Smelling the Wind

I began my day with a long mental list of things I needed/wanted to get done now that the festivities of the holidays had passed. Back to regularly scheduled life! But it was Dear Husband's day off, the weather was beautiful, and Active Son and Artist Son are still home from school...so, it was a day to "shem 'al hawa", or get out and smell the wind. Only light activity was desired with Artist Son still recovering from the extraction of all four of his wisdom teeth, and so we decided to head to Dibeen pine forest, one of our favorite places to explore, walk a bit, sit on a rock in the sun.

The first thing we noticed when we entered the forest were broken tree branches, and even some trunks, covering much of the forest floor--snow damage from the big storm which hit Jordan in mid-December. Hearing many beautiful bird songs, we sat still and quiet (not easy for our crew)...

in hopes of spotting the birds. Many were high in the pine trees, hidden from our sight, but one large bird swooped by me. I got my lens up quickly, but all I manged to capture was the bird's silhouette (upper left corner). A kestral, maybe? Or a buzzard? Those were Dear Husband's guesses.

The Arbutus trees were adorned with their red "strawberries"...

Strawberry Tree

Arbutus andrachne

...and the oranges and yellows of this scrub oak provided a beautiful contrast to all the green.

Artist Son spotted the first cyclamen flower, sheltered in the cleft of a rock, and so the new wildflower spotting season officially began.

I spotted another delicate specimen a few meters on.

Cyclamen

Cyclamen persicum

Perhaps because I am so used to scanning the roadsides for flora, I noticed this bright green chameleon as we drove away from the forest. Dear Husband obliged me when I asked him to turn the car around and go back! quick! as I thought I had spotted a big green lizard.

Active Son informed us that chameleons move slowly, which explains why this one did little more than shift his position on the rock while Tayta and I took his portrait. It was the largest and brightest chameleon I've seen in Jordan--about 9 inches/22 centimeters, not including its tail.

From Dibeen we headed home by way of Jerash, stopping to pick up a bag of fresh mu'ajanaat to snack on. The sabaanakh (spinach filled pastry) was

the best and our favorite 'shem 'al hawa' snack.

Just before we arrived in Mafraq, Dear Husband decided to pull  into the village of Rihab to see if we could find the ruins of what could be the oldest Christian church. In the world.  We found it easily as we were kindly directed up the street and to the right by the first man Dear Husband saw walking along the road. What wasn't so easy was getting in to see the ruins. Apparently the guard takes Saturday's off and so the entrance gate was locked. 

That was a problem for Tayta and I, but not for the males in our group, as they were encouraged by the gathering shabaab (male youth) and a few other men, to climb over the fence. So they did, and the shabaab went with them acting as impromptu tour guides. Tatya and I remained properly and appropriately in the car. I took a few pictures through the window, and Tayta handed off her camera to Active Son so as to get a few pictures of the ruins.

Poor Tatya, shut out from the archaeological adventure. (She does posed pitiful very well .)

Artist Son missed some of the sights because he was otherwise engaged with the shabab, explaining his swollen checks (wisdom teeth) and interacting as the shabab tried to convince him to convert to Islam; speaking of religion, God, and salvation with near strangers is politically correct in much of the Middle East!

Per our camera tour by Active Son, this is the door which leads into the church/cave located under the newer but still ancient church.

Believed to be the apse of the ancient cave sanctuary

This mosaic was found in the later church of St. George (above the cave) and reads "the 70 beloved by God and the divine", which has led some to believe that 70 early disciples of Jesus worshiped in the earlier cave, however other archaeologists feel that further authentication of the site is required.

Two of the men who assisted our guys were from the Syrian border city of Daraa' and have settled for now in Rihab instead of Mafraq as the war-inflated rents were significantly lower there. They offered warm Arab hospitality, inviting us all to their home for tea, but Dear Husband told them perhaps another day, and indeed, we hope to return someday soon when the entrance gate is open and Tayta and I can enter the site.

Tayta's Birth Day~ Christmas Eve, 1996

I'm afraid that I'm not remembering too many details about Tayta's birth: like, how we got to the hospital, what the weather was, or what I was making for dinner. It's not that Tayta's birth wasn't anticipated with great joy, but more likely that I was distracted by preparing for the holidays with three small children. With Tayta's due date just around Christmas, I determined to have all my holiday preparations finished a couple of days before the 25th--a first (and last) for me.

A few notable memories: we were expecting a girl and I was very happy about that. Labor was, once again, short and intense. Tayta was born in the then new Arab Heart and Specialty Hospital; Dear Husband and the doctor were admiring and discussing the fine design of the new Danish (or Swedish?) hospital beds as I was preparing to deliver Tayta!

Dear Husband was at my side, as he was for the delivery of all our children, waiting, watching, and trying his best to encourage me. Alas, birth is not always easy for spectator dads. At one point my OB noticed that the blood was draining from Dear Husband's face and he asked him to step out of the delivery room for a few minutes. Dear Husband tried to assure him that he would be okay, but the doctor insisted. Dear Husband left, took a few minutes to gather himself, and returned just in time to welcome Tayta into the world.

All the children came to welcome their baby sister, and of course, Tayta was proclaimed the best Christmas present that year.

Tayta and I came home for the hospital on Christmas Day and our family enjoyed the day together, opening gifts and eating a meal that I managed to prepare ahead of time. (The forced photo shoot was obviously not much fun for Artist Son. When he saw this picture he apologized for ruining it, but I'm glad we have a picture of his bottom-lip-out look.)

And now the baby of the family is all grown up into a beautiful young lady. Tayta's blog name means "grandmother" in Arabic and she was dubbed with this title by a dear Arab friend as a child because of her loving and caring nature. Tayta, you are a blessing to your family, friends, and even strangers, as you anticipate the needs of others and do what you can to help meet them. We love and we thank God for giving you to our family.

Chapped Ground

Teach me to believe that all degrees of mercy arise

from several degrees of prayer,

that when faith is begun it is imperfect and must grow,

as chapped ground opens wider and wider until rain comes.

from "The Divine Will", The Valley of Vision

Flowering Jordan Calendar~December 2013

Posting this picture reminds me that a new wildflower season is about to begin, with the earliest "spring" wildflowers beginning to make there appearances later this month. I took this picture at the end of December in Um Qais. Anticipation.

Belgian Soup

Other names that I thought of for this soup: Why Didn't I Think of That Soup, Jazz Soup (improvisation), or just Cream of Vegetable Soup. But I'm calling it Belgian Soup because it is modeled after my Belgian friend Carol's soup, which she says her mother often makes. As far as I can discern there is no recipe or one correct way to make this soup, but my first attempt at turned out so satisfying that I wrote down my recipe so that I can hopefully repeat the delicious results. What a delicious and easy way to eat your vegetables!

Belgian Soup

(one version )

1 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small cauliflower, broken into small florets

7 small zucchini (I use those with light green skins), cut in the chunky pieces

5 carrots, chopped (doesn't have to be too small)

1 Tablespoon All Season*

1-2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)

Saute the onion and then the garlic in a little olive oil until soft and lightly browned. Add the rest of the vegetables and saute with the All Season for about five minutes, stirring.

Cover all the vegetables with water. Bring to a boil, and simmer until all the vegetables are cooked and soft.

Let the vegetables and broth cool a bit and then process all in the blender. I need to do about three batches.

Return to pan, salt, and add a little water if needed. 

Perhaps due to sweet carrots I used, this vegetable soup looked and tasted like a creamy squash soup. I thought it was Fantastic.  Dear Husband gave it a rating of only very good but that is because he considers creamy soups something you eat when you are sick or as a starter before a heartier meal. So, this will probably make it back to our dinner table only once in a blue moon, but we'll definitely be eating it for lunch this winter.

*I've begun substituting a homemade All Season mix for bullion seasoning as all the bullion seasoning available in Jordan is processed and includes ingredients I'm trying to stay away from, such as MSG and hydrogenated oils.

All Season 

1 cup salt

2 T sugar

2 T garlic powder

1 T curry powder

1 T chili powder

1 t. cayenne pepper

1 t. allspice

6 T paprika

1 t. dry mustard

2 T black pepper

1 t. ginger

1 t. nutmeg

Mix all spices in a bowl and store in a jar.

Cross-Country~Cheering Artist Son on from Afar

Last spring Artist Son informed us that he planned to go out for the men's cross country team at Gordon College, where he is now a first-semester sophomore.  One benefit of attending a small school, where athletics aren't super competitive, is that students with an interest and some aptitude for a sport can give it a try. Spending the summer in hot, dry Mafraq meant rising at 5am or so for his long runs. Now Artist Son is back in cool, green Massachusetts enjoying the running, scenery, team camaraderie, and some scoring success for his school.

Artist Son, #43

Here's the news brief about Saturday's meet from Gordon's site, and the important paragraph from that report.

Wes Nelson (Charlton, Mass.) and Andrew Manning (Amman, Jordan) finished second and third for the Scots, as they have for much of 2013. Nelson finished 21^st overall with a time of 28:31.40, while Manning crossed the line six spots later 26 seconds after Nelson.


We sure wish we could be there to cheer him on. Go Artist Son! Go Scots! All the best as you prepare for regionals.

Flowering Jordan Calendar~November 2013

Wadi Dana~Fall Fauna

While on our afternoon hike, we met one of the reserve's scouts; he continued on with us as far as Look-Out Point. Dear Husband asked him for tips on ibex-spotting and he advised us to visit the bird-watch near camp at about seven in the morning.

Late that evening we agreed to make our way down to the bird watch in the morning, quietly and with no talking. I arrived first, at about 6:30am, followed by Tayta and then my mom and dad. Dear Husband went solo to another rock.

Through the slit in the bird-watch wall, we focused our eyes on the small pond of water about 15 meters in front of us. Waiting. Waiting. First to visit were the Bulbuls.

White-Spectacled Bulbul

 Pycnonotus xanthopygos

FAMILY PYCNONOTIDAE

Next to arrive were the Greenfinches.

Greenfinch

Carduelis chloris

FAMILY FRINGILLIDAE

The Chukers make a lot of noise, so we could hear a group of them approaching on foot.

Chuker

Alectoris chuckar

FAMILY PHASIANDAE

They never came all the way to the pond for their morning drink. Maybe they heard the click of my camera shutter.

We had been in the bird-watch for about forty minutes, and our hopes of spotting an ibex were beginning to wane. We are not seasoned or patient wildlife spotters--which is probably why Dear Husband set of on his own. 

Tayta spotted this spider crawling along the bird-watch all in front of us. (His leg span was about 3-4 inches). It turned out to be a don't-bother-him-and-he-won't-bother-you situation, but we shifted around in the watch as the spider periodically scurried back and forth in front of us.

Just a short while later, Tayta whispered and pointed, "Look! Ibex!" Perhaps they were coming for a drink and had we been quieter they might have come closer. We couldn't resist taking pictures, though. These look like juvenile ibex. Reading about them post-sighting I learned that female and juvenile ibex travel in groups but the adult males live in separate herds, except for during the mating season.

Nubian Ibex

Capra ibex nubiana

FAMILY BOVIDAE

Dear Husband was rewarded with the sighting of a single male ibex with very large curled horns and a goatee. None of had previously seen an ibex so near to us in all our trips to Wadi Dana. I also read that the ibex tend to stay down in the valley in the spring (for grass) and winter (it's warmer in the valley) so my theory is that they were still up high, near the camp, since the warm summer weather was just beginning to fade, and were therefore easier to spot. Maybe. If so, it adds incentive to return to Wadi Dana twice a year: spring and fall.

A couple more bird sightings and subsequent identifications, helped by the knowledgeable birders in the Jordan Birdwatching Facebook group. 

Tristam Grackle

Rock Sparrow

And, not exactly wildlife, but one more picture of some non-indigenous creatures enjoying God's creation at Wadi Dana: 

Wadi Dana~Fall Beauty

I love to visit Wadi Dana, our favorite place in Jordan, with people who are beholding its breathtaking beauty for the first time. My parents visited us in Jordan earlier this month, and the one place they asked to see was Wadi Dana as they had heard us tell of it's beauty through the years.

We had not made a fall visit to Dana for many years, preferring the freshness and color of spring after a long,bleak winter. I apologized in advance to my parents for the dry, dusty, brown landscape that awaited us, but I needn't have. Yes, it was dry and dusty, but I had forgotten how the warm light of an autumn sun turns brown and gray to gold and silver. I saw Wadi Dana with new eyes. Or, more likely, I saw it with old eyes.

photo credit Tayta

The thick green foliage of the Squill plant dries up, and then the plant presents its subtle white flowers:

 Squill

Urginea maritima

Dear Husband commented that the fall-blooming Squill is an apt metaphor for the autumn of life when the flesh withers and the inner beauty of the soul flowers. The metaphor breaks down at some point, but it is a lovely thought and I will remember it whenever I see the Squill flower.