Bubbling mezah

Wanted to leave the house at 05:00 but then thought that since I hate to make myself rules why not leave just when I feel like and so left at around 07:00. It was nice walking in daylight for a change :D

On my way I saw an old car for sale (collector's item it was written on it) and called a model '63 Vallente (or something like that, see photo 1) - What I thought was funny was that on the "for sale" card written was "all buttons are new" :D

I spoke with my fisherwoman who always fish from the boardwalk and she told me that the reason why fishing has become meager compared to previous years is because fishermen don't let the small fish grow. But the truth is that I always see fishermen throwing the small fish back into the sea (or give some to the Egrets who seem to have disappeared completely from the scene now I think of it).

Icecoffee at Aroma (not only beach) is not tasty. In the past I have bought it once at Aroma on Ibn Gvirol and didn't like it and this morning at Aroma-at-the-beach I didn't like it either. There isn't even a coffee taste to it. Not complaining though. Everything else I have had from Aroma thus far tasted very good.

I don't know if I will hurt any feelings here (in the rare case that a Chinese person is reading this) because that's not my intention but, when I came down the wavebreaker and looked into the direction of crab-rock where Ms.Cat is usually lying around I saw a few Chinese men and my heart skipped a beat *blush*. I don't think there is much truth in Chinese eating catmeat (or hunting for them) but still I am ashamed to admit this was the first thing I thought about when I saw those men near those particular rocks.

Again, like in the past few times I have encircled the pond there were thousands, or ten-thousands or perhaps maybe hundred-thousands of little fish swimming around in it. With the sun shining down on them under the water it looked as if they were sunbathing (basking?) and offered such a breathtaking view that I again had to take a photo (photo 2) of it. Still... it is nothing like it looked like with the naked eye when it looks so vibrant and vivid.

After I had settled on my mezah's end and got myself wet by the splashing of the waves I found out from a fisherman there the reason why the water was a lot colder than it was yesterday. He said he had seen the 'heat' evoparize from the sea yesterday evening. Like a misty cloud hang over the sea, he said.

The mezah was very busy today. With two tiny new fisher"men" joining the 'sport'. One of them couldn't have been much taller than one meter and both were absolutely a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e!! Both listened to their father's instructions with a seriousness that kept me hiding my face so they wouldn't see my smile.

And then.......... the most 'cursed' (well no actual curses but every fishermen's grunt) fishers came floating towards the mezah's end on a rubber boat. Net-fishermen. All came together to receive them and looked what they had caught. The largest fish I noticed was a "Shula" as a kind fisherman told me later and the rest didn't look that 'big' to me and were actually Karas's. One of the net-fishermen trying to unraflle the Karas from the net got stung by it and I could see with my own eyes how much that must have hurt since he didn't even wink a brow when both of his knees got wounded coming onland (on the mezah) but his face wringed for a long time afer the stang.

Photos of the commotion at the mezah:










ah, also: the 'seacat' (hatul yam) of yesterday - in english is called a skate. thanks to SH.

All those cats...

Landcats, seacats....

Not having slept at all last night (due to having slept all of Yom Kipur) and getting fed-up by the hour creeping by too slowly I left the house at 4:30 a.m. It was dark and except for a few cars and approx. 10 people in the streets, I didn't see any movement during my walk to the beach.

When I arrived there a fisherman I've never seen before showed me what he had caught. This was the first time I've ever seen a "chatul-yam" (Sea-cat) (photo 1 and 2). He saw I was pretty enthusiastic about it and held the chatul in several positions for me to photograph. It seems they give off a kind of an electric "shock" when alive and if you touch them. But this one was quite dead.

Walking away there and looking out at crab-rock I saw Ms.Cat running for the Kingfisher that was sitting on the railing. Obviously the Kingfisher was way too fast for Ms.Cat and... unfortunately also for my camera. (photo 3)

I have a love-hate relation with Ms.Cat now. Ever since she thinks my legs are there for her to show her affection to (bite them) I stay a tad away from her. But, when she sees me she comes running to me, so I do cuddle her a bit, just enough not to let her to get too close to my legs.

I noticed big crabs walking the bottom of the pond but although with the eye they were real clear to see my camera (having a mind of his own) decided to bring them up blurry. And thus photo 4 should actually bear a caption "this is a walking crab".

After depositing my backpack with one of the fishermen I walked to the end of my mezah and got myself nicely wet - nicely because the water was warm and the wind blew its refreshing breath to cool it off on my skin. Kingfishers flew past by me at dazzling speed and close to my head and.... making l-o-u-d noises. It felt like paradise :-)

Then it was time to have my first bite of food since before yom-Kipur and when I ordered the capuccino and half a sandwich at Aroma-at-the-beach (which is actually Aroma-at-the-nemaal) the girls behind the counter exclaimed "wha-aat? a sandwich in the morning, xxx? (xxx= my name)". :D :D They're so cute, those girls!

Not much going on after that except that I thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the wall near my mezah and eating this sandwich (and drinking my capuccino of course) while watching the magic sea, and I had a laugh when I wanted to 'rescue' a fish caught in the puddle of water at the center of my mezah and 'deliver' him back to the sea. He swam ever so fast and me running after him with my sandal in my hand (a communist can't be handled with bare hands) - was never able to perform my heroic mission :D

The Old Man and the Sea

Not Hemmingway but a la mezah-style. I had so much fun this morning. Unbelievable. When I arrived at the mezah I headed straight for the very end and entered the water standing on the stones at the side of it. Today was a whole lot warmer than the days before and the water felt heavenly. It was like crystal and I could clearly see every fish and school of fish swimming by at less than 50 cm away from me. Some very small, some a little bigger and some even what they call here "big". As long as I stood still they figured I was part of the mezah, I assume :p

There was an old man of at least 80 or more sitting a tad further landinwards and he started talking to me. He showed me the catch of today, which consisted out of all those small little "Communists" the fishermen usually throw back in the sea if they catch them. He was very proud in his catch and I thought that was so sweet. But.... as turned out later, he is a clever man. He said he sold these small fish to a Chinese restaurant and earned money out of it! Hahahaha....

We had a lot of good laughs and I felt like having made a quantum leap to ages ago when sitting near my dad fishing. Only, he thought differently about things. He actually told me he likes to have a girl sit near him (and started out about how one time a woman used to come to sit near him every time he fished but that she talked so much that he had to ask her to stay away from him, hahaha) and invited me to have a beer with him at one of the restaurants down the pond :D :D :D I, obviously, politely refused - but I thought this was so funny :D

He then insisted that I fished and used his rod. And so, I caught my very first fish today (in the photo he holds the fish I caught). The smallest fish one has ever seen. He was laughing so much about it that when the next 'hit' he pulled out of the water showed an even smaller fish I couldn't help but laugh until my stomach ached. I told him that served him right, haha.

Velvet

That's how the sea was today, as smooth as velvet. And, transparent (photo 1) like clean glass. Of course the fishermen were complaining (about only small fish baiting) but that is part of the game I have come to understand. Complain a little, catch a little and enjoy the magnificent sea.

The second photo shows a favorite Israeli activity. Throwing old shoes over electricity wires. I have seen this phenomenon ever since the day I came to Israel and it hasn't changed until this very day.

Further down the road I saw this telephone booth (with a telephone without a sfaferet) with a cup of orange juice on top of it. Immediately I went like "I have been waiting for your call for ages now and have even drank almost all of my juice, but now I gave up waiting - you can have my orange juice". LOL. (photo 3)

The fourth photo is of Ms.Cat's eyes which are just too beautiful. She came up to me immediately as I approached the crab-rocks and we said 'hello' to each other in our own special way. She walked a while along the pond with me (as usual) and -here my imagination starts playing up again: when she saw I was taking too many photos of the fish in the crystal clear water of the pond she thought she was a far more attractive subject to photograph and thus posed herself as a professional model looking mundanely bored. (and thus this is photo 5, admit she has this vicious look some photomodels have).

I had a very nice time talking to the fishermen at my mezah. I sat with a few of them right at the very end. One walked off in the water and swam around a bit at that location. Another one challenged me into swimming there as well and later came 'prepared' (meaning without shoes and shirt) to enter the water there - but.... he was afraid. I could tell. I definitely know he was afraid because I told him from where to descend and still he decided to only sit at the very end of the broken off piece of rock... I would have loved to enter the water and didn't feel afraid at all (hooray!!!) but I don't wear swimwear and am too shy and think it is inappropriate to do so around these men because I want to feel 'one of the gang'. Still.... the water was perfect. I would have loved to enter it. Tant pis.

Denise, Denise, oh with your.....

When a fisherman tells me the fish he has caught is called a "Denise" - this song: (click, click) always starts playing in my head, hahaha. When the fisherman I was sitting next to this morning on my mezah told me how they (the Denises) ate the little, tiny shelves stuck on the banks of the mezah I was laughing and he just had to prove that they had teeth (photo 1). Ieuww...


Finally I left the house at a decent time this morning (06:00) and arrived after a pretty steep walk (not too fast but continuously, except for those drearing traffic lights) at 07:10 at the Nemaal. The sea was dead-quite and after picking up my usual Capuccino-to-go (this is getting more and more embarassing - even from the day before yesterday since today I wasn't even asked what I wanted to order by the girl at the counter but, after a friendly "goodmorning, how are you", she simply said "12 Shekels please", LOL) I settled myself at the end of my mezah.

The sea produced a peculiar exhibition - namely a sort of a curving, north-to-south-moving 'stripe' or 'line' or 'band' having a different color than the rest of the sea stretching from some 10 meters away from me until the end at the horizon. (photo 2). Mysterious....

After some talk with the fishermen I left and found on my way to the sherut that at the spot where Abi Nathan's (click, click again.. ) Voice of Peace dedication is situated people were preparing a remembrance service in honor of his passing over 30 days ago (it is a Jewish tradition to hold a remembrance service after the passing over of a person 30 days afterwards). (photo 3)

I didn't stay for the ceremony since I had no idea at what time it would be held. In my heart he's remembered for the good - stirring many sentiments and emotions. My being present physically at such a ceremony won't change that.

Unexpected visitors

After a truly enjoyable morning at the Nemaal I found these two noble animals after turning the bend exiting the premises. I have never seen horses parked there before so decided to take a photo. (a few photos haha) - every time my camera 'beeped' (when clicking the shutter button) the horse's ears stuck straight upwards like antennas trying to sense where that strange noise was coming from. They are police horses so probably extra suspicious :D

Escapado

Woke up at 03:30 and no way could I sleep again and thus left the house at 04:30 in order to go see the sea in the dark. It was w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l!!! There were almost no people in the streets and as I reached the bridge over the Yarkon I decided to be bold and start singing out loud. I felt awkward but also brave at the same time for doing something I thought I'd never dare :D

Unfortunately, due to natural causes I had to fast walk the rest of the way over to the Nemaal. Unfortunately x 2, the place at the Nemaal that could offer me relieve was closed. Restrooms open only at 06:00, grrrrrrr. Luckily enough the girl in Aroma-at-the-beach who knows me by now told me to use their facilities which is very sweet of her because I honestly wouldn't have enjoyed the scenery and peace around me if that would have bothered me.

So, it was 05:30 and dark and I saw the new day begin at the sea - AWESOME!!! The youtube clip expresses a tiny little bit of the feeling of 'escape' (into my breathtaking surroundings) that I felt.

Funny little things:
- when later on I went to Aroma to get a coffee the girl behind the counter asked me, before I could utter even a single word, "Large capuccino to take?" - Darn... so embarassing... I don't even have to give my order in any more. I shyly smiled at the fisherman I was with as if it had nothing to do with me :D

- after all the fishermen I know shook my hand yesterday and we wished each other a 'Shana Tova", today one of them came over to me and shook my hand again and wished me a "Shana Tova" again as well. I love this. It means there are people out there that are even more senile than me :D Besides this fisherman is one of my heroes: he descends on my mezah when nobody else dares because of the wild sea the last few days - including me.

1. clip of the escapado-feeling
2. blurry photo of the boardwalk in the dark (remnants of the night before - there still were dressed up party-goers there, mostly youth)
3. two rods in the dark
4. my mezah around 06:00 a.m.
5. the skies around that time
6. the skies as the darkness started to draw away later on
7. the sea splashing against the little shack at the end of the big pier