A male jewel-toned Palestine Sunbird ducked into his tiny purse-like nest of fuzz, feathers, straw, and sticks which was perched in the lattice of my pergola this morning. His iridescent feathers of emerald, deep purple, and indigo catch the morning sun. He is experiencing “the season of the children” along with his grey-brown mate, and I am enjoying the joyful sounds and the balancing antics throughout the day as they hover and hang upside down to extract the nectar of their favorite trees or flowering bushes in my garden.

This Palestine Sunbird’s nest is a work of art

The first of the “early rains” has swept away a shroud of Middle Eastern dust which hung heavily over the Jordan Valley, veiling the splendor of the Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon. From my window today, it is crystal clear across the expanse of The Sea of Galilee and reflections of the southern Golan Heights ridge slopes, wrinkled like a weathered face, glimmer in the mirror of the lake’s serene surface. The winter season is tip-toeing into The Land of the Bible and although you don’t find the brilliance of fall leaves as in other locals, with it comes subtle changes discernible by those who look closely.

And so it is in our life. Before we know it, time’s passage has moved us into a new season. I want observant eyes and a heart sensitive to the passage of time so I don’t miss the microscopic beauty, contrasts, and growth (or lack thereof). “Lord, teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).”

Last year was Gary’s final harvest of rich black olives from our tree. Copper bowls of olives I picked along with a fresh protective stain on the teak Lutyens bench and table indicate preparations for a new season.

My Old City rooftop perch in Jerusalem is situated among layered ancient history of kings and kingdoms which have risen and fallen as their season faded and another bloomed. My own personal history in that apartment dates back to turbulent times in 1996 when my first husband, fleeing an adulterous relationship, found solace in his place of healing and refuge where we tried to rebuild our 22-year marriage. It was a season when our walls were under siege and we were vulnerable to attack. Six years later, post Domestic Violence Injunction and his choice to divorce, I returned to Jerusalem where the apartment became God’s place of healing and refuge for me. It was a season of fresh inspiration when Jerusalem Journal allowed me to open my windows to readers for a view of the sacred city and her residents, my neighbors.

The winds of change brought “the season of Gary” in 2004 and we plowed the fields of life and love together until cancer began the systematic dismantling of focus, routine, intimacy, and physical strength. His challenges of walking from our car parked at Damascus Gate and up four flights of stairs brought a diminishing end to hosting guests on the terrace and pain-free living. We had to abandon our nest and in its place received the precious and timely gift of a friend’s apartment with an elevator. Our second home…Sha’are Zedek Hospital.

The rooftop perch lay silent with memories of what God had done in the past to embrace me, cover me, delight me, inspire me. During “the season of letting go,” while Gary napped at our borrowed refuge, I made a solitary pilgrimage to the Old City weekly to water his once-thriving flowerpots and grieve over a different shroud of Middle Eastern dust covering the furniture and our former life there. It became a sad place where I longed for, prayed for inspiration.

With the help of The Master Designer and artistic friends, Rochelle and Ariel, the rooftop perch is being “re-feathered” to prepare for the coming season of creativity, hospitality, and birthing stories of hope.

A garment dyed with this past season’s homegrown pomegranates is the new canopy over my bed. Winnowing forks, a sieve, and threshing board add detail and remind me that The Lover of My Soul loves to inspire.

Many of you have prayed for my being able to stay “at home” in this land of promise. It is here, where my heroes once walked, that I have been drawn like Ruth in the Bible to put down roots and live among the people. I was given news this past week that someone who fought on my behalf obtained a year extension for my visa for all of 2018 which has lifted a huge burden from weary shoulders. I can breathe again. A new season is around the corner.

I will be in the US Dec. 15th-Feb 1st and hope to see many of you along the way as I share stories about life in Israel. Look for my itinerary on Facebook.

Enjoying the walk home,
Cindy