2.2.10

Eat your heart out, Punxsutawney Phil!

I grew up only about an hour away from Punxsutawney, PA, home of the famous groundhog who pops up out of the ground each February 2nd and predicts six more weeks of winter. (Some Israeli, somewhere, is going, "פנקסטווני פיל? Why an elephant?") My little sister and I would always look outside at the February landscape consisting of various shades of brown and hope that this year spring would come early, but it never did. Even if the groundhog didn't see his shadow.

So I get great pleasure in tormenting all of you US-bound readers with you these pictures of Israel I took today at a nearby national park (Ein Afek)-- this is where I go jogging three mornings a week. I know, I'm lucky. The red and white flowers (calaniot and rakefot) bloom all winter, but in the past few weeks we've started to see spring flowers as well...

 
  
Above: I found a little turtle among the rakefot (cyclamen) and the clover
 
 
Above: I wonder if this is one of those kosher grasshoppers mentioned in the Torah?

9 comments:

  1. I tries to explain Groundhog day to my co-worker.. His only response was "walla, these Americans are geniuses.. No wonder they made it to the moon."



    I can only assume he was being sarcastic.

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  2. I'm pretty sure Groundhog Day originated in Eastern Europe, so really we should blame it on the Ashkenazim...

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  3. lovely shots! you really are lucky to live right near that park :)

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  4. Thanks for these images of spring! We're loving the snow we keep getting in Pittsburgh, but we'll be very glad to see spring, as well. What a beautiful park for jogging!

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  5. Thanks, Toby and Dulci! It actually got really cold last night with snow forecasted all over Israel (first time this winter), though we didn't get any here... so I might have jumped the gun a bit on saying that spring has arrived in Israel. :)

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  6. I dunno. I like my winter, thank you very much. Thnk of everything you can do durring winter that you can't do durring the summer (or in Israel at all): Ice climbing, Skiing (Yes, yes, Mount Hermon, but that doesn't really count. In fact, I would argue that any mountain with chairlifts doesn't really count, but that would put me firmly in the minority... And the landmines do kinda put the kabosh on back country skiing in the Golan.)
    -R

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  7. I'll admit, I do miss a few things about the US winter. I'll train wildflowers for snow any day, though. :) Landmines... well... not so much.

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  8. Off topic--I just want to tell you how much I'm enjoying your blog...in fact, I should have gone to bed hours ago but here I am, reading about flowers (I'm in Washington, DC, still covered in snow. I am envious.) My husband and I are considering aliyah, learning Hebrew, doing what we can to make the transition a little less of a shock...but still, it's intimidating. I'm glad to hear you're happy with settling into being Israeli-American. Or American-Israeli.

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  9. Nettle, I'm glad you're enjoying the blog! Keep doing as much preparation as you can before aliyah. I did too, and it made a huge difference. Good luck!

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