SNOW at last!

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(All photos can be enlarged with a click and then another click.)

"Shalom and welcome! I'm the banana-mouthed snowman of Dina's village in the Jerusalem Hills!"

YES,  SNOW!!
For the first time in five years, our moshav woke up to a white winter wonderland.

Here's the other side of my street.

This is the first and only time I saw chains on a car wheel in Israel.
Wait a minute--are those paperclips??

In the foreground is my yard; on the far horizon to the right, Jerusalem sits in a cloud of its own snow.

By late morning the temperature was rising to above freezing and wet snow started sliding off trees onto my neck.   brrr!

The sun came out for a few minutes and I saw some blue sky for the first time this week.

Oops.  Who's got a chainsaw to open the path?

The red geranium didn't know what hit it.

Nor did the ktalav, the Eastern Strawberry tree.

The olive trees were straining under the weight of wet snow.

The green grass of winter looked so bright in the sunlight.

After 2.5 hours of picture-taking I came home and the precipitation was already becoming  more like rain.
But Jerusalem was again visible across the valley.
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It was impossible for me to get into the city because the buses stopped running.
But you can see Jerusalem snow pictures in the newspapers:
The Times of Israel
Jerusalem Post
And about the weather damage all over the country:  Ynet
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Return of the rain!

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Rain! The sweet smell and feel of light rain finally returned to the Jerusalem Hills. We have not seen any rain for about half a year, which is normal. That's why it is so exciting to see it now, in its season. Here are some scenes from yesterday's walk through the woods, down just two terraces from my house.
The acorns and the olives were all wet and glistening.

The cypress had bright leaves, "bombelach" (cones), and even yellow flowers.

The thirsty lichens seemed to be drinking it all in.

Pines were dripping.

And the swirled wood of the ktalav (Arbutus) was even more shiny and smooth and dramatic than usual. (My earlier posts about this manzanita tree are here, here, and here.)

Let's hope and pray lots of rain will fall this winter.
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Ktalav, again

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Oh cool! Glad you all liked the ktalav or Arbutus trees.
Here are some bonus shots of some others who live not far from me.
Perched high above the valley road down in Nachal Soreq.

The branches have a tendency to swirl.

This one growing between a rock and a hard place always inspires me.


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Ktalav revisited

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My first step into blogging started on a rainy day in February. Snow was predicted but it just rained instead and the most dramatic thing I could find to post was a red ktalav tree, its wet skin shining.
You can click here to see that "historic photo."
Since then the tree has changed a lot. Here it is blossoming in March--

And last week in our now hot and dry June air, it peeled, as promised--

Eerie to walk past and hear little crackling noises! See that alien?

Shabbat shalom, Sabbath peace, to you and all of the marvelous Creation.
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Ktalav in the rain

Welcome to the Jerusalem Hills!
My first try at blogging, and I wanted to welcome you with a rare snow picture. But the predicted snow just didn't happen today on our 640-meter hilltop. Lots of rain fell though, a blessing in this almost drought year in Israel.

The ktalav tree took on a whole new look, its smooth bark glistening in the rain.
Later, in the hot dry season, the bark will flake and peel off.
In Hebrew ktalav (often mispronounced as "katlav"), genus Arbutus, in English the Eastern strawberry tree.
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