Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #140

Welcome back to your favorite little meme!

Today was particularly hard. Something about our soldier named Hadar Goldin, who at first was presumed kidnapped, and only later determined to be deceased, really got to me. Maybe it was just his radiant smile, maybe it was that he was engaged to be married, maybe it was the brief hope that we all held that he was actually alive, I don't know. Whatever it was, I had a hard day.

But I think I promised not to be political here. I'm supposed to be concentrating on photography, right? So here goes - the next installation of windows and doors from Kiryat Moshe, in Jerusalem. This is actually pretty cool, here's an interesting building that I found when I was walking to my brother-in-law's house. It's actually a yeshiva!

Nice, right? But wait, it gets better :)

On the way *back* from dinner, I happened to glance over and notice that it looked even cooler in the dark! And so, here's the final view:

 

Now it's your turn! To play along with us at Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! just post your photo of a window, door, or anything architectural, link here, and sign up in the widget, below. Then go and visit the other players, after all, that's the best part :) Thanks for stopping by - have a peaceful week, all!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #139

Welcome back to your favorite little meme!

Hmm, we seem to still be at war here in tiny Israel. But we're doing our best to stick to life as usual, and so: here are some windows and doors for you :)

A couple of months ago we were on our way to my brother in law's house for a birthday celebration. He lives in Jerusalem, in a neighborhood called Kiryat Moshe. Actually - for those of you in the know about Jerusalem and her architecture - he lives almost exactly next door to one of her more recent and quite controversial landmarks. Anyway, I needed to park a bit further up the street than usual, and took the opportunity to grab some Jerusalem photos for you! 

 

Oh, speak of the devil, there's Mr. Calatrava's bridge now, peeking out from above the buildings. I'm personally a big fan :)

At the time, folks were gearing up for Yom HaAtsma'ut, our Independence Day, but I think that this is a nice photo to post now, as well:
 

I guess that's enough for this week. Come back again next week, I've got some more nice things lined up for you :)

Please play along with us here at Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! Just post your photo of a window, door, or anything architectural, link here, and sign up in the widget. Don't forget to visit the other players, checking out architecture from around the world is one of the best parts! Have a wonderful, peaceful and quiet week, everyone!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #138

Welcome back to your favorite little meme!

I was actually out of the country for the past couple of weeks, at my brother's wedding festivities in the US. Yay! We had a wonderful trip, although it was very strange to be away from Israel during these crazy times.

Anyway, I'm back, and it's still pretty crazy! Please, wherever you are, send some good karma over here for a quick and peaceful solution to this disastrous situation, and for our dear soldiers - our husbands, brothers, sons, cousins and friends - to come home safe and sound.

All that said, here's your weekly dose of Israeli architecture, and I must say, I think this one is pretty cool. It's an apartment building that's going up right near my house, and you can easily see a bunch of the stages of building in action. First there's the bare concrete. It's sprayed with a tar-like substance, to seal out moisture. Then it's got a layer of yellow insulation stuff, and the Jerusalem stone goes on top of that. Kind of wacky looking, don't you think? I'll be sure to post a photo when it's finished and prettier :)

Maybe it's just me, but I've always enjoyed looking at the insides of things :)

Now it's your turn - please play along with us here at Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! by posting your window, door, or anything architectural, linking here, and signing up in the widget, below. Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #137

Welcome back to your favorite little meme!

Well, I'm still on vacation, and still trying to stay apolitical, ridiculous as that seems in our current situation. I'm just going to say - here's my windows of the week, from a water tower right next to my daughter's school:

That is - I *think* it's a water tower. But why are there windows? Opinions?

Anyway, now it's your turn! Now it's your turn - please play along with us here at Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! by posting your window, door, or anything architectural, linking here, and signing up in the widget, below. Thanks for stopping by, everyone, and have a wonderful week! Here's hoping for peace worldwide, and in each of our neighborhoods!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #136

Welcome back to your favorite little meme!

I'm actually on vacation, but here's my window of the week:

 

Yup, you caught me, it's not actually a window, it's just a piece of artwork that I saw for sale, that *looks* like a window. But I think it's whimsical enough to post here.

Now it's your turn - please play along with us here at Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! by posting your window, door, or anything architectural, linking here, and signing up in the widget, below. Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week!

Oh no

We are heartbroken. We are absolutely heartbroken. I keep thinking of that quote from Fiddler on the Roof: I know, I know, we are your Chosen People. But once in a while, can't You choose someone else? I know that the strength of the Jews is that we are so closely knit, and that when someone else's children are kidnapped, children that we don't know and never would have met, we all *truly* feel that they are our own children. But it gets to be a heavy weight to bear.

And yet, I woke up this morning to our vibrant Judean hills, and couldn't help but think - these are *my* hills, no one is going to scare me away. This area is known as Derech HaAvot, the Pathway of the Fathers, so named because it is the natural path between Hebron and Jerusalem, the path that Abraham first walked. His descendants, myself included, have been walking here ever since. You really think you can scare me away?

And then I think of the biblical commandment to love the Stranger, and to treat them as you would treat yourself. And I look at these hills and I think Really? There isn't room here for all of us? Just be peaceful, and we can live together, what's the big deal? It's not so hard, just be friendly. Didn't your mother teach you to be friendly? You can do it.

I'm waiting, and I'm trying to be patient. I hope that actual peace, real peace, the kind where people share resources peacefully instead of evicting each other, is something that can be achieved in my lifetime, and I can't for the life of me understand why logically it shouldn't. 

May the memories of Eyal, Gil-ad, and Naftali be a blessing. Please pray for the wellbeing of their poor, poor families. And for us all.

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #135

Here we are, back for your favorite little meme!

Last week I told you that I'd be posting something from outside the Old City in Jerusalem. Well, I've decided to take myself at face value: here are two structures that we saw from across the valley, on our way back to the car right after having been in the Old City :)
Intriguing Structure #1:

 isn't that cool? Wait - here's the cropped version, maybe you can see it better that way:

And here's the other, Intriguing Structure #2:

and its cropped version:

I couldn't tell from far away if that was the design, or if it's being renovated. From the close up on my limited camera, it seems pretty clear that it's surrounded by scaffolding. But I still think it looks neat :)

Now it's your turn! Please play along with us here at Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! All you need to do is post a photo of a window, door, or anything architectural, link here, and sign up in the widget, below. Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful, whimsical week, everyone! And please have some prayers, happy thoughts and/or good karma for our three missing boys...

Skywatch - at last :)

Well, it's been months since I last posted to Skywatch Friday, and I miss it sorely! Here are a few of the things that have been happening over here:

That's it for now, I'll try to post again soon :)
If you liked those, be sure to check out Skywatch Friday, so see more sky-oriented photography. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #134

Welcome back to your favorite little meme!

Here we are, just in time for the next edition (and last, for now) of my Old City of Jerusalem series:

And here we are, back again at the less-impressive-from-the-inside Zion Gate:

That's it for now! Can't wait to see you back here next week for something totally different :)
But in the meantime - it's your turn! Please play along with us here at Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! Just post your photo of a window, door, or anything architectural, link here, and sign up in the widget, below. Then go and visit our other players, so you, like me, can enjoy our differences and our similarities, from all over the globe :) 
Have a wonderful, whimsical week, everyone - thanks for stopping by!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #133

Welcome back to your favorite little meme!

Here are the next photos in my Old City of Jerusalem series. First, some hidden arches and a stairway:

followed up by some lovely windows:

 

I really do try to keep this blog apolitical - generally speaking, I try to stay apolitical myself - but we're all just so sad here in Israel, I feel I have to say something. Please send some good karma our way, and pray for the speedy, safe return of the three high school boys who were kidnapped here just a few days ago! 

Oh, and please play along with us here at Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! All you need to do is post a photo of a window, door, or anything architectural, link here, and sign up in the widget, below. Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week, all!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #132

Welcome back to your favorite little meme!

Here we are, back in the Old City of Jerusalem, heading down toward the Kotel, also known as the Western Wall:

And here we are, at our destination!

 And here's a closer view :)

Now it's your turn! Please play along with us here at Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! All you need to do is post your photo of a window, door, or anything architectural, and link here. Then sign up in the widget, below! Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a fantastic week!

Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #131

Welcome back to our little meme!

Something I really like about walking around the Old City is that occasionally, you have the opportunity to actually walk along the tops of the walls. Like this:

 

Those tiny windows at the tip-tops used to be defensive, thankfully now they're just windows :)

I apologize that I haven't been better about visiting all of you, I've been really overwhelmed with a lot of things, and just barely have time to put out these once-weekly posts. Here's hoping that my situation changes soon, so I can go back to a more relaxed blogging lifestyle :)

Anyway... now it's your turn! Please play along with us here at Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! by posting your photo of a window, door, or anything architectural, linking up here, and then signing up in the widget, below. Then go and visit the other players, that's the best part! Thanks for coming by, everyone, and have a wonderful, whimsical day :)