Israelis: Will and Water

    The landscaping in Jerusalem was fabulous. They don't waste a lot of water on lawns, but everywhere you looked there were gorgeous flowers and greenery. It got me thinking.

Will and Water

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright December 2013

            I recently visited Israel. It was the trip of a life time. Going to Israel has been on my Bucket List for a long time.

            We visited a kibbutz. The Israeli agricultural miracle is well known, but that is not what I want to talk about. The Israelis have Will; they know who they are and what they want to accomplish. Their sense of identity come out of long and difficult history. Their sense of identity and purpose shape their actions as a nation.

            Meanwhile, as a nation, we flop around don’t we? Let’s take water as an example. I got no sense of Israel dithering about water. They need water for their farms and they need water for their cities. They don’t debate water policy, they develop water supplies. There is a sense that water is a national security issue.  Meanwhile we let water run out in to the ocean. Enviros in Southern California are fighting against de-sal plants. I am pretty sure the Pacific Ocean won’t notice whatever we could take out.

            But, I digress; I respect the Israelis. They know who they are and what they are doing, while we wander around.

Meanwhile, back on the farm-

-we are irrigating the wheat up. It is already spouting.

-we are pruning almonds and prepping almond ground to plant trees in February.

There's always something to do on the farm.

I hope you all have a restful weekend. Blessings in the coming week.

P