Monday, December 21, 2009

Israel: Nature is the Best Designer




Whew!  I just returned yesterday from our amazing trip to Israel and have a camera card full of pics and a head filled with ideas and inspiration!  As I recover from a night spent in Jersey's airport, allow me to share some photos from the Negev desert.  This area is an oasis within the dry region and is a well-visited national park called Ein Ovdat (this is according to Google map, the park brochure spelled it Avdat).

Without too many plants to oogle, I found myself admiring the linear and dramatic nature of the rocks and cliffs.  The rushes growing in a line along the stream below serve as a textural counterpoint.



Textures were the other thing my eyes focused on, such as this stream-bed of stones and their impressions in the mud after a spot of rain.




I'm still drooling over this!  A low stepping terrace with water trickling along the way.  Oh, please let me make something like this someday!



A tree bends down to put a reassuring branch on climbers' shoulders.  The steps set into the path made the hiking easier without putting too much of a human fingerprint onto the experience.



3 comments:

  1. Hello Christine,

    This is a place I would love to visit someday. Your photos are beautiful. I too, would love to see someone create a terrace like that one.

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  2. Thanks, Noelle. I know, when can I install this in someone's backyard?!

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  3. I lived on a kibbutz in Israel back in 1970 (right after I graduated from h.s. - boy, I'm old!). When I left I promised myself I'd go back but haven't done so yet. Your pictures remind me of my visit so long ago. Thanks for sharing.

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