Maple & Fig

On our way back to Clil, we sat down by the Dan creek in Kibbutz Dafna. The creek goes through the centre of the kibbutz, and there is a beautiful park alongside, where people, dogs and little children came to enjoy quietly at the end of a hot day. We cooled off in the creek, and set up our last tea party for this trip. After all the caffeine of the day, I opted for an herbal tea - a blend from all the different dried plants I brought with me, including sage, lavender, lemongrass, savory, wild oregano (za'atar), and more. We deconstructed a box of cherries that we picked that morning, and finished up the very last bit of the precious ka'akat isfar. All good things come to an end. Sigh...



A little girl approached us, followed by her parents, and gifted us with flat bark of some tree that she found. I again regretted not inviting everyone I see for a tea party, but realized I was inviting her just being there and radiating our tea-infused calm. I drew a tea cup on one piece of bark, and a heart on the other and gave them back to her.

Under the trees, there was that sweet and balmy, almost like styrax - we were sitting under a tree that looked like a cultivated sweetgum tree of one kind or another (they have leaves a little similar to maple). It was comforting to find a smell that is similar to Canada right here in the upper galilee. A smell I would have not even known its origin - or perhaps would have not even notice the smell - if it weren't for my arbourous friends from the far away land. I will always have both the maple and the fig in my heart - and my nostrils.