israel 2013

A whole year ago already? Wow. I still remember the smell and feel of Tel Aviv air, the delicious coolness of the Mediterranean after hours and hours of traveling. I remember the odd lurch of my camel rising up onto all fours underneath me and the fascination of eating food with my fingers, seated on the ground in a tent with a half dozen feral cats lurking nearby. The tickle of sweat pouring down my back while hiking down the snake trail at Masada and the sting of the salt and minerals of the Dead Sea around my lips, despite keeping my head well above water. The perfect stillness of a pink sunrise over the Sea of Galilee, the lush green humidity of the Golan Heights and the Tel Dan Nature Reserve, the acres and acres of golden hills rolling away from every side of the Herodian. In Jerusalem—my favorite place—Ben Yehuda Street came to life with music and dancing every night; the narrow alleys of the Old City buzzed with spice-scented markets and a tangle of Hebrew, Arabic, and English conversations; the Temple Mount stood in a kind of reverent silence, broken by soft voices and Muslim prayers.

I go through my pictures and that sense of awe comes back… that incredible realization that this is God’s holy land. It draws me in, and I ache to see it all again.