Independence Day 2009

Yup. It is Independence Day again. Last year's Independence Day I can remember very well and this year was different. I left early -as I did last year- but there were no masses of police around like last year. It was all nice and quiet right up until I reached the Tayelet near the American Embassy where people were massing up already in order to see the HaTassaa (flight demonstration by the IAF) - and that is where I knocked off...

It was lovely on route to and near the sea itself. Fairytaletree is voluptuously blooming right now and the deep fragrance of his passionate flowers is absolutely hypnotizing. This time round I didn't get to see all of the 7 baby-rabbits I counted a while ago but some were around and about and had definitely grown.

This morning I didn't have only one coffee to go as I usually have but two. This is a holiday so I thought 'let's celebrate' :D

A few fishermen I know and hadn't seen during the winter are slowly starting to come back fishing off my mezah again. It was fun meeting them again. Those old cheeky sonsofagun :D

A very different looking wurm was struggling his way between the weeds in the puddles at the middle of my mezah. The photos will show why I found it so extra-ordinary looking. I never even knew multi-colored wurms existed.

Photos of last Saturday's beach-walk

Last Saturday's walk to the beach in pictures:

Buy hours

Is someone selling hours so I can do all I want to do in one day? Haven't been able to both go to the Nemaal and beach and also write on here lately :( While I so much enjoy my own blog (sorry to all the other blogs but I still find mine the best, LOL).

And so a quick 'recover' of what happened today (only - because I've been out and about between writing the last post here and now).

Starting out early again (blessed with this discipline of waking up early and 'want to do something' instead of -as to where I would fall back into- sit and roam the internet for a few hours) I was met by two swallows hoovering over my head just as I stepped out of the apartment building I am living in now around 06:00 a.m.. They made lots of noise and I enjoyed that. Of course, no way I could photograph them. They're just too swift for me (and anyone wanting to photograph them, I think).

The route to Shuk-ha-Carmel was uplifting as usual (I know I repeat myself time after time again on this blog but I don't care, *sticking out my tongue* ) I did a 'Shenkin tour' (walking the "yuppie" street of Shenkin) but didn't feel like I belonged there. So, after having my regular orange-carrot juice at the corner of Shuk-ha-Carmel, I pushed my way into the narrow passway there.

YESH! My mood went up like a quick-thermometer when being dipped into boiling water. The photos here are speaking for themselves. I saw the Mynahs back again (after I saw one here or there sporadically during the winter) and the swallows were all-around in Tel-Aviv diving and racing the skies between the buildings and high above. I so much wanted to catch one on camera but the result was that I ended up with loads of 'empty' skies hahahhaha. Tomorrow, ba'ezrat'ha'Shem, going to the Nemaal again. My second home I see way too little lately :(




The Pied Kingfisher is back in town as well:

And he as well turned his head up to see what this noise the Swallows were making is all about:

This is the Dutch shop in Tel-Aviv selling.......... Dutch products, hahah

an old house near Shuk-ha-Carmel, photographed it because before you know it they have pulled it down in order to build a high, concrete skyscraper people let themselves to be fooled in to be living in 'luxury'

an Orange beauty I couldn't resist :)

The Mynah who was part of a large flock I have missed so much during the winter:

A parrot near my home on top of an antenna:

Releasing myself

As I left around 07:00 a.m. it was pretty cool. Was sorry I had only dressed jeans and T-shirt and not brought the sweatshirt with me I was contemplating to wear.

The birds were talking loudly this morning. Especially noticeable due to the second Holiday-day of Pesach today because of which, I guess, people were sleeping late. It was gorgeous. The streets practically empty, the birds were hoovering above my head (and one Palestinian Sunbird even placed himself on a tree-branch right opposite me in order to start to chat to me about something only he can probably understand - *obviously I didn't make a photo of it since by the mere look at my camera birds fly away with a speed faster than light* - and another of that same very elusive species of birds singing a loud and bright song just 1 meter above my head) and their presence was actually FELT by me :-) (because so many of them hide so well you can only hear them but not see).

Various photos taken today underneath (with capture). But I must say I am disappointed the PR ranking of my blog went down from 3/10 to 2/10 :-( Just because it isn't world news or an educational blog it is less 'interesting'?

Nevermind :D Blow them.

Photo-time:

A tree not having a single leaf on him but drowning in flower-buds:


It's flower buds from close-up:


I picked one of those up to see how it felt like and the touch is like touching wood:


Here they are growing on the tree(s):


A very special tree - because it has very special (and extra-ordinary) leaves:


Those leaves from close-up, don't they look like little hearts have been drawn on them?


Finally arriving at Fairytaletree I saw that the ground around him was covered in the leaves he dropped - like a smooth carpet around him... But, he is looking so skinny now :( I really hope he's OK:


There were several of his gorgeous passionate looking flowers growing on him though and many flower buds were around it as well - eventhough his branches looked devastating:


There were SO many (flower) buds on the bushes and trees... It was very uplifting to see and a great privilege to experience (because I take the time to stand still and actually enjoy from it) -
This is a Jasmine and a Jasmine bud where I stuck my nose in to inhale its exquisite perfume:


And, just near it, I saw this itchi-bithcy-tiny-weeny spider web:


Finally a photo of the reason for my early morning escapes: The Sea. He was moderately wild today. He was looking grey and angry and I spotted no fish whatsoever - Can he be angry at us because Israel is poluting him time after time again so even I have the feeling that they should hang the ones responsible for that?


The last photo is of an experiment I am undertaking. I bought Clementina's in order to plant their pits and grow a 'tree'. Unfortunately Murphy -my twin sis- was visiting me again and although I always choke on the amount of pits in either oranges or clementina's - this time OF COURSE because I wanted to obtain pits... there were only 6 pits in the two Clementina's I had bought for planting purposes, GRRRRRR! The soil is clay/sand from the garden downstairs I 'stole':