Photo Friday (Vol. XII) [Deluxe Edition]

Once again, I am sorry about last week.  As chief cook and bottle washer (not to mention primary nose-wiper and back-up diaper changer) I was busier than a one legged man in an *ss kicking contest (I've always wanted to use that expression... don't ask me why)!

So this week I'm going to do something a bit different.  As I mentioned before, I have been having trouble finding that elusive 3rd picture for many of you, and several requests were for similar pictures.  So today I'm going to have a combination Photo Friday featuring requests from several of you.

To begin with, Christopher Naze (the timekeeper over at Days of Naze), asked for 2 interesting things (actually 3 but I'm still thinking about the 3rd):

1) The one food you would eat if you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life.
2) The moon as viewed from your home.

I liked these two requests because they ended up looking quite similar.  First comes the food I would eat for the rest of my life if I could only eat one thing.  For you movie buffs, this is the question that one of the kids asks the other in the film, Stand By Me.  The unhesitating answer in the movie was "Cherry Pez... no question!"  As tempting as that might be, I think that most of the treats I enjoy would get tiresome after a while.  So I give you my answer:

The incredible edible egg!   A while back I had a journal entry about eggs, and many of you chimed in with your favorite way to prepare/eat them.  From the staggering number of ways one can prepare eggs, it is easy to imagine why I would never get bored of this wonderful food.  The discoloration is one of the things that come along with getting warm, farm-fresh eggs delivered to the house every week.

Christoper's second request was for a picture of the moon from my house.  I don't know how many of you have tried to photograph the moon using a point-and-shoot digital camera, but it ain't easy, trust me.

It was just a happy coincidence that the night sky and my favorite cast iron skillet offered such similar backgrounds.  By the way, Chris's son just went through a nasty tonsillectomy... go show him some love.

Next, Sandra (your German speaking guide at Discover the World) was very nice about mentioning a candy store, but then said she didn't want to tempt me.  No problem... I withstood the test (and I'm working on your other two requests):

Alice Jonsson made three interesting requests (two of which I've included here today);

1.  Something that makes you laugh every time you see it.

2.  Something that you see often that makes you think "That needs to go away."

Ironically,  I found these things within walking distance of one another. First is a restaurant sign near Zion Square.  I don't know what kind of clientele they are trying to attract here, but by the looks of the sign I'm guessing that they won't be very good tippers:


Alice's other request is something that really has to be experienced in person to understand the extent to which it really 'has to go away'.  I'm talking about the 'scene' in Zion Square late in the evening.  It has become a gathering place for (ironically, mostly religious) teenagers who have wandered off the path on which their parents, teachers and society in general had tried to place them.  They hang out, deal/buy drugs, smoke (various things), drink (various things)  and generally revel in the extent to which they have left behind society's norms.  There are a few do-gooder organizations that try to do outreach there and supply warm food to the kids... but to my way of thinking the kids simply accept the generosity and think 'cool, if I don't have to buy food, that means more money for me to spend on booze and drugs!' [sigh]




Last but not least, I got a few requests from the The Kerckhoff Coffee House's medical Chief of Staff - Doctor Bean.   he asked for :

1) Your Havdala set (For the Judaically challenged, Havdala is the ceremony that ends the Sabbath, it involves a multi-wicked candle, wine, and fragrant spices. Many families have a beautiful wine glass, candle holder and spice container that they use for this.) 
2) The Mediterranean (If you're never near the beach, scratch that and substitute the most expansive view you have during a typical week.)

Here is our Havdala Set (It consists of a wine cup, a spice tower (filled with cloves & cinnamon) shaped like a bird house, and a beeswax candle in a an ornate holder.  All are made of silver:


For the next pictures I took some liberties.  I have some photos of the Mediterranean, mostly backgrounds from shots of the kids on our trip to Ceasaria (you can see them in our photo album on the right).  However, on a recent business trip up north I stopped for an hour at Har (Tel) Megiddo (also known as Armageddon) to wander around the excavations.  The view that this ancient city commands is magnificent (although as you can see, it was a bit foggy the day I was there).   It is small wonder that this place was the inspiration for James Michener’s "The Source".

First is a picture of the circular alter (under which there were several dozen earlier alters):


Here is the view from the top, overlooking the Jezreel valley (known by some as the plains of Armageddon).


Well, that's it for this week.  I hope the extra pictures made up for last week's no-show.

I would ask those of you who are still waiting for your requests to be fulfilled (including those illusive 3rd shots) to please bear with me... I'm working on them.  If anyone wants to request other shots (including those who have already gotten requests fulfilled) please feel free to send them in.

Hope everyone had a good week.

Shabbat Shalom!