A Central Calif. Artist Goes to Israel

My brother-in-law was the pastor of Neighborhood Church in Visalia and was planning to visit Israel this summer. After he died last September, the church offered his slot to his wife, my sister. When I told Trail Guy that she was going, along with our niece, Trail Guy said, “Don’t you want to go too?”

OF COURSE I WANTED TO GO!!

So I did.

We were a group of 34 with a fantastic tour guide. We saw 50 sites in 10 days. It was very hot. I took around 750 photos and have been editing them, labeling them before I forget which pile of golden tan ruins is which.

I’m not sure how this will figure into this blog. Does anyone care? Perhaps I’ll just show a little bit each day. Or, I could post one day a week about the trip. Or, I can just shut up and continue to show you the inner workings of an art business in Central California with a peek into Mineral King every Friday.

People on the tour asked if I would be drawing or painting from my Israel photos. Probably not, unless someone commissions me for a particular piece. People have asked if I will make a coloring book of Israel’s sites. No. Everything we saw is about the same color of a golden tan. I have an Exeter coloring book to finish and a Sequoia/Kings Canyon one to begin.

Today I’ll show you a few photos. These are images that interested me, and if they have something interesting to accompany the pictures, I’ll add some words.

Maybe I’ll even learn to read the stats on the blog, and if the number of readers plummets, I’ll know to stop with the Israel pics.

Israel
This is a recreation of a burial place. It is on a kibbutz, created by people from Finland as a learning center, to atone for their part in the Holocaust. Kibbutzes are not what they used to be.
Yad Hashmona
Cool door at the kibbutz. The guide told us that if you are under 30 and haven’t worked at a kibbutz, you have no heart. If you are over 30 and are still at a kibbutz, you have no brain.

IMG_3029Azeka

Azeka
This is on the hillside where the Israelites were shaking in their boots because Goliath was shouting threats at them. We were simply sweating in our sandals and cowering in the shade. No one was shouting at us. Down in the valley is the dry stream bed where David gathered his 5 smooth stones.
Azeka
Our group stopped by the road and scrambled down the bank to the creek  bed. The guide warned us to take no more than 5 stones, about 1″ in diameter, and they needed to be smooth. He said if we took more, they’d have to order more from China.

 

Thank you, Trail Guy, for suggesting and supporting me in my desire to see wonderful places with my sister and my niece.

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4 Comments

  1. “…if you are under 30 and haven’t worked at a kibbutz, you have no heart. If you are over 30 and are still at a kibbutz, you have no brain.” 🙂

    I grinned at the repetition and the symmetry: “…shaking in their boots because Goliath was shouting threats at them. We were simply sweating in our sandals and cowering in the shade. ”

    WHAT?! 🙂 No way. “He said if we took more, they’d have to order more from China.” Really? Funny little quip there you snuck in at the end. 🙂

    Jennifer

    • Jennifer, thank you for noticing the humor there. And I should have written “shaking in their armor” like the song by Casting Crowns – I doubt they were wearing boots.

      Our tour guide was so very very knowledgeable and so very funny. I may find other opportunities to sneak in a few tidbits from him.

  2. Thank you for sharing your experiences in Israel. The colors may be tans, but what a great range of shades and tones. Reminds me of the Great San Joaquin Valley.

    • Linda, it was so very much like the valley here, but everything was so much smaller. Israel is only the size of New Jersey!

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