Almond Blossoms (shkedia) in Adar

These almond trees are above the cemetary. You can see Mt. Meron from here, the gravesite of the Ari, or north to Lebanon (yes, we're that close).

The almond tree blossoms are a favorite sign that spring is on the way.

Of course, I may yet get to post snow pictures for this year ;).

Tu B'Shvat Sameach! Tree day!

Trees, tree, trees!

Spring Time in the Galilee - Tsfat is in Flower

This is the type of beautiful late afternoon view I get while walking home from work. How wonderous are Your works, oh Creator!


This lovely patch of varied flowers and greens is on my way to and from work also. There's noplace as lovely as the Galilee in the spring!


Caught this view from a cab one day. The view is looking south from the eastern edge of town. The haze sort of hides the Sea of Galilee behind the forest ridge. On a clear day you can see forever.

Iyar in the Gallilee

Looking South from Meor Chaim neighborhood. Looking West from Mt. Canaan.
The hillside behind Tsahal. Love those colors.

Every day is a treat for walking to work in this beautiful place.

Spring is springing in Safed

Signs of spring plants are springing up.I snapped these pics on the way to work.

This is Shepherd's Purse. The heart shaped leaves are the source of its name. Shepherds often went about their day with pouches shaped like these leaves.

Shepherd's purse is good for what ails your blood system, and for lots of female troubles. The activity dies quickly, so if you pick it, tincture it up the same day. Put it in a brown glass bottle with 45-50% alcohol (I get that nasty 95% cooking alcohol and dilute it in half with distilled water), and let it sit for about two weeks. Then filter off the tincture to a clean brown glass bottle. Helps with stopping bleeding.

This is plantain, plantago lanceolata. Edible, mucilageonous. Great for skin abrasions, also for homemade cough syrup, oil infusions against pain, and more. Infuse it in olive oil with garlic for homemade ear drops.

Cloudy Spring Days over the Galilee

When you look south of Safed, you look out over rolling hills that look like waves in the distance. The clouds add even more of a wave appearance some days. The word "Galilee" is "galil" in Hebrew, and is related to the word "gal", or wave.

Right now the hills are a lovely green, and the cloudy grey skies bring out all the different variations of green.

I took this picture as two pictures and played with the panoramic scene setting in my Photoshop Elements. That was fun! I own Elements because it costs 1/10 of the price of the full Photoshop, and suits my needs for almost everything. It's a lot of fun.

More spring in the holy Safed Cemetary

This view is looking out from the corner of the "tiyelet" towards the holy Ari's gravesite. The large blue monument with lots of people around it towards the enber of the image is the Ari's grave. There are many famous Jewish scholars, mystics, poets, and even a prophet (the prophet Hosea ben Beiri) buried in the Safed cemetary.

Some of us have children there, too.

On the horizon of the picture, you can see the flat hills, beyond which is Lebanon. We are actually, as the crow flies, only 15 km from the "Good Fence" passage from Lebanon.

As the season gets hotter, the green will gave way to brown. But for now, the new life of spring is abundant even in our holy cemetary.

Springtime in the .... cemetary

It's already the "yellow wave" of color here. Thick green growth covers the ancient cemetary of Safed right now, and the yellow of the mustard is the dominant color. The "red wave" of kalanit (anenome) has finished, with the red wave of poppy not quite in yet. Later, as the green dies down, there is a "purple wave" of various thistle blooms.

This view will be brown, maybe even blackened from small brush fires, by the time the Ari's hilulah comes around on 5 Av. Right now, it's grand spring colors.

Purim in Tsfat

In case you didn't see enough happy Jewish children enjoying Purim, I'll share some of the Tsfat views with you.

I think this was the first time in 11 years my kids didn't need to wear their coats on Purim. It rained on Shushan Purim, though. But then, we weren't in Jerusalem.

Artist Quarter Bouganvilla and green fence

This is just one of many views of the beautiful spring colors here in Tsfat. This alley in the Artists Quarter is one of my favorites for odd pictures.