Christmas greetings

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Mazal tov to Miriam-Mary and happy birth-day to her son.

Merry Christmas to all the Christian friends!
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Final night of Chanuka

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Happy 8th and last night of Chanuka! 

Swiss Youth Center in Beer Sheva

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Here is another building with Swiss funding.
The Keren Hayesod Switzerland Youth Center.
This public building is in Beer Sheva's Old City.
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(Linking to Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.)
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A SWISS institute for DRYLAND research??

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 If you liked the architecture of the building in my previous post, you will love today's.
It too is on Sde Boker campus of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

The Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research was dedicated in May 2013.

At the ceremony  Prof. Daniel Guggenheim, President of the Bona Terra Foundation, said 

There is a parallel between Switzerland and Israel. Both had to face difficult land conditions. Both made a success of these existential conditions. Let us hope that other countries will be able to overcome their challenges through the Swiss Institute.

 

You can see a short video about it.

SIDEER's webpages are here.

Or you can read a pdf brochure about the exciting research going on there.
Wish them luck for good discoveries!
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday and  Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.)
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Animals, wait outside

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Midreshet Sde Boker or Midreshet Ben-Gurion is a wonderful place down south in the Negev desert.
There is a high school, desert research institutes, a campus of Ben-Gurion University, and lots more.
I get the impression it is a pretty laid-back place.
People come there to live or teach or study or do research because they care about nature and ecology, animals and people.

And that's why I smiled when I saw this sign on a campus classroom building --  I guess people there  have to be reminded not to come in with their pets.
Actually, the Hebrew version says "No entry to animals."
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(Linking to Camera Critters,  even though there is no critter in the photo.)
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Arabic Language Day

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Today is UN Arabic Language Day.
December 18 was chosen as the date for the Arabic language as it is the day in 1973 when the General Assembly approved Arabic as an official UN language.

This long stone exhibited at the Israel Museum carries a dedication inscription from the year 1212 in the beautiful Naskhi script.

By the 11th century CE the Naskhi script appeared and gradually replaced the Kufic script as the most popular script for copying the Quran as well as secular and personal writings.
 It is from the Naskhi script that modern Arabic script style developed. 

The reused Herodian limestone block was found near the Zion Gate in Jerusalem.

Click on the sign to read the strange story of the building up and the tearing down of the city walls -- by the same man!
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On a more personal note, you're welcome to see pictures of my 5-day immersion course in spoken Arabic in a Bedouin village in the Negev.
Hebrew and Arabic are the two official languages of Israel.
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Happy birthday, Papa Francesco!

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(No, it's not Chanuka gelt, even though it is now Chanuka.)

This nice medallion was made by the Franciscans to honor Pope Francis's visit to the Holy Land.
It shows  Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Pope meeting at the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Here is a little video of a big moment, the two leaders kneeling at the tomb itself (at minute 2.31).
It is nice to watch again those heady days in May.
Here "the brothers of Galilee, Peter and Andrew" meet at Viri Galilaei on the Mt. of Olives.

Today, December 17, is Pope Francis's birthday!  He is 78.
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End of innocence

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Sydney through the ferry window

As Ambassador Dan Shapiro so well said, "We share the pain of Australians for those they tragically lost today, and send condolences to the families. May they know no more sorrow."

My family in Sydney thought they live far away from such Mideast-type madness. 

This morning I'm afraid they are waking up to a new reality. 

I wish for a return of safety, confidence, and good life for the fair city of Sydney. 

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The Sydney Morning Herald has been live-blogging the events. 

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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)

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In candles' glow

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To the (Western) Christian friends--a blessed 3rd Sunday of Advent.
Gaudete,  rejoice!

Not easy to find an Advent wreath down here in the Negev desert.
Instead I give you pilgrims' candles from up on Calvary,  in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
They illumine a beautiful capital atop an ancient column.
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Dead bird falls from heaven

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Dead animals are often the only animals I find to contribute to Sunday's Camera Critters meme.

This pretty bird  was freshly-dead  when I walked through the eucalyptus grove in the wadi.
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Over the last few days the media has been buzzing about what some people thought was a hint from Pope Francis that animals die and maybe go to heaven.
It turns out that one paper ran an article about Francis but with a headline that actually quoted Pope Paul VI who once in the 1960s or 70s told a boy grieving for his pet, "Heaven is open to all creatures."
But at a recent audience Francis only said, while speaking of the afterlife, "Holy Scripture teaches us that the fulfillment of this wonderful design also affects everything around us."

You can read the explanation in this CNN article or in the wide-reaching article in the New York Times, which today made the corrections.
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My own Jewish religion hardly knows what to say about what happens to people after death.
But sometimes the rabbis refer to "the next world" or "the world-to-come" as Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden, and that certainly can conjure up images of animals roaming around, no?
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Do you ever ponder this question?
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UPDATE Dec. 15:  Catholic News Service today tries to clarify this and gives more ideas about animal heaven.
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Fun in the cactus garden

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Happy from y'all's enthusiastic response to my cactus posts earlier this week, I revisited the cactus garden on the side of Meitar's central hill.
I gingerly walked around each plant looking for unusual, photo-worthy phenomena.

Like this all-natural bowl of fruit!

They had fallen from the top and the pad caught them.

A single drop of liquid!

Here is the back of that same big plant.

I never realized cacti and succulents could be so much fun.
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An interesting fact from Wikipedia's article on  Opuntia cactus:

In the fall of 1961, Cuba had its troops plant an 8-mile (13 km) barrier of Opuntia cactus along the northeastern section of the 28-kilometre (17 mi) fence surrounding the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to stop Cubans from escaping Cuba to take refuge in the United States. This was dubbed the "Cactus Curtain", an allusion to Europe's Iron Curtain and the Bamboo Curtain in East Asia.

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Greeks and Jews in mock battle

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Meitar is used to hearing the deafening sound of Air Force jets overhead many times a day.
But these two fighter jets were so high I didn't even hear them.
I think they were part of the joint IDF-Hellenic Air Force drill week that took place down here in the Negev (Israel's southern desert).

This article says the Greek and Israeli squadrons "practiced different complex air-to-air scenarios, with a combination of aerial refueling, protecting strategic assets and dealing with unexpected threats in the sky in order to learn from one another."

Bonus: a sharp close-up of one of our F-16s taking off during the joint exercise.
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International Mountain Day

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Today is International Mountain Day .
This year's theme is Mountain Farming about which the FAO says, "Here we have an opportunity to raise awareness about how mountain agriculture, which is predominantly family farming, has been a model for sustainable development for centuries."

I like to remember my years in Switzerland, where mountains are mountains and farms are farms!
The slopes of the Jura Mountains, near the French border,  are covered with vineyards.
Lots of wine-making there.

In the Alps most of the mountain farming that I saw was for hay-making.
In the brief summers, green meadows are heaven for  cows, sheep and goats, and even deer.
And of course for hikers too! 
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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More funny cactus

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Continuing yesterday's post, here are some more strange cactus plants on Meitar's little mountain.

After the first rains they seem to be bursting forth in growth.
Hopefully José of Lisbon and the Sunny Coast blog will drop by and teach me the proper terms for what we are seeing, since he grows cacti and knows all about them.

You can click two separate times and enlarge the photos.

The same plant seen from above.
Yellow cups as if for catching the rainwater after seven months of dry season with no rain!
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(For ABC Wednesday, V is for varied varieties of vertical cactuses.)
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UPDATE: Jose, of Lisbon and the Sunny Coast blog, has indeed given us lots of information on the plants!  Do see his comment on this post and on yesterday's post!    Thanks, Jose!
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The good life of a cactus in Meitar

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 In the center of Meitar is a little "mountain" where hardly anybody ever goes.
Yesterday I ventured up to check out the curious new growth on the cactus plants. 
You can enlarge the photos quite a lot with two separate clicks.

 They are all so different one from the other.

And so weird!

Tune in tomorrow for more cacti.
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UPDATE: Cactus expert Jose of Lisbon and the Sunny Coast blog, has given us lots of information on the plants!  Do see his comments on this post and on the new post!    Thanks, Jose!
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)

Recess on a sunny warm day

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Recess time at Meitarim Middle School today.
Click the photo a few times to see the different activities going on.

I just happened to be on top of the "mountain" in the middle of Meitar, checking out the diverse cactus plants.
Come back tomorrow to see their growth spurts.
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Late instar caterpillar on the road to metamorphosis

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Why did the caterpillar cross the road (or here, the sidewalk)?
 Probably to look for a twig in the wadi on which to spin its chrysalis.
 It will emerge as a Swallowtail butterfly,  a Papilio machaon syriacus.

The photo, taken in November, can be enlarged 2x. -- Recommended!

Butterflies in Israel -- the facts behind the stamps

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Linking to Camera Critters.
More butterfly posts:
http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/safe-home-for-butterflies.html
and
http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.co.il/2011/12/of-moths-and-men.html
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Internatl. Volunteer Day, Heifer Ranch

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Today being International Volunteer Day I am thinking back to my eleven straight years (1995-2006) of serving as a full-time residential volunteer in Arkansas, Switzerland, and Australia.

My Heifer Ranch years, 1996-2002,  were great, shared with the wonderful volunteers in these two photos, as well as new ones who came every year.
The pictures, not my own, are from the late 1990s.
(Here above, I'm at the bottom right, kneeling.)

We all lived in several volunteer houses on the Ranch's 1,200 acres in Arkansas, USA.
We worked, ate, and played together.
I worked hard caring for the livestock and sometimes in the organic gardens.

Wikipedia explains Heifer International:

Heifer International  is a nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based holistic community development. Heifer distributes animals, along with agricultural and values-based training, to families in need around the world as a means of providing self-sufficiency. Recipients must agree to “pass on the gift” by sharing animal offspring, as well as the skills and knowledge of animal husbandry and agricultural training with other impoverished families.
Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, Heifer International started with a shipment of 17 heifers to Puerto Rico in 1944. Since 1944, Heifer International has distributed livestock such as goats, bees, and water buffalo, along with training and other resources, to 20.7 million families, or more than 105.1 million people in more than 125 countries.  . . .

My earlier posts about the Ranch are here. 
See what visitors do at Heifer Ranch educational farm: many programs available.

Learn about the good Heifer International does in the world at the website, and while  there click on the Gift Catalog where you can do your holiday shopping!
One share of a goat costs only $10, for instance.  See the other ways you can honor family and friends by  "buying"  animals and stuff in their name.

Instead of money I donated six years of full-time labor.
You might want to apply for a volunteer position of a few months at Heifer Ranch.  Who knows . . .
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(Linking to Camera Critters.)
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Sitting in the light of Merav

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A sitting corner at the Sde Boker campus of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

A local stone is embedded right in the table.
The metal sign says "In memory of Merav Ziv, our student in the Desert Ecology Department."

She died in 1999 in the field,* on a research trip, after falling from her bike.

Her family funds a Merav Ziv Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Ecology and there is an annual symposium on her name.
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* UPDATE DEC. 2017:  Not exactly, apparently.  Please see the comment below from Avi about the date and sad real cause of Merav's death.  May her memory be for a blessing.
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Sand fly threat

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So, let's get back to discussing the intentional communities in Ramat Negev Regional Council that my group visited a few weeks ago. 

Everything looks nice and we heard about the advantages and good feeling of living together by choice in a communal settlement (yishuv kehilati).
 But we also noticed the lecturers kept rubbing their arms as they spoke.

And then our guide pointed out these fly traps hung all around (around the kindergarten, in this photo)  and the source of the itching became clear.
Traps not just for regular pesky flies but rather for dangerous little sand flies.

Sand flies of the genus Leishmania bite and cause leishmaniasis, known colloquially as the Rose of Jericho.  (Warning: that link shows ugly scars that can result from the bites.)
It has always been endemic in Jericho, but apparently in the last few years the disease has spread into Israel's Jordan Valley.
And now the sand fly has invaded certain parts of the Negev too.

Two years ago the Israel Ministry of Health designated  Sanford F. Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases of the Hebrew University as Israel’s National Laboratory for Leishmaniasis.
I just hope the various government authorities get their act together and decide who should be  responsible for controlling this threat in Israel.
 An estimated 12 million cases of leishmaniasis are reported worldwide, with 1.5-2 million new cases a year.

No one promised the early and the current pioneers in the Negev a rose garden, but they should not have to suffer from the Rose of Jericho.
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(For ABC Wednesday, U is for ugly urticarial papules.)
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