Bernoulli Revisited

As time trends to infinity . . .  so might the time traveller read the instructions for an electronic device. And  . . . .  anticipating such a possibility, one may try  random changes to the settings on a camera to maybe improve the richness of surf details.   As a result, the setting sun lays a sheet of gold across the sea.

A crosscurrent folds effortlessly .. . .

 A roll of fabric is unrolled across a table of sand.

and a receding current leaves its image frozen in the brief moment between waves.

Wheels in Motion

In the streets of Ramallah the pulse of human life beats loud like a diesel engine.

 Pneumatic hammers cut boxes into solid rock.

 - and architects and contractors are busy filling them with brand new buildings.

Driving 10 ton loads of rock up and down the hills of Ramallah is not an easy task, and the trucks are new and well maintained.

 . . . and everywhere one turns . . .

If the world is in recession, if indebtedness plagues the nations of the world, if war threatens, and if political uncertainty were really the case in this most uncertain of places . . .  then one can only wonder at how we will cross the street if peace and prosperity arrive.

Pearls on a Journey

Moments are caught along a path between work and home, trapped forever in the mind’s eye such as in   the dusty downtown of a springtime dust storm

. . . a mini whirlwind stirs a collection of trash.

A flavour of Cairo is deliverd by entrepreneurs in Manara Square

As the lemons become overripe on the trees,Flowers bloom a little more each day

And a tense territorial dispute grips the sidewalk.

A donkey shares the street with Mercedes and BMWs.

. .. .as clouds of dust bring an early night. . . .

Consuming Seasons

On a travelled street, closer to home than the busy shops of downtown, a vegetable market recently opened. Now, 5 kilos of grapefruit or potatoes are a shorter distance from home.

Fruit and vegetables arrive in the west bank from Isreal and the Jordan Valley. The valley produces a continuous stream of high quality produce regardless of the season - since it is always warm at more than 300 metres below sea level.

The export production also results in a steady stream of produce for local markets as well. The trade between Palestine and Israel grants Ramallah access to specialty produce .

 

to which is added to the local Palestinian produce.

 Palestinian merchants take a lower profit margin and the less robust economy means lower costs for staff and rent. The result is  the ironic situation where Ramalla citizens can enjoy all the best produce of Isreal for significantly less cost than in Tel Aviv. 

Plus maybe even enjoy some of their own back yards production.

Wadi Qelt - In the Eastern Desert of Palestine

As winter rains soak into the Palestinian hills, the water percolates into aquifers bound by ancient folds of rock far beneath the surface. Here and there the water escapes in the form of springs which have sustained life in the desert hills for millennia. 

 One such spring has cut valley leading from east of Jerusalem down to Jericho. The ancient valley of Wadi Qelt was an important  route from Jerusalem to Jericho and the cities of the Decapolisin the north east.

The spring at the source of the Wadi appears to maintained by the Israeli park service

 The hike towards the east begins from the spring,

 . . and here and there along the route, additional springs will emerge from the cliffs.

 The wet winter of 2011-2012 has flooded the aquifers and increased water flows above normal . . .

  And has brought to the valley back to life . . . . .

 . . . . . .and colour . . .

 

 And in several locations the water-worn rocks make for good swimming places.

After a few more kilometres to the east the valley deepens and the path rises to follow an aquaduct

 And the path continues for kilometres alongside a vista alongside Bedouin settlements.

 Until it arrives high above the monestary first founded by John of Thebes back in fading years of the Byzantine Empire.

 For more info . . .

 http://www.bibleplaces.com/wadiqilt.htm

 and another collection of images . . .

https://www.google.ps/search?q=wadi+qelt&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=SvaHT6CcAsLb0QW6g_TiCQ&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=404

 

AIR TIME

One bright  Friday morning a small shape floated past the high corner of a nearby building, followed by another . . and then another and then dozens. The spring northward migration of the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) was underway.

The eastern European white stork migrates along a flyway on the east end of the Mediterranean linking northern Europe to central west Africa. As the cool air of the Mediterrenean sweeps east across the mountains of the west bank it is deflected upward. Bare rocks add thermals to the mix. The storks have a choice to use coastal thermals, or once past the Negev desert, they can follow the winds inland to catch a giant escalator which can take them as far as Istanbul. The mountains may be more reliable – but the coasts hold scores of tasty commercial fish ponds

The method seems to be . . .. catch a mountain wave and or thermal . . . on the west side of the Judean hills.

 Circle upward with the rising air – and be carried eastward – gaining altitude with each circle.

 As the winds travel east – and before they begin the descent into the Jordan valley – the Storks exit the thermal and glide away  - trading altitude for northward distance along the western slope – looking for the next thermal wave to move them upward and northward again.

 Can one imagine how many millions of years ago these navigational skills emerged in the DNA of the ancestors of these birds? And were they even birds then, or something more closely resembling dinosaurs?

Sometimes, the numbers of storks is huge, as this video posted on Youtube shows:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYpOaOCrS24

 Studies of Stork migration patterns are on the internet

 http://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/storch.pdf

 Including the application of thermal analysis software used in the sport of gliding

 http://www.tau.ac.il/lifesci/zoology/members/yom-tov/articles/Using.pdf

 For more information . . . check out Wikipedia!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Stork

Bernoulli's Wash

One the shores of the Mediterranean when the sun is setting there is a time and place where water, wind, and sun briefly  create sculptures in the sand.

 Sometimes the wind shifts the balance

 And other times, the sun lights the surface  . . .

  . . . of transient textures . . . on a fabric of sand . .

In another moment a new balance resumes between earth, fire and wind. .

 Each moment reminds us of equations learned in high school physics class  . . . .and the simplest of equations yields grace, colour, shadows and reflections until the sun moves on to the next beach somewhere over the horizon.