AND THE DESERT SHALL BLOOM

The usual color range (which is very beautiful in itself and not dull at all) in the hills, plains and wadis of the Negev desert, of the rocks, stones, sand, dry earth, and of the antic dwellings and ruins as well, is of all the shades of beige, ocher, brown, rust, bisque, grey, sienna - broken with an occasional dark green tamarisk tree, an acacia, or a pistacia tree in the higher regions, and various kinds of low shrubs and other arid area trees. There is the blue of the sky, the white of the clouds, the hot yellow light of the sun, and the dark cold black of the night. Plant life of pink, purple, red, yellow, blue, white and all the hues in between are not the usual colors of the desert.

BUT if we are blessed with plenty of rain during the winter season, like we have been this year, the desert is blooming. It is amazing and sometimes unbelievable what sleeps in the ground of the dry, stony and sandy earth and awakes even after years of drought and no rain at all.

All the colors suddenly appear! Forms and textures dance with the colors and create little paradise gardens.

Doesn't this one look like a little yellow bird?

All photographs by Uri Eshkar. Zoom in to enjoy the details.