Panoramic Israel [antikvár]

'I't'"' V 0. IC generálion passes away, says ihe book of Ecclesiastes, and another generálion comes, but the !and abides forever. Humans come and go. but is the lantl as solitJ as it looks? Does il really remain unchanged? Look around you and you will see a land in a state of constant unrest, a land ever changing. Observe Israel in the early morning hours; strong scents of freshness, the cool moisture of dew, soft dark shades, from turquoise to royal blue, hushed up voices, slowr drowsy movements of humans and animals that have just woken up. Noontime Israel is very different. Everything is fuller and louder, sweaty and hcctic. The roads that were silcnl bljick ribbons at dawn almost vanish under the heavy load of noisy cars. The air becomes dense and the light turns bright, revealing, almost mercilcss. Finally cvcning-and-night-limc Israel llucluatcs between silcncc and noise, between nature's darkness and man-made lighl, between the fatigue of workers and (he adrenalin of amusement seekers. The lights gel gradually dimmer and dimmer. Cool shadows wipe the sweat off Ihe land's brow and hide yesterday's scars until Ihe brenk of dawn. It is not only the succession of day and night that changes the land. Think of the changing of the seasons - the endless cycles of growth and decay. Pass through the southern pan of Israel, the Negev, during the shon season of spring and colors of dark brown, bright green, gay red and yellow will nil your retinas. Relum a few weeks later and it is as if someone has covered everything with a layer of monotonous, burnt up, hazy, dull brown. The misleading abundance of winter waters in rivers, in pools, in huge puddles, in seasonal waterfalls gives way to dry river beds that do not preserve even a hint of moisture. The white, purple, pink and red (lowers disappear leaving batt, dusty branches in colors of grayish green, In the winter ihc land is covercd willi sounds and sights of norlhern birds - storks, and wagtails, quails, even pelicans. Then they all vanish. The migrating birds relum lo llicir homelands, leaving behind them the humble sparrows and olhcr local birds. Bui Ihe mosi dramatic changes in the landscape arc man-made. Forests appear and disappear. Pine irces and eucalypii appear alongsiile the ancient terebinlhs and cypresses, Hedges of Soulh