I saw Mt. Hermon a few days ago.
Now, if you look on a map and check how close Haifa is to Mt. Hermon, you'd think "big deal, duh, you live pretty close to it!"
Yeah, well, many days of the year you can't see it from Haifa due to the smog and dust/sand storms called "hamsim" or "sharaf" (Hebrew/Arabic).
That means that you pretty much can't see Mt. Hermon all summer long (read "May through September"), so the fact that I saw it the other day is very exciting. It might actually start cooling down and - heaven help me - R A I N. Oh, just writing that thrills me. Yes, Israel has definitely taught me to appreciate rain. Oh, how I miss it.
I saw Mt Herman, too! It was quite beautiful and felt very far away. I was surprised I could see it from your apartment. I felt like I could touch history. It is such a different feeling from living in the States with plastic McBurgers on every corner.
I'm sure they'd put a McBurger there if they could manage it . . .
Only mildly related:
It rained here last night sooo hard that we lost power. It was not an electrical storm. We were in the basement of Wells Hall playing Puerto Rico and it went black on us. Right at midnight, too. This was particularly interesting because we never, ever lose power on campus. There are so many generators etc. that it just never happens. I was excited. And scared.
We haven't had rain in about a month and it finally came today!
Rained here. Grass is g-r-e-e-n! and Growing! (not my problem)
IT RAINED HERE, TOO!!! IT'S SO EXCITING ALL I CAN DO IS WRITE IN CAPITALS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!
Ummm, Why is Mt. Hermon special?
'Cause it's far off in the distance and we can only see it on a clear day.
Clear days only happen when it is cooler here.
Also, I think Mt Herman figures in the bible. It really was special for me knowing that this was the land that both Baha'u'llah and Christ walked. And more, Moses, Abraham . . .
I can close my eyes and see the Golan Hts. and to the right is Mt. Herman in Syria. It is covered in snow and shining like a beacon to the heavens and to the sea by Haifa Bay. I imagine I am standing right where Mr. Furitan stood looking out over the Bay to Akka and scanning the horizon to Mt. Herman. We are linked together over many years to a history in the religious center of the planet. Perhaps you will achieve your long awaited rains. "Make it so!"
papa