Sobota

Shivta, Sobota

Walking out of the southern church into the wilderness what is usually a parched earth; a dessert is now a savanna of weeds blossoming grains and cereals.  Binoculars are ready birds watching day is about to start.

 On the Incense Route heading south East windy semi-cold morning suburbs turning into farm houses and then to agriculturel terraces all frozen in time waiting for the Nabateans camel caravan to come back from the east loaded with frankincense and myrrh.  Our bag packs are heavy to we carry bread, sardines, vegetables- fresh and caned, wine and coffee (soon to find we left the coffee pot behind).  The rest of the morning went by while we went up the mountain stopping from time to time to prove a point to share to ask questions: do you know where to this river flow (med or dead sea). How old is the lime stone? Did the Nabateans how build Sobota practice agriculture combined with traveling or was it a different phase? When did the limes passed here? What is the name of that flower, not this, that? And when do we eat.

Boil the coffee in the pickles round-tin-can. Drink up your wine. Pass the sardines.  Look at the raptors flying over our head: Griffon and Egyptian Vultures patrolling the sky, Steppe Eagles spin up with thermodynamic winds, Common Buzzards flying high. A lunch to remember

Going down the Kenyon, the water- holes are still wet and young kids of a nomadic family splashing droops of childhood, a brake from combing the dessert with their goats looking for weeds and scrap metal. Ammonite fossils peacefully rest in peace, will not be crushed by dinosaurs any more little Owl is dreaming of Athena because the sun is going down  and we need to find are way back to the car and hoop it’s still there. It is.