In Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring

It's been a while since I last posted on this blog (last post in 2020)! Time has flown by so quickly. For 2020, 2021, and 2022, our family has been blessed to do a fun summer road trip from CA to the east coast. We've been blessed to visit the OH Scriptorium, dear friends, and fun places along the way. This year, we weren't able to make it to the east coast again, but we are doing a short 1-week trip up to northern CA and Oregon.  My family and I were blessed to visit Lava Beds National Monument again! When we visited in 2017, I posted about our visit: http://insummerautumnwinterspring.blogspot.com/2017/07/lava-beds-national-monument.html On Tuesday 6/27/2023, we visited Mushpot cave again and Valentine's cave. Mushpot is a beginner cave with paved paths and lighting inside. Valentine's cave was named for the day it was discovered and has bumpy lava paths, pillars, and sections with low ceilings where you need to duck walk or crawl. Anabel has been so brave and pers...

Today, we went on a tour with Dr. Pfann, the President of the University of the Holy Land. We toured the Botanical Garden of the Hebrew University, and we learned a lot about the plants of the Bible. Israel is in the center of 3 continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa. There are many different climates in Israel, too. This is why there are so many different kinds of plants and flowers that grow in Israel. We first stopped by a lavender plant.  Lavender in Israel looks a bit different from ones in the US, but it smells just as nice! This tree below is the Ceratonia Siliqua , also known as the Carob Tree. The Carob Tree can be used for food and medicine. There are male and female Carob Trees. This tree is a male tree because of the stamens on the branches. We will talk more about carob beans at the end of the post. Below is the  Majorana Syriaca , the hyssop of the Bible. It was used for cleansing. When you dip it in the water, it can really soak up all t...