These photos were taken at Kefar Nahum, on of the Mountain-to-Valley Relay Race exchange stations. In the New Testament, Kefar Nahum is called Capernaum, and is a popular pilgrimage spot for Christian tourists. This is the walkway that leads to the docks for the boats that take tourists around the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).
Franciscan monastery:
Greek Orthodox monastery:
The relay exchange station:
Sun rising over fields near Kishon, the starting point of my last run.
All the way to Kansas! Photos during runs were taken with my LG G3. Other photos were with the DSLR. Since I was traveling by car, I didn’t need to worry about the weight of hauling a heavy camera on top of the gear, clothes, shoes, etc.
Har Le-Emek is a 215-kilometer relay race that I ran on May 18-19 with the Cisco Cloud Runners, an 8-man team (yes, that’s correct; you have to have 2 women and 6 men to be considered a “mixed” team). I ran 25 kilometers total in three segments. The route began in Tel Hai and ended in Timrat. We ran around the clock, for nearly 24 hours. In the photo above, I’m smiling because I’m nearly at the end of my final segment! I tend to feel a bit fed up at the end of a relay race because it’s tough to run all day and night with almost no sleep and hardly any food. I’ve got my GPS watch (Garmin Forerunner 220) on my left wrist and the magnetic chip on my right. I was finishing close to Gevat.
Here’s the finish line at Timrat:
My first segment, from Netura, was bloody hot! I started around 12:30 p.m., there was no shade, and the sun was bouncing off the dusty roads (below). I had a water backpack but I still suffered from the heat and had to walk a little bit.
The scenery is beautiful up north. That’s the main reason I do these runs, to see parts of the country I’ve never seen before, running through fields and forests.
Here are my two team-mates who work in the Netanya office–Golan on the left in the red and Eyal on the right. Although we’ve been on the same team for a year, this was the first time I met them. We were in a car of four for the run. They were great company! I always tell people that we’ve never met before because by the time I cross the finish line, they’re already home and sitting down to lunch. 🙂 Golan is a strong and fast runner. Eyal is good with long distances (he runs ~50 km a week).
Here’s a video of last year’s race. I ran last year but I’m not in the video (hey, there were some 8,000 runners!) It gives you an idea of the scenery and terrain.
This was a more traditional folk dance performance. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of this group but they danced beautifully. The girls are so light on their feet that they move like gazelles. Very few boys seem to participate in the younger groups (I have a son–folk dance doesn’t have quite the same cachet for young boys as soccer and karate….). This group had two male dancers.
This performance was cute. A troupe of girls dressed as Hassidic boys dance to a medley of Hassidic tunes. Around the midpoint of the video, the “rebbe” (the only boy in the group) joins in with a Torah scroll.
Recorded at the Israel Museum, May 12, 2016. This dance troupe of senior citizens performed several dances in different costumes (must have been hot!). In the commentary, the first segment is described as a “very old dance” and the second was performed to music from the 70s and 80s. I doubt that the first dance is a true folk dance; it is very complex with little repetition and must have taken quite a while to learn. Still, it’s fun to watch.
I have a confession to make. Although I’ve lived in Israel since 1989, I’ve never seen a folk dance performance except maybe on TV. Since we had no plans on Yom Atzmaut, we decided to go to the Israel Museum to watch the folk dancing there and I shot this video of some of the dances with non-performers (I’ll post the videos of performances later). In the first segment, there’s a guy holding a plastic sword aloft. He’s from the Yerushalayim shel Zahav dance troupe, a group of senior citizens who performed several times. At 3:38 I added a notation to point out a young guy in a blue shirt and beige baseball cap who really got into the dancing. I started following him with the camera because he was fun to watch.
These videos were shot in the middle of a hot day, between 11 and 1:30. You can see from the shadows that the sun is directly overhead and there’s no shade. It didn’t seem to deter anyone. They all seem to be having a lot of fun.
I was struck by how diverse the folk dance fans are–they cover a wide range of ages and religious observance. I almost wished I had gone to the weekly folk dance classes that were held at the Hebrew U., but honestly, I had two left feet in those days. Being a musician does not translate into being able to dance. I could do it now but I have too many hobbies at the moment. 🙂
I was experimenting with the focus-pull technique when I photographed the annual Independence Day fireworks in Maale Adumim. Unfortunately, I’d left my big tripod at work, so I tried to balance a table tripod on a round railing. That’s why some of the results are a bit wonky. Oh, well, I did find a really good place to shoot, so next year I’ll make a note to bring my tripod home and to go to the same spot with a wide-angle lens (these were taken with 18-135 mm lens). Full set of photos is on Flickr. These photos were taken at f/4 with a neutral density filter (x8). Shutter mode was bulb, so the shutter speed tended to be between 1 and 2 seconds.
My officemate Nicola (the groom) was married a couple days ago at Mar Elias monastery just outside Jerusalem. I attended as a guest and took a few photos. The entire photoset is on Flickr.
My husband is close to the camera (white kippah with black stripes). My boss is in the row in front of him (blue kippah). There were a couple other guys from work at the church service.
Nicola and Reem entering the church.
Impatient flower girl. The service was only about 40 minutes but that’s a long time to stand at the front with a basket of flower petals!
Bishop, framed by the arm of a chair.
The priests and bridal party join hands and walk around the table near the end of the service.
Leaving the church.
Kosher wedding hall. Although Nicola and Reem are Palestinian Christians, Nicola chose a kosher venue so that his Jewish friends would be able to eat. Very thoughtful! 🙂
This and That 