Flora, Fauna and Food

One of the things that is interesting, when you travel to a foreign country, is the differences (or similarities, I suppose) in vegetation, animals and food. I love all three, so I tried to capture some of each.

Mid-march is spring in Israel, the way it is for most of us and (landscape permitting) there were flowers everywhere.

Below are the first efforts of an unknown species of tree warming up to spring weather.

Of course, everyone likes flowers and Israel does not disappoint.

 

I was not expecting to see much in the way of wildlife, so when we were in Capernaum, I was delighted when a family of Rock Hyrax decided to sun themselves on the ruins.

I consider myself a “birder” and define that as someone who has a little bit more than a casual interest in birds, so I did my best to take as many pictures of the different species as I could find. One thing though that became immediately apparent was that picture taking was going to take a backseat to trying to absorb the sights, smells and story of the Holy Land with my mind and my five senses. For some, I’m guessing that a camera becomes an extension of their own eyes, but for me, it acts as a filter of some kind. Maybe barrier is more accurate a word. Instead of just letting the sights and sounds wash over me, I think (however briefly) about composition and focus.

Most of the pictures I did get were taken on the fly. If I had limited myself to each time Marlin said, “OK, we’ll stop here for a minute or two and you can take some pictures”, I wouldn’t have a tenth of the 577 pictures, I actually got. I’m just guessing, but I would say that he’s not the “photographer” of the family.

Of the dozen or so species that I actually saw while in Israel, I only managed to capture four on camera. The one above is a hooded crow. The first one below is a turtle dove and the second one I have not yet been able to identify. And, of course, how could I not take a picture of a native sparrow that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 10:31 saying, “Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

And then an unexpected aspect of animal life in Israel, especially in the old city of Jerusalem, was the amazing number of feral cats. Cats were everywhere and when I asked about them, I was told that at one time they were considered a nuisance and so they were killed off (as much as possible) and very shortly after that, the rat population exploded. It’s a well-known fact that cats are much preferred by most people (my young Buffalo cousins to the contrary) and so the cats were encouraged once again and while I saw many of them, I saw nary a rat.

The cat directly above was eating some canned cat food that some cat lover had just dumped in the middle of the walkway for any cat to find (or tourist to walk in, I suppose).

 

Finally, I have to comment about the food. I admit that I was all psyched up to actually lose weight on this trip because I thought I wouldn’t be able to find anything that I liked to eat. Oh boy was I wrong! The food was amazing. Sure, there was meat and eggs and dairy (yogurt to die for), but the fruits and vegetables were out of this world. And the ways in which they prepared them, kept me coming back for more. I must have eaten my weight in eggplant. There were fresh figs and dates and several varieties of olives. I could go on, but I am already missing the food so much, I would just make myself hungrier. I wish now that I had thought to take a picture of the tables of food that were served at the hotel where we stayed in Jerusalem. That would have given you a more accurate idea, but sadly the only picture I took was a lunch stop in some nameless place.

These were just the vegetable dishes that were served. The meat and pitas, etc. were served from a different table. And remember, this was an average lunch stop. These people weren't necessarily trying to impress.

I wish these blog postings were coming faster for you, but as you know, I'm back in the States and playing catch up with my "real" life. I will post something on facebook each time I update this blog. I think that will work for most of you.

Shalom/Salaam