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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Seeking shade and shadows

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Here is our tour group attentively listening to the guide, standing in the interesting shadows (for Shadow Shot Sunday) of a "viewing pergola."
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The Sherover Promenade was built in 1989.
Its architects describe it thus:

This promenade overlooks the Old City of Jerusalem, parts of western Jerusalem and a great sweep of the Judean Desert. Its 1,350 meter long walk is used by both Jews and Arabs as well as tourists and pilgrims to Jerusalem. Its quiet gardens, planted with agricultural species such as wheat and olives, and its many viewing pergolas, create an atmosphere of peace and beauty in which to enjoy this unique and world-famous site. The garden contrasts sharply with the desert which begins immediately at its feet, and provides an elegant transition from the city to the classic views of Jerusalem.

Great photos of the tayelet at the landscape architect's website!

A second big tayelet in the area is the Haas or Armon HaNatsiv Promenade , a favorite of tourists riding Segways.

On the far left the Old City is visible.
Enlarge the photo and you can see the golden Dome of the Rock shining.
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Above the Arab villages is the Mt. of Olives on the horizon, left.
Just beyond the ridge on the right lies the Judean Desert, the Dead Sea, and the Kingdom of Jordan.
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Strolling along the tayelet in evening or early morning sounds like a nice summer activity, so I add it to Robin's Summer Stock Sunday.
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Views from Mt. Scopus

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The natural place to get closest to the sky in Jerusalem in on Mount Scopus/Mount of Olives, with its elevation of 2710 feet or 826 meters.

So, for SkyWatch Friday here is the sky and the land in all directions as seen from this highest point.

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East--the Judean Desert

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Southwest--the Temple Mount (enlarge to find the golden Dome of the Rock) inside the Old City
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Northwest--the tall mast of the Calatrava bridge, at the western entrance to Jerusalem, is on the skyline at the right.
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South--A-Tor and the tall Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension.
Herodion is visible on the horizon.
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Under, on, and next to the bridges

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Somewhere in central Israel, somewhere between Jerusalem and Megiddo . . .

folks in the bus must have wondered why I was snapping so many pictures of "boring" bridges.

But this was a bridge with a tiny house being transported beneath it,

and this one with a Magnum ice cream truck on it,

and behind this one, some major construction was starting, in the middle of nowhere.

And one single bridge had actual greenery under it.

Could it really be spanning some water?!

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Bon dimanche to Louis la Vache and all the bloggers at his Sunday Bridges.

Go take a look; there are some REAL bridges there!

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Jerusalem sky full of cranes

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The skyline of "new" Jerusalem (as opposed to the walled Old City of Jerusalem) is forever full of cranes, the one-legged kind.

(Photo is clearer when clicked upon)
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This is a rare vista from the roof of the French Hospital St. Louis which is in east Jerusalem, across the street from the Old City's New Gate. (Rare because the public is not allowed inside the old hospital, let alone onto its roof; but I was part of a special Yad Ben-Zvi tour.)
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The tower you see in the center is part of the YMCA. To its left stands the stately King David Hotel.
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Tonight and tomorrow bloggers worldwide will be showing off their skies. Visit them at SkyWatch Friday.

Looking east

Yesterday I thought only cats were cat-napping in the warm sun. Today this human did the same, just outside the Jaffa Gate.
What do you suppose? Was he
1. A Northern European "sun-worshipper"?
2. A tired tourist?
3. A patient husband waiting for his wife to finish shopping in the Old City bazaar?
We were lucky today to have good visibility.

From the Tower of David at Jaffa Gate we could see all of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, and clear over to the mountains of Moab and Edom in the Kingdom of Jordan. Over there is Mt. Nebo where Moses died.

In the deep Rift Valley between Jordan and Israel lies the Dead Sea.

If you click on the photo you can see the faint line of mountains just at the level of the crane arm.