Last Week in Israel

The last several days we had in Israel showed promise of future rain! One morning the air was distinctly laden with the scent of rain… the sky was cloudy, and we so hoped it would just pour. The fires of the north had subsided, and we heard that area actually got rain, but a little too late to help extinguish the flames. It was a great loss of forest, homes and most importantly, 41 lives. We were only in this very area weeks before, and as we followed along the news reports, we knew exactly where the fire was raging. Israel welcomed the many countries who came to her aid with firefighters, trained dogs, and air support with water…and finally the BIG weapon sent by a private American company, a Boeing 747 that held so much water and fire retardant that two swipes over the fire and it was out. Even countries who are not Israel’s close friends came to the aid, and we are hoping that some of those barriers of animosity were crossed.

Celebrating Marius’ birthday was special, as all of Boaz & Rinah’s kids & grandkids got together for a huge picnic and we loved being a part of their family. A Poyke was put together, ingredients were chicken pieces, corn, veggies, sauces and spices. Two hours after bubbling away on the grill, voila - it’s "chow time!" This park was a paradise for the little kids as they had natural pools around, intended for children to have a wet play. Shown left are Rinah's daughters Erica with Amit (pronounced Ah-meet) (1-1/2 year old boy) and Karen with Shoham (pronounced Show-haam). (2-1/2 yr. old girl)

I checked on my hot-house
plants for the last time, and remarked how much they had grown! I so enjoyed participating in this venture, having learned greatly from Boaz’ expertise and Rinah’s patience. There’s just something about getting your fingers in black dirt and helping something grow! Tiny little seedlings actually made it into small plastic containers to large black plastic bags, next step being into the ground.

Our last day in Israel was memorable! Boaz took the day off and with Rinah, plus a new friend Katrin from France whose husband was away for 10 days, and her little 6-month baby Eyelet (pronounced Eye-ye-let) joined us. We had rented a car several days earlier because of the need for convenience, so we followed the Dreyer’s car and made a day of seeing wonderful parts of Israel yet not discovered by us. It was also wonderful for Katrin as she was new to Israel, and did not have a car. Being cooped-up with a baby alone without transportation for 10 days could have been quite lonely, but Rinah took care to make sure Katrin and Eyelet were kept company.


Boaz took us into the eastern part of Israel, to The Valley of Tzin, but desert none-the-less. We went to the summer desert home of David Ben-Gurion, in Kabbutz Sde Boker. Ben-Gurion was a most beloved man of Israel, and former President – who was tremendously successful in bringing Israel into statehood. We toured his simple small home, with the only one vast room which was his library, filled with hundreds of books. He and his wife were simple Israeli’s with huge hearts and tremendous love for their fellow men and this beautiful land.

Not far from this place was a nature park I’ll soon not forget. We walked around on wonderful paths that encircled woody-rocky-hills where several Mountain Sheep called home. Very much like America’s Rocky-Mountain-Sheep, these “big boys” had tremendous racks of antlers and two sheep gave us quite a show sparring. The clack of their antlers making contact ricocheted off the canyon. Boaz, who has a business making shofars (see his website Shefa Shofars) was truly admiring these antlers, but said this particular sheep’s antlers were used exclusively for High Priests use.

We looked out into the vast expanse of the northern-tip of Mizpah Rimon, and could not believe the beauty of this wilderness. Each turn of the eye was a totally different vista.

Finally the day came for our departure. For our “last supper”, I made a huge pot of chili and Rinah made a fine pan of corn bread. There were even leftovers for them to enjoy, remembering us even as we were no longer joining their table. It’s always melancholy when fare-wells are said, and there’s always something at the airport or in the airplane you remember you wish you said.

Our last sight-seeing trip was made to the Israeli Air Force Museum. The day was perfect with mild weather, and walking around this vast outdoor museum was great. We found old and new jets, transporters, tanks and helicopters. As it became dusk, we bid our friends farewell, Rinah and I hugged and hugged! Almost 3 months working side-by-side Boaz and Rinah were finally ended, and as they returned to the Negev with Katrin and Eyelet in tow, we took our rental car the hour’s drive north to Tel Aviv area where Ben Gurion Airport is located.

We had been told that at Ben Gurion Airport, before we ever get on the airplane, we are checked visually by their security people at least 4 times, but the thing was – these people were milling around incognito, just watching peoples behavior as they make their way to their gate.
There was never any frisking, we kept our shoes on and did not need to remove belts or heavy jewelry, or remove the computer from its case. And this airport has never had an incident of security breach. There’s much America can learn from Israel in this regard. The inside of this new airport was just beautiful, and modern as any airport I’ve ever seen. As you can see, our flight home worked! We are here, now have Milo back in custody, and getting our hours switched around ever-so-slowly. Next episode to this adventure will bring everything to a close, with our favorites list in Israel! Already I can tell you, our favorite part of returning to America is… our bed! Not food, not shopping or large stores, but our bed. Hooray!