S words closer to home

Secretariat of my moshav/village.
You've heard of a fork in the road. This is a spoon in the road, on the goat path through the woods.
Stone stairs on the shvil (Hebrew for trail).
Sign for Ein Se'adim with lots of Ss.
Shafts of sun in Soreq Valley.

Savta's simcha (joy)

Savta means grandmother in Hebrew. Last year my sweet grandson came from Australia to stay in Jerusalem for fifty wonderful days together.


Sipping at a sloping fountain at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.
Samson at the pillars?!
Sink at the Science Museum, conveniently low for the young visitors.
Stirring seed and stone soup.

Snow

Memories of January's rare snowfall in my village.

Sun on my snowy street.
Shesek (Hebrew for loquat) fruit tree under snow.

Shawarma shop shut :-(

Today I was sorely disappointed, even shocked, to see my shawarma place shut. They were busy remodeling the little restaurant, which is conveniently right next to the bus stop at the Central Bus Station where we wait for the infrequent bus to my moshav. Starving after a long day in the city, I was so looking forward to watching this nice man shave the chicken meat off the turning skewer, stuff it in a pita, and add salads, humus, tehina, and French fries on top.
Sigh . . . My ever-present sesame bar had to suffice instead.

(Can you tell I'm practicing for tomorrow's ABC Wednesday bloggers' group theme of S words? )

"Make my day" award

The Jerusalem Hills area is honored to receive this award from Reader Will over in The Netherlands who writes with knowledge and love about her country and lots more.
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Award Rules
1) Award and link to 5 blogs that make you think and/or make your day.
2) Acknowledge the post of the award giver: Reader Wil
3) Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news!
Now the part I find hard... I could give this to many. All the blogs I visit make my day or I would not keep going back for more, but I'm told I can only pick 5.
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OK. There is a special place in my heart for the bloggers who stuck with me during my first feeble attempts at blogging just last February. They gave me the needed encouragement by reading and commenting, letting me know that someone was really out there when I clicked on "publish post" every night. I thank these new friends and encourage everyone to sample their fine writing and photos.

From Africa/Middle East: Cairo/Giza Daily Photo. Seeing how well Maryanne Stroud Gabbani shared her country with others was what inspired me to try the same with the Jerusalem Hills.
She answered my questions via e-mail and was like a mentor. Shukran!
From the U.S.A. : Musings writes with wisdom, great openness and truth, humor and courage. In a few weeks she will be moving back to Hawaii and we anticipate lovely photos from the islands.
From Tasmania, Australia: This will hurt me. . . Maybe, but the blog often gives me a big smile and laugh. Kris McCracken is a brilliant young man who cares deeply about his family, Oz, the world, and issues in society. Good photographer too.
From Pakistan: Lahore Daily Photo I have learned so much about Pakistan from the perceptive and caring young man called Destitute Rebel.
Of unknown provenance: The History Blog. "Livius Drusus" keeps us up to date on archaeology news (for one thing) with lots of wit. The running comment dialogues are most fun.

Bloggers of the world, unite!

Mongoose at my door!

One morning I was amazed to see an animal standing on hind legs, leaning on my screen door--a strange animal totally new to me. I tiptoed to the camera. By then he had gone down the three steps and was on the ground. Opening the door would have scared him away, so I had to take the picture through the screen. The tail was almost as long as the slender body, and it almost looked like the animal had quills (but which later turned out to be long, coarse hair).
The old-timers who have lived on this moshav since its founding in 1949 told me this was a "nemia." Armed with the Hebrew name, I could then be helped by Google to learn that my visitor was none other than an EGYPTIAN MONGOOSE.
When the moshav was still a collective agricultural village and not almost privatized like today, every household had to raise laying hens in huge numbers. Now only about a dozen chicken runs still operate. But this explains the presence of the nemiot. They love to eat eggs and chickens. Indeed, one often sees little piles of white left-over feathers in the woods.
Thankfully, the mongoose also catches snakes, rats, and mice. True, I have never seen rodents around my house, and but one snake. However, often at night I hear a four-legged upstairs neighbor in the space between my ceiling and roof, galloping back and forth or scratching furiously. The scientific literature claims that the mongoose is an agile and playful creature. Aha! Perhaps my nocturnal sounds mystery is solved!

The Indian mongoose was renowned for its swiftness in killing cobras. Rudyard Kipling's "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" was such a mongoose. For interesting history and facts on this critter see here, the Canadian Museum of Nature. Thanks to them for this drawing too.

Other bloggers are posting their animals today on Camera Critter Sunday. Have a look!

Day is done, gone the sun

The sun sets behind the Jerusalem Hills.
This is my beloved new home, a moshav (a [formerly] agricultural village) on the top of a hill just west of Jerusalem. . Shabbat shalom to you, may we all have a peaceful Sabbath.

You can enjoy lots of other skies around the globe today, Sky Watch Friday, at Wiggers World.

R is for rest

You all deserve a REST after all that reading of yesterday. Cya in the morning!
Shalom shalom.

R is for Reforestation (ABC Part 7)

Israel is the only country in the world that has more trees at the beginning of this year than it had last year.

The Keren Kayemet or Jewish National Fund has planted millions of trees over the decades to make Israel green.
Reforestation has given us this beauty right in our own backyard!

R is for reconstruction (ABC Part 6)

Restoration

Mary's Spring in the old village of Ein Kerem.

When a historic building has to be moved to a new location, it is taken apart stone by stone and then put together again. In Hebrew this process is called "shiatuk." Reconstruction in English?


Restoration of ancient pottery in the lab.
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R is for Rockefeller (ABC Part 5)

The wonderful old Rockefeller Museum of archaeology in east Jerusalem. Roman foot vs. Israeli foot.

R is for Regional (ABC Part 4)

Closer to home . . .
Returning home after grazing, with round and ready udders.
Reservoir and roundabout in the valley below.
Relaxing roof cat.
Rug beating.
Round moon rising over rocks.

R is for Reality (ABC Wednesday Part 3)

R is also for Israeli reality.
Riding horses in the Palm Sunday procession from the Mt. of Olives to the Old City. Mounted police are part of the security forces in old Jerusalem.


Riot police (Yasam units) on the ready for any trouble.
  "Remember." One of the plaques at the numerous sites of suicide bombings and terrorist acts, all over the city, many from the second intifada, naming the victims so they will be remembered.

Razor wire.
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R is for . . . (Part 2)

Red bus that takes tourists 'round Jerusalem.
Red raw meat with ribs, ready to buy in Shuk Machaneh Yehuda market.

R is for . . .

Rough deciding which R words to select for ABC Wednesday. So I'm going to try your patience and offer random Rs from Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Hills. Ready?

Ringable bells under roof of the Lutheran Church of the Ascension--Augusta Victoria on the Mt. of Olives.
Rotunda of the Ethiopian Church (Eastern Orthodox) near the center of Jerusalem.

Rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City.

Rainbow peace icon in the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Old City.

For other bloggers' ideas of R photos go to Mrs. Nesbitt's Place.
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Sundials

It's a rare day when you see two old sundials, and both within a short walk one from the other.
Today I discovered this one behind the big wall that hides Jerusalem's Anglican International School from the busy Prophets' Street.

"Until the day break and the shadows flee away" is from the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) 4:6.
On the other side the verse appears in the original Hebrew.


This building on Jaffa Street, across from the shuk, was built a hundred years ago.
There is still a synagogue inside.
The sundial, a full five meters in diameter, was made by one Moshe Shapira.
He was a self-taught astronomer who had made a study of the science according to the writings of Maimonides and the Gaon of Vilna.
For cloudy days two mechanical clocks were added.
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Grapes on the way

When I rented my little house a year and a half ago, an old and neglected grapevine in the yard was mostly on the ground. Last March my friend and neighbor decided to give it new life. While volunteering in Italy she had learned the art of pruning vines from the Italian farmers. She thought, counted, and expertly decided what to snip and cut. Then we stretched a wire and wound the vine around it.
Today the vine is thriving, spreading to the right and to the left for many meters. It is a pleasure to see right outside my window. Thanks, B.B.!
Look at these bunches of tiny grapes starting to grow!
In these parts people eat the leaves stuffed with rice and ground meat.
(Be sure to click on the photo to see it bigger.)

Chameleon hide-and-seek

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This photo really needs to be clicked on to see full size.

Slowly slowly the chameleon inches his way upward.

Other folks are posting their animals at Camera-Critter Sunday. Have a look.

An icon for Trinity Sunday and every day

Tomorrow Christians in Israel and the world will celebrate Trinity Sunday.

This medieval Russian icon is actually called the "Hospitality of Abraham."
It depicts the appearance of the three angels to Abraham and Sarah at the Oak of Mamre (as told in Genesis 18).
But over the centuries Abraham and Sarah stopped appearing in the icon and  it  become known, and seen, as the icon of the "Holy Trinity."

In his book Behold the Beauty of the Lord, Praying with Icons,  Henri Nouwen contrasts the two different approaches: "St. Benedict, who has set the tone for the spirituality of the West, calls us first of all to listen; the Byzantine fathers focus on gazing."

Nouwen points out that "Andrei Rublev painted this icon around 1425 . . . to offer his fellow monks a way to keep their hearts centered in God while living in the midst of political unrest."

Unrest? Hmm, that sounds familiar, like here and now in Israel.
Perhaps we all need to take a few minutes a day to quietly gaze into this icon.
Whether you see Abraham's three angels (as I do) or the three persons of the Trinity, this icon surely has something to show us.
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(Linking to inSPIREd Sunday meme.)
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