Despite my best efforts to offer him a floor matress, my dad opted to rent his own apartment, which was right around the corner, at the end of February. With horror stories of high-speed traffic and high-priced gas, I did manage to talk him out of renting a car, which basically meant, unfortunately for him, that he played victim to our traveling whims for two weeks. I did have to work while he was in town, but I took enough time off that we nearly hit every corner of Israel -- the Golan Heights, the Negev Desert, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Dead Sea -- with Jerusalem and Tel Aviv thrown in for good measure. In the windy Golan Heights to the north, near Mt. Hermon and the Syrian border, we demonstrated our headgear homogeneity:
By the time we finished surveying even windier Mitzpe Ramon in the southern Negev Desert, I had even convinced him to share in my affinity for the toboggan:
It was back to the full brim by the time we got to the Caesarean ruins on the Mediterrean, where Tim and my dad re-enacted a scene from Ben-Hur:
After all that exertion, we headed over to the Dead Sea. Tim and I took a dip later, but my dad stayed on dry land, head protected (unlike me, who left her trusty sun visor at home), as we hiked up by the waterfalls at Ein Gedi:
I was thankful for my dad's Stetson when he shot off into the souk in Jerusalem after we walked the rampart walls. It was easier to find him (i.e. not the person in the burqa):
Always the gentleman, though, my dad shed his chapeau when he treated us to a last supper in Jaffa before his flight home:
9 comments:
I like that first one. It looks like an album cover.
Maybe my dad and I will form a band, The Crazy Hats, with me on ukulele and him on harmonica. Our album will be called "At the Edge of Sanity and Syria."
nice. and have I mentioned my affection for referring to knit caps as toboggans?
- Lawton
I tell you what, the first single off our forthcoming album will be "Ode to the Toboggan."
I love that your dad's visit was chapeau themed. It's my favorite thing today. -ellen
Dude, a toboggan is a sled. Sheesh...
Your dad is obviously a gentleman, though.
Good to actualy see a picture of you. I also liked the continued thematic pictures of your men and beer. Good show. However, you have spewed your own diatribe over this blog, what was the elder's reaction to being in Israel during a rather dicey time and his daughters choice of locality?
-Sean
We actually didn't talk much about the situation while he was here, although I did always point out when we were close to where the action is, as in "If we go 5 kilometers down that road, we'd be in the Gaza Strip." We also drove through the West Bank on the way to the Dead Sea, which provided a good view of the separation barrier. About the only thing he said when he got home is that when people asked him if he felt unsafe, he had to admit that he never really did. He was expecting something scarier, I think, but that never materialized in the bubble we live in. About the only thing he attributed to the conflict was increased airport security in New York, but even I think that was run-of-the-mill Israeli interrogation. Basically, I'd think he'd say that although he still has some trepidation, he probably worries less about me being here than before he came.
Hey, you've finally updated! Welcome back to blogging!
We miss you. Your dad looks like you, except balder and maler.
Post a Comment