One year in Israel

As of yesterday we have lived in Israel for a year now.  Just under one left to go! (or that's the plan for now...we all know how these things go...)  In hindsight, this year did pass pretty quickly, and I imagine the next one will as well.  Although as we get closer to the actual leave date I think that I will start to realize how much I am going to miss our walks to the sea, swimming in November, and just having easy access to sites that seem so inaccessible back home.

I remember reading some piece when I was young, probably in National Geographic, about how the Dead Sea was drying up and could disappear.  I remember the panic I felt that I might not ever get to swim in it and how it seemed totally impossible that I would ever visit Israel before I was super old and all the cool stuff would be gone! hah, oh the things that you stress about when you're little. So in some ways it's a little surreal still that we have been able to see and do all sorts of things out here, and I know that I'll cherish that once we go back.

From our family's visit last February, floating in the Dead Sea

Oh, and in case you are as neurotic as me, don't worry about the Dead Sea - environmentalism is just as big over here and there is now a joint project between Israel and Jordan to preserve sea levels.  Although if you ask me, the motivation is tourism, not the environment.  But hey, whatever works. :)