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I am so out of material. Fortunately I had the new Fuji with me at the office yesterday. There had to be something to capture. My selection was a little rubber Buddha with a laptop (it's a squeaky toy) and mouse pad with Munch's iconic painting. Sort of a summary of what it's like to be a mindful lawyer these days.      

Wind-whipped palms

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You could tell the direction of this morning's cold strong wind by the direction of the palm branches. 
Despite the gray sky, the Negev did not get rained on.
Today's rain, and even some snow, fell more to the north. 

We visited Idan HaNegev, a big industrial park that is being built near the Bedouin city of Rahat. 
The huge SodaStream plant is already in operation there, and we got to go in to see and hear the machines and the workers.
More on that in future posts. 
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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The Right Thing

Signs like this first showed up at last year's women's march. Not that many but they get attention. I'm on board with this. I have been married to the same woman for 43 years and still like her. My law partner of 30 years, now retired, was a woman who was not my wife. We had a terrific relationship, almost like brother and sister. Half of the judges I practice before are women. The best teacher I ever had, someone who transformed my photography, is a woman, Bobbi Lane. Openness and respect goes a long way.      

STL Women's March 2018

My  wife, daughter and granddaughter banded together in solidarity yesterday and headed downtown for the 2018 women's march. I got to play chauffeur and photojournalist.

There was a big turnout, although I haven't seen any numbers yet. I was surprised because the event received little advance publicity - a thin Facebook page, a bare-bones web site and nothing on the local TV news or NPR station that crossed my path. That didn't prevent women (and a few friends) from turning out by the thousands. More of this to come.    

Beer And Politics

Very late post. I forgot my laptop at the office yesterday. Anyway, Mrs. C and I attended a fundraiser last night for Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who is up for re-election this year. Clare is a blue beacon in an increasingly red state and we support her strongly. (On the other hand, our super right wing Republican governor, who makes our skin crawl, may be about to be forced out of office over a sex scandal and/or indited for a couple of things. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.)

We had hopes Claire would be there but, of course, she was stuck in Washington with the shutdown nonsense. Her sister, Ann McCaskill, spoke passionately on her behalf. The venue was STL's most popular Irish pub, McGurk's. Guiness and Smithwick's flowed freely. People paid close attention. Certainly Samuel Beckett did. Oscar Wilde, maybe not so much.     

Winter skies, winter tree

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It's definitely winter now in Israel: rain clouds, bare branches, and jackets.
And fruit is growing on the sabras.
A picture from our trip to Zippori in the Lower Galilee last Wednesday.
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(Linking to Sky Watch Friday.)
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The lure of Jordan water

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Thursday/Friday was the Feast of Epiphany (Theophany) for the Orthodox Christians in Israel.
Hundreds of pilgrims and their Patriarchs and clergy came in procession to Kasr al Yahud to worship and celebrate the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, perhaps at this very spot on the River Jordan.

When my Jewish group from Meitar visited there a few weeks ago, this sweet little Russian boy was the only one touching the waters of the holy Jordan.
The wooden steps on the other side are already in the Kingdom of Jordan, across the border.

See my previous posts for more about this baptism site.

(Linking to Weekend Reflections.)
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Fancy Golf Cars

I'm not sure, but would guess the foremost golf car cost $20,000 or more. There are about 80,000 golf cars in The Villages at last count and The Villages continues to grow by leaps and bounds.

Sculpture With A Chain Saw

Where do you go to learn ice sculpture? It is an art with narrow applications and not a lot of room for self expression. The subjects don't vary much. This one is becomming a big and little penguin.

Still, there is a lot of skill in this. It amazes me that it is done freehand, no template, not even a sketch to look at. A chain saw is not a precise tool. The fine work is done with picks and chisels. The sculptor uses a blowtorch for smoothing. Can you make a living doing this?    

Plastic Towers

The theme of the Lego exhibit at The Magic House the world's tallest buildings and towers. These models were all displayed to scale with each other and a few were too tall for the room's ceiling. I can't remember the names of all of them but dead center in the top photo is New York's beloved Chrysler Building, with the Empire State Building a bit to the left. (The new One World Trade Center was not represented.) Those two very tall, very thin structures to the right of the Chrysler are ultra-expensive apartment buildings erected on small lots in mid-town Manhattan. I think the blue one to the right of that is the Comcast Tower in Philadelphia. Didn't make a note about the others.

Below, Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers are in the left background. The foreground contains Toronto's CN Tower, and to the right, some unimaginably tall building with torticollis in Shanghai, new since our one visit there, and then the Tree Tower in Tokyo.       

A good signal?

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Oi veh, that man is VERY high up!
Seen from the bus to Beer Sheva at noon today.
I think we were just passing Tel Sheva Junction. 
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Madeleine Monday - Architect

Such concentration! Ellie is not ready to build an eighty brick tall tower but she was making quite an edifice (with a little initial help from her grandmother). She took over the design and construction quickly. There were a few collapses but she always went right back to work, making the next version stronger and taller.   

Giant Tower

Mrs. C and I took Ellie to the Magic House yesterday, STL's excellent children's museum. There is a special exhibit called Towers of Tomorrow, with stunning models of some of the world's tallest buildings and towers made entirely of Legos. The structures were on a number of tables, each with a surrounding platform and a well full of thousands of bricks for visitors to use.

Ellie dove right in but the man next to us created an amazing structure. The slab rose higher and higher, steadied only be a small cross brace at the bottom. Several of us watched as it grew and wobbled, wondering when it would collapse. It didn't. Kenny, the builder, took it to a display table (top), staying together the whole time. It was quite amazing.     

No Picnic Today

Tower Grove Park is full of ornate, 19th Century gazebos. They are all different in size and design. You can rent them for a day. During warmer months, they are always busy with groups holding picnics, barbecues and outdoor games. Empty, though, during frigid weather.

Should be able to shoot some new material today.       

Two Kinds Of Cathedrals

Edifices dedicated to commerce and religion.  Behind, the former regional headquarters of the Shell Oil Company in a style that borders on art deco. It is still an operating office building if a bit down at the heels. Right foreground, the gothic tower of Christ Church Cathedral, the seat of Episcopal practice in STL. Another first experiment with the Fuji X-T2.    

Soldiers with ponytails

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As our town's touring group was leaving the Jordan River baptism site, these two soldiers asked if they could ask our guide (on the right) a question.
I think it was something about the big Christian significance of the Kasr al Yahud site.
Sorry I couldn't hang around and listen but I had to hurry and get some photos before 4 pm closing time.

These soldiers on guard there at the Jordanian border (the river is the border there) belong to the IDF's Nahal Brigade.
You can tell by the color of their beret, "glow stick green."

Such nice girls!

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Around the Cape in a motorbike sidecar

One of my South African travel bucket list items I got to tick off during 2017 was going on a motorcycle sidecar tour in the Cape.  A visit to a conference in Stellenbosch had the opportunity arise to join a tour from Spier via Strand and Gordon's Bay as far as the Stoney Point penguin colony in Betty's Bay and back and I just could not say no come rain or shine.  Which turned out to be the case. Literally.

The guide from Cape Sidecar Adventures picked two of us up from the hotel on a wet and dreary day.  We both received calls from the owner early morning already to check if we were still interested to go even though it was wet out, and we were both still game.  So the trip was on.  Kitted out in rain pants and leather jackets my companion for the day slipped into the sidecar while I hopped onto the back of the bike.  The first sheet of rain hit as we went through Stellenbosch but neither of us wanted to miss out on the experience and with the guide willing we kept going.

Chapman's Peak may be rated as one of the ten most scenic roads in the world, but I've got to be honest, the R44 from Gordon's Bay to Rooi-Els doesn't have to stand back one step.  It really is a stunning drive along the coastline even with rain in your face.  Ordinarily, this specific tour would go on to Kleinmond but once we got to the penguins at Stoney Point it started coming down a bit so we settled for hot chocolates in the coffee shop before backtracking to Pringle Bay for a fish and chips lunch by a fireplace. Did we mind being slightly wet (because the layers kept most of the water out)? Hell no. We were having too good a time.

The weather started clearing on our return journey so we got to stop at a couple of the viewpoints along the way.  The views really are stunning but the highlight is definitely being able to go on a trip on one of these beautiful historic bikes.  Being able to tick this off my bucket list is one thing, but now I am hooked and next up would love to do their full day Peninsula Tour with visits to Hout Bay, Chappies, Cape Point and Boulders in Simon's Town.

PS, I would have loved to take some stunning pictures of our ride, the scenery and the bike itself, but the weather just didn't play along and I kept the camera hidden away cosy and dry for most of the trip.

Macedonian Wine

I am really low on material but last night brought an opportunity. There is a hot restaurant in our town, Webster Groves, that's been open about a year. It's called Olive + Oak. We've never gone because you have to book about two weeks ahead and, frankly, it's a bit expensive for our trying-to-retire budget. But my staff gave me a gift certificate for Christmas so off we went last night.

It was a delight. No space here for a full review but there was an unusual treat. The wine list had a page of "no one would ever buy this" bottles at reasonable prices. Absolutely unknown stuff. The owner is also a qualified sommelier and gave us guidance. We ended up with this Macedonian red. Just terrific. Ever drink wine made from kratosija or vranec grapes?         

At Kasr al-Yahud River Jordan baptism site

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For the Latin church (the Roman Catholics) today is the feast day called the Baptism of the Lord.
Thousands walk in procession down to the Kasr al Yahud baptism site on this day.
I was there on a much quieter day, just a few weeks ago.

Our bus passed the minus 300 meters sign and continued to descend even lower to the Jordan Valley, a bit north of the Dead Sea (the lowest spot on earth). 

Flags greeted us at the entrance.
The Israeli flag and that of Nature & National Parks Protection Agency, and also of the Judea and Samaria Civil Administration (because it is in the West Bank, east of Jericho).

You had better pay attention to the rules.
Don't even THINK of wading across the river.

The other side is already the Kingdom of Jordan.

The border runs down the middle of the River Jordan and that is why the sign says, Do not pass, in Hebrew, English, and Russian. 

A new Greek Orthodox church has been built on the other side and we could see the Jordanian flag waving in the breeze of late afternoon.

Many Christians step into the water for a renewal of their baptism.
Some new Christians get the total immersion with the help of their priest or pastor.

The river is very shallow now after 4-5 years of drought.
In the rainy stormy weekend we just had, the level of the Jordan rose by 35 centimeters.
It's not likely you will need this red lifesaver, but it hangs on the tree just in case.
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(This blog has five posts about Kasr al Yahud baptism site, if you'd like to see more.)
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