Day 50: It's over.

My last sunrise at the orchard.

It really is. I cannot believe the day is here that I leave Ezuz, but here it is. Of course, this means that I'm one day closer to Val. It occurred to me the other day that we have not been on the same continent since June 6 and will not be again until August 11. I get back to the states on August 6, but Val will be in Paris. 

This morning I could barely focus, so I worked only two hours. Then I went around the orchard one last time. And I went around outside of the orchard where I did so much work. 

I know it was so long ago, but here are my efforts for Mark Dam. I hope they finish it and it helps them to capture all of the water they need!

The last part of Mark Dam that I did.

 And who could forget Runge Lane? As you can see it is still being used by man and beast alike. The image on the right shows Runge lane as you look at Mark Dam. That was some hard-assed work clearing the road.

The berm-walk to Mark Dam.

 And sweet Ezuz. The image on the left is my last walk away from the orchard; you can just see the nets and trees over the hill. And the image on the right shows the water tower in Ezuz. I'll not walk up this hill again.

The orchard is just over a mile from the village. I've had so many happy and sad thoughts between the two. I've contemplated so much during the walks to and fro. Sometimes I'm angered or saddened by my thoughts and my actions in the world. But I'm also very happy about my life and what I'm doing in it. I cannot image how much of an impact this trip--to Israel and up and down the road--will have on my life. It will take some months, if not longer, to contextualize all of this.

And lets not forget those mountains. I still cannot believe that I was dumb enough to walk nearly 27 miles alone in the desert mountains. What an idiot. But dame what a test of my mettle. The things I thought because of what I saw will be with me for a long time to come. The camel trails that lead to somewhere, the gas mask I found, the munitions, the scat. All of it has a place in my heart and mind. Maybe we just need to help others hike to make the world better, as if the peasant farmer in L.A. (lower Alabama) actually has the time or energy to do so. I am wealthy in that I have so much leisure time to walk about the globe. I have a great life, and anybody who hears me complain should slap me hard.

This is the view that I have as I walk into Ezuz. Our cabin is the one behind the cars. The kids put the sign there because they said that everywhere you dig in Israel is an archeological site. But the posting of the sign makes it clear to all how the truly feel about the idea of preserving history. I guess farmers have to dig, so ancient cultures be damned. Who am I to judge this?

I bought these boots brand new for $120 or so. Great hiking boots, they say. Tough boots for many miles they say. Well these Merrell boots got their asses kicked. Okay, I was not kind to them in that I walked a lot of hard miles--27 by myself through the mountains--and they did last the two months on sharp rocks. But I'd have taken them home if they held up better. So you get mixed reviews from me, Merrell.


 This is sweet Ezuz and the surrounding area. As you can see, there is a bunch of nothing. Except that I've learned that there is really so much out in the seeming nothing. My world has expanded, and I plan to take this into the next phase of life, which is really the same phase but with more sand in my teeth.

I've packed my bags and am ready to go at 0545 tomorrow. I take an hour and a half bus ride to Beer Sheba and a train to Jerusalem. I have some nice plans (see below), but I will be very fluid in their execution--except the meeting on Sunday.

List of references:

http://www.gojerusalem.com/discover/article_1462/49-free-or-cheap-things-to-do-in-Jerusalem Great site for free stuff to do.

Site for stuff in Jerusalem:

http://www.gojerusalem.com/discover/ Lots of lists of high class stuff.

Thursday:

Go shopping at a supermarket. Eat lunch first. Get settled in room.

Museum of Underground Prisoners

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Underground_Prisoners

15 Shekels

Sunday - Thursday 09:00 to 17:00

The Ticho House of modern art and stuff:

http://www.gojerusalem.com/discover/item_101/The-Ticho-House

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 10:00 to 17:00; 

Tuesday 10:00 to 22:00; 

Friday 10:00 to 14:00

Eat dinner.

Friday:

Wander through the alleys of Nachlaot, one of the oldest neighborhoods in western Jerusalem.

Free!--Maybe to fill time on any day.

Ben Yahuda Street: http://www.gojerusalem.com/discover/item_64/Ben-Yehuda-Street

Pass the time on someday or night.

Saturday:

Israel Museum, art, archeology, stuff: http://www.english.imjnet.org.il/

50 Shekels--go on Saturday 10-5

Sunday:

Meeting at Keshet headquarters.

Fly by seat of pants.

Monday: 

Old city!

Walk on the ramparts of the Old City: http://www.gojerusalem.com/discover/item_139/Ramparts-Walk

16 Shekels

Tuesday:

Leave for airport at 8am!

Maybes:

Rockefeller Museum

Free!--

Sun, Mon, Thurs 10 am – 5 pm

Tues, Wed 10 am – 9 pm

Fri and holiday eves 10 am – 2 pm

Sat and holidays        10 am – 5 pm

Botanical Gardens: http://www.botanic.co.il/

Day 48 and 49: Short-timer.

When I first got here the sun rose from
the little dip to the left of the sun in this
picture. The sun is already moving south.

In the army I'd be called a short-timer because I have one day and a wakeup to go before I leave this wonderful place. How wonderful is it? Haven't you been following my comings and goings? Sheesh.

Storks in the sunlight.

Just today on our way to the bustan we saw two gazelle. Real gazelle running free wagging their little gazelle tails. Then, as we were working two flocks of storks flew north going to Europe, you know, to bring babies--be careful in Paris Val! The storks were so cute because the leaders got over the orchard and started circling. We couldn't figure out why. But after a few minutes the stragglers flew up and they circled for a minute or two--the leaders were encouraging the slackers I'm sure--and then they headed north and west. You go little stork guys!

Where'd Mark go?

Here is Mark--almost working.

So I'm a short-timer, too, because I've been malingering a bit in my studies, my work, my blogs, my everything. Not my eating, though. Never that. I think I'm getting fat off of fruits. So there are two jumbled days of posts here, and, as you can tell by my attitude I want you to read them but in no particular order. You know, kind of how Billy Pilgrim went through life in Slaughterhouse Five.

Plenty of citrus to weed.

 Yesterday I got to weed and weed and weed in the citrus. But the results are clear and fast, so I do enjoy it. I've seen only one snake, so I look forward to returning to it tomorrow.

I finished the weeding--I was really just done. I mean, four hours is enough, right? So I went up to help Tamar in the garden. This is really what she loves to do, tend her garden, so I don't like to bother her too much while she is there. But sometimes she needs help. So I got to cover some baby corn plants so that Heckle and Jeckle don't get 'em. The crows here are a bit different because they have sandy-brown chests. But they sound the same, for sure.
Sometimes I sit under the huppa that we made when I eat my fruits in the afternoon. The farm car was screaming to have its picture taken, so I did. And then it happened again to day in the orchard; weird.

 This is the last Monday I get to help get the deliveries going; they've already gone. It amazes me every time that we pack up all of the juicy deliciousness to go to Tel Aviv and other places. I'm happy the family can do what it wants and make money to support themselves while doing just that.

Yesterday evening I was back to digging.

Yesterday morning we could see the clouds coming up the valley. It is great that we are on top of a hill because we got to see the tops of the clouds. It was really remarkably beautiful. The colors were so vibrant for being so early--or maybe my eyes seeing it is the amazing part.

 One of my favorite pictures from when I was a kid is that of my having my football jersey, yeah, I was a Patriot before it became cool to be one, being gnawed on by a goat. I had to take this picture of my favorite kid eating my shirt.

Today we had to wash the aphids off of the pomegranates. The aphids make everything black. So we used a fire hose and a lot of water to clean everything up. It is really a three person job. Raz was using the smart end of the hose. Suzanne was holding the net. And I got to drag around the heavy-assed hose, which was really kind of nice because I got to keep moving and got wet.

Notice Suzanne's shirt. Now Suzanne is from France, and there is not Dog Tag Heroes, Inc., there. She got the shirt from the pile of worker's clothes. This is where volunteers like me abandon the clothes we will not take home. For me, I just need the space in my bags. So she didn't know that the company is ours and I didn't know that she chose it. But it is a sign. Have you liked DTH on Facebook? Have you made your tax deductible donation to the organization? We are going to open a thrift store that focuses on furniture because that is what we get asked for most often. Do you have a space to give us? Do you know of someone who does?

Day 47: Day of the fruits.

My day started off with milking the goats. I'm okay with all of them--in getting milk out I mean. The first one, the alpha female, she gives everybody grief. So they warned me extra about her. But since I've been here I've found out that she loves to be petted--not in that I'm going to prison kind of way--and especially behind her ears right before her horns. Plus, I always give her bits of the fruit that I'm eating. The family is amazed that she is so patient with me. Lilah, "night," the second one is just so docile and easy. The third gives me the most grief. One night she jumped and would have landed in the milk pan if I had not held her up with my arm. She ain't light, either. The fourth is pretty easy, but her teats are so small that it is hard to aim. I cannot tell you how many times I've squirted milk onto my legs. I have the smoothest, silkiest one patch on my right leg from the milk.

Citrus is so delicious.

Not like fruits as in crazy people but as in the stuff we don't eat enough of. I walked around the orchard taking pictures of most of the trees. I realized later that I left off the dates and apricots, but there are no fruits to see. And I'm sure that there are other trees, too, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

There are few kinds of citrus; I'm not sure what there is except clementines, lemons, oranges, and pomelos.

The citrus grove reminds me of when we were kids and skipped school. We'd go run through the orange groves all day, feasting on the fruits, having dirt-clod fights, and swimming in the lake. What a youth I had in the world and have in my heart.

There are olive trees surrounding the entire grove. Plus they are growing before the border of each of the separate groves, of which there are four.


The citrus is at the far end. The apples and pears are next. Then there are the apricots, peaches, plumbs, nectarines. Finally, there are the figs, dates, pomegranates and more apples. Again, I'm sure I'm missing some of them, but this is what I have.

Pears.

I don't think I've ever eve seen a pear tree, so plucking these fruits was an extra treat. That they are delicious is only a bonus.

Apples. Yeah, there are lots of apples. It is a good thing that I like them. There are really sweet. The fruits here are a bit smaller because they are not pumped full of anything. The trees take in what they take in and the fruits are delicious for it.

I'm so excited for the plumbs. I've had a couple already, but they are not quite ready. Another day or two, perhaps, which is all I have left.

Then there are the pomegranates, which hang from the trees like Chinese lanterns during the new year's celebration. I've not had one yet, but one of the other volunteers did. She said it was great.

I really like peaches, but I've come to not like cutting them up, which I've been doing since the first week. They would be the fruit with the longest season, sheesh. (Lulu asked me what sheesh means. Try explaining that to a ten-year-old kid whose English is just passable as a second language.)

The carob trees are always nice to pluck from. The edible legumes, I had to look up what they are, are delicious. It is like eating a piece of candy, a nice cross between chocolate and honey--but not really either.

Mmmm. Have you ever had a fig outside of a Newton? Try one fresh off a tree! They are so good. There are not too many of them, and today Avi asked me not to eat them because of that. Oops. I don't feel a bit guilty, though, because they said eat what you want.

 I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the bag tree. The tree grows small brown bags that are big enough to fit an apple inside, as if to protect the apple from birds and bugs and such.

This is the ella tree--the date trees are on the left. The ella is related to the oak somehow, but I couldn't find any information on it. It is a wonderful place to find shade on a day when the sun has beaten me down. If I had the orchard like this one with a tree like this one, which I never would, I'd build a little platform under it for important meetings.

At some point during the day I caught the goats playing Queen of the Rock. Of course the alpha female won each bout, but that did not dissuade the others from playing. It was a great show that lasted about fifteen minutes. When I first stopped to watch the goats stopped to watch me. At first I thought that they just wanted food, but I now believe that they were embarrassed that I caught them playing.

And so the sun sets on my time here. I have been blessed and grown in so many ways. I've learned much and shed some extra fat. My muscles are bigger and my breath deeper. I will miss Bustan Arazuni.