Birthright

This past August, I spent ten (words can not describe my feelings) days in Israel on a Birthright trip of religious intent, or should I say, a religious group, that was co-ed. I took about 1000 pictures and videos. Many will be put on shmsoft.com/yosef in the coming weeks.
Israel was lovely and awe-inspiring. Birthright is a splendid program. The amount of activities that we did truly gave a full sense of the land, from exploring archaeological digs near the Kotel, to passing by miles of vineyards in the Golan Heights, to praying at the kotel, to floating in the Dead Sea, where, truth to tell, the water is 80 degrees and it's hard to stand in the water, there is so much salt. Aside from the need to keep one's head above water, it is a pleasure to just float, no matter how heavy one is, in water that is self-supporting.

Visit Piony's Journal for the best 15 shots, as chosen by piony, and I will upload the same in the original sizes soon.

Georgia vs. Russia

This man twitters about the conflict in Georgia: http://twitter.com/wardirect

He mentions this picture.

http://pics.livejournal.com/drugoi/pic/00gwa3cb.jpg

Snake partakes of frog

I saw this drama last Friday morning. The garter snake had partially engulfed the frog. After I'd annoyed it enough, it backed off the frog and quickly slithered off. The frog survived the close encounter, albeit with a flattened backside.


Garter Snake tries to eat toad


Snake - at most an inch in width


Toad - squashed

Secrets in the garden

Mother's pictures.


Ornamental "Black Pearl" peppers


Ornamental sweet peppers


Tiny strawberry



Lemon