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.