.
It takes special atmospheric conditions for the mountains to become visible so far away.
Enlarge the photos with a few clicks and feast your eyes!

On our noon break I walked quickly down to the beach to get a good view.
"Quickly" because sometimes they disappear exactly during your 15-minute walk to Lake Neuchatel.

The Community of Grandchamp is on the west side of Lake Neuchatel.
See how far the Alps are?
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Dina crossing the Alps!

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Goodbye for a little while, dear coastline of Israel!

Thursday afternoon we flew over the Mediterranean and a huge pillar of cloud appeared.

Soon after flying over Venice we  were over the stupendous Alps!

Cruising at 38,000 feet, we had ice crystals on the outside of the windows.

The meandering river was already in Switzerland.

Dam! A big dam on the river.
And in minutes we were landing in Geneva.

More tomorrow about where I am volunteering.
(Linking to SkyWatch Friday, of course!)
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A monster in the sky??

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One of the vintage 1985 houses on my street is getting a thorough redo. 
Yesterday afternoon a cement mixer truck and this red extra tall cement pump were working for hours. 
I guess it has to be that tall to reach safely over the electric wires. 
Meitar's neighborhoods that were built after Stage Alef and Stage Bet have all their wires and infrastructure underground. 
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Moon over Meitar

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The moon gets so big so quickly, no?
This picture of the crescent moon with some planet under it is from just two weeks ago, and tonight our moon is full and harvest-y. 

You see people in Meitar's athletic field, a grassy soccer field surrounded by an oval running track. 
On the left is our new "Culture House" and next to it Meitarim School. 
You can click a few times to enlarge the photos. 
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Meitar from afar

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Here's the 6:00 pm summer-blue sky over my town in the Negev desert.

And this is the same angle but from a higher elevation, after we walked up a hill.
If you enlarge the photo, you can see our Northern Neighborhood on the right.
It was the first section of Meitar, begun in 1984.
To the left is the Southern Neighborhood, which followed.
Off in the distance is Hura, a Bedouin town about three times bigger than Meitar in population.
Meitar has over 8,000 souls.
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Shabbat shalom and happy Sky Watch Friday.
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Holiday fireworks in Meitar video

Happy 68th Independence Day, Israel!
Wednesday night at sundown we made the transition from sad Remembrance Day to happy Independence Day.
 Here's a little video of  fireworks in the center of my little town in the Negev, as seen from a friend's roof on the edge of town.
You can hear one of the many neighborhood dogs barking in protest against the explosive noise.

Chag Atsmaut  sameach -- happy Independence Day!
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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Jane's Walk tours in Beer Sheva

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Four tall buildings are going up on a small, formerly quiet residential street in Beer Sheva's Gimel Neighborhood.
And the neighbors, the old-timers, are not happy about it.

This afternoon the worldwide Jane's Walk citizen-guided walking tours began in Beer Sheva.
More over the weekend.
Check the link to find a Jane's Walk in your area.
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(Linking to Sky Watch Friday.)
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Scouting out the land

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Hikers on a hill and a bird in the sky.
On the outskirts of  Beer Sheva.
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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