A CHANGE OF SEASONS

The air rolling over the Palestinian hills is different, The mists don’t bite quite they way they did a week or so ago. And the sun is hanging higher in the afternoon sky turning the condensing sea air into a luminous haze.

 The agricultural traditions are stirring again. Seedlings are stacked for sale along the sidewalk near the downtown market,

The gardens that surround the classic Palestinian stone houses are starting to bloom.

 A spring time specialty - green almonds - are sold on every corner. These are a tonic of sorts and have a flavour not unlike the green apples of early summer in Ontario.

 And goats and sheep have been put out to graze on new grass

 And as in Egypt, farmers who have for generations grazed their livestock on certain lands now guide their herds down crowded streets through traffic undeterred that once rocky pastures have shrunk to size of vacant lots within spreading suburbs.

Sandstime Snow Time

This hills of Samaria on the west bank of the Jordan Valley have seen one of the wettest winters in many years.    And this week, in the first time for several years, a snow storm swept through town.

 . . . .The view from the street could have been anywhere in Canada.

   . . . and from the Time Traveller's  window . . . the snow remained until later in the day.

The Sea of Galilee – (also known as Lake Kinneret) had risen almost a meter by the end of January – and is probably up another meter since then. The Kinneret is the region’s only significant reservoir – except for the underground aquifers. The extra supplies received this winter will meet regional water needs until next autumn.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/lake-kinneret-rose-87-cm-in-two-months-1.262486

Growth and Change

To walk in Ramallah is to witness the process of change. Old buildings are slowly fading and stone walls accumulate a patina of oxidation and neglect. 

 The families who dreamt of them, built them, and raised their families within their garden walls have moved on . . . as have the craftsmans who carved  stone into classical designs, or cast iron into window gratings.

It used to be that houses would collect winter rainfall in a garden cistern. Now water is purchased through agreements from a distant lake replenished with rainfall coaxed from the clouds by aircraft burning silver Iodide flares high in the winter clouds.This unseen change is on part of the process which sees older ways pass into ruin . . .

And new forms emerge  .. . .  like this new development . . . just one of many under construction in Ramallah.

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This new force is driven by  imagination, new capital, and accumulated knowledge in more specialties than the stone masons and iron workers of the preceding generation could have dreamed. Some of the new developments are huge - such as this expansive mall, commercial and residential complex on the north side of Ramallah.

 Meanwhile, the preceding generations, their labors finished and children safely landed on the shores of the undiscovered country - have retired to more permanent quarters.