Ein Mabua - Round II

I Knew There Were Fish Here!


I mentioned in the previous post on this subject that a few years back I saw trout in this river. Now that I've fished a few of them out of the water and gotten a better
look I see that I was wrong. They're just plain old white fish. This one's pretty tiny.

Don't worry. We released him with no significant injury to its jaw and without allowing anything to come into contact with its slimy but infection prone skin.

This one's a little bigger.

You can tell by the body language who caught it!

So what kind of fish is it? Lets call 'em "fools trout," since I mistook them for trout when I first saw them.

What's the difference between trout and white fish and why am I making a big deal about this?

1. Trout have an adipose fin and whitefish don't
   
2. Trout are much harder to catch. They are ellusive. They are picky eaters and they "spook" real easy.
   
3. They taste different. Trout has what is considered a more delicate rich taste. The color of the meat varies from white to dark pink. Whitefish have a fatty tasting white meat. Its ideal for smoking. But this particular one fried-up quite nicely!
   
4. The mouth of a whitefish sometimes points down for bottom feeding. But don't
   let that fool you. Its no garbage fish. Trout never have downward pointing bottom feeding mouths. They are strictly surface feeders.
   
5. Trout have beautiful colors like red, silver, and blue. They sparkle and flash when they swim. They are the most beautiful fish in the world. White fish are just... not.
   
6. 
   

After all this, I don't see how I ever made the mistake!

Dangerous Crossings

We've seen user freindlier bridges. But we mangaged.

Swim In Me!


Pollywogs Get Seen

I wish I had taken a picture of the toad-egg strings we saw along the banks of this river last week. It was then that Chaim pointed out the eggs to us. This week, he took great pleasure seeing and helping the rest of us to see the progress of this dynamic form of river life from one week to the next.

At first I figured they were the offspring of frogs. But according to Amy, they are probably toads since the eggs are held together in a string instead of a round clump.

Friday Visit to the "Ma'ayan Mabua".

Ma'ayan Mabua? Neva hoid of it? Well, you have now.

Its a nice deep fast running brook just outside Jerusalem towards the Dead Sea.

A River Runs Through it!

There are definitely some big trout in this river. I was here once several years ago during the summer when their was great underwater visibility. I saw 'em.

Chaim Found A Stick

You want be Zulu man? You must carry spear!


Three Tribesmen


Wildlife. Get your ass outta here!

It Almost Snowed!

I suppose everybody goes through this stage when they first get their hands on a digital camera. I've been taking it with me and just trying to capture every interesting thing I come across. Well, I find frozen and semi-frozen puddles really interesting, especially when they represent our dashed hopes for an early February snow.

Coffee Cup on the Surface


Heavy Icing Encroaching From the Shoreline


From Another Angle


Frozen Flower Pot

Movie Review - The Aviator

Mulit-Cultural Signing in Jerusalem

Question: What do Israel's third president, the Biblical prophet Jeremiah, a mentally ill 20th century American tycoon, and a contemporary Hollywood heartthrob have in common?

Answer: My choice of which direction to go one sunny weekday morning in Jerusalem.

This film got mixed reviews. I think the most glaring flaw was the superficiality of the portrayal of Hughes' mental illness.

What I liked was the way the friendship between Hughes and the Actress Eva Gardner was portrayed. Her moral support gave him the strength to face the Senate witch-hunt hearing of Senator Ralph Owen Brewster. In the movie, her affection, which was not at all romantically motivated, was decisive.

It's nice to see a movie where kindness makes all the difference, even though the informed viewer knows that he didn't live happily ever after.