Guide Lines

Waves on the Galilee

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:26:00 +0000

The water level of the Galilee is finally rising!

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Golan revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:25:00 +0000

Just one week ago we came to enjoy the snow.

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Sunrise over the Galilee

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:37:00 +0000

I love to see the sunrise over the Galilee. Maybe you've never seen one. Even of you have, each morning is more wonderful than the one before. So here is a picture to remind us all of one of God's wonders that He renews every day.

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I made a table

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:43:00 +0000

I wasn't happy with the table in the salon area of our new apartment. We had a smaller table in Jerusalem that I made a few years ago but it was blue and the paint was badly chipped. So I got some paint. Bronze paint brown and red paint. I really like the results!

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Snow on Mr. Hermon

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:46:00 +0000

Israeli weather forcasters have been telling us for days that we were going to get snow. When I heard that there was snow in the Golan I decided to go take a look. So, here you go! Snow in Israel! Some of my friends will recognize this tank from "the Valley Of Tears."

I turned around and my wife took this pic.

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Intercessors For Israel

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:13:00 +0000

It seems like God calls folks from all over the world to be prayer partners with the believers who live and work here. This evening we decided to spend some time with a couple hundred of them. Obviously, we beat the crowd.

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Jerusalem rain

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:50:00 +0000

I knew it was raining. I could hear the drops hitting the patio floor. Then I noticed rays of sunshine on the carpet and decided to take a better look. No, I didn't see a rainbow. Still, it does look sort of cool, doesn't it?

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Loving Karmiel

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:12:00 +0000

Karmiel has to be one of the nicest towns in northern Israel. I went out for a walk this morning. People nod greeting and are willing to chat along the nature trail scattered around the neighborhood.

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Location:דרך השלום,Karmiel,Israel

Beit Shemesh

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:46:00 +0000

Joshua defeated the armies of his enemies with God’s help when he asked God to have the sun shine longer than normal on the hills and valleys of Beit Shemesh. The name means, “House of the Sunshine.”

Stories from the Park

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:25:00 +0000

Two nights at Kruger National Park were incredible. We took a night ride on the second night and one of the animals we saw was a large male lion. He didn't seem too impressed with our bright lights or noise.

African safari

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:45:00 +0000

We have finally made it to the great Kruger Park! This place is incredible. This evening we are sleeping in an air conditioned hut in a compound inside the park. We've seen at least 18 species of wildlife today. I can't give you all the pictures but these are a few of them...

Snow on Mt. Bental

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:52:00 +0000

I told you it was snowing on Mt. Bental last week. Here is the proof.

A Great Hike

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:32:00 +0000

A requirement for all Israeli tour guides is to take an updater field trip at least once every year. Last week I decided to take the one I needed for the year by hiking Nahal Amud. That name is a clue. You see, the Hebrew word Amud means pillar. Nahal is a valley or river bed. In this case it was a narrow and winding canyon that took us to a huge natural pillar. The four hour hike was incredible and the natural pillar... well, take a look! It's fabulous!

Praying for Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 10:15:00 +0000

Up until a couple weeks ago, it has been another very dry winter in Israel. We need rain desperately! So, I ask my tour groups to pray for "Good Weather." It's only after they get here that I explain that rain is good weather.
I started asking God for 10 days of rain to fall during the month of February. Actually, I asked for 90 days of rain but I specifically asked for 10 day in February. We got the 10 days of rain too! It was amazing! We doubled our rainfall for the year in those 10 days.
So, since I had a group of pilgrims out in the rain nearly every day of it, I thought it would be appropriate to show you one of the folks who came with the rain.

Osaka Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:14:00 +0000

Our travels seem to go on and on. Today I am in Osaka, Japan. We have a rehearsal for a show in the Bridges for Peace Festival that is being presented by the Japanese office. The festival begins tomorrow and will be presented in several cities across Japan during the next two weeks. Meanwhile, the view from my hotel window is incredible. The castle of the 16th century Shogun is across the street. I went for a walk there yesterday.

The crane was gracious enough to allow me to take a picture as she stood with her friend the turtle. That small pond is inside the grounds of the inner keep of the castle. There are two complete moats that surround the castle.

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:46:00 +0000

A couple more of my favorite pictures from Maui. This is a Hawaiian fire dancer. They said he was a three time champion. I keep wondering why we never see championship fire dancing one Eurosport TV.

Right up there with the fire dancer is my own spark of delight.

One of my favorite scenes on our drive around the west side of the island was this wonderful church in a valley, on the beach, between two enormous cliffs.

Maui Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:52:00 +0000

I know... It's been a while since I posted. I have excuses. Nobody wants to hear excuses though. How about some pictures?

Do I look exhausted? This was taken at the end of my sixth dive, yesterday. I took a course in scuba and I am now qualified as an open water diver. That's entry level but for me it's a really good accomplishment. I feel like I have a whole new world to explore.

My instructor, Drew, gave very clear lessons and a lot of, "on the spot" tests. In the picture he was having me check his gear and identify each step.

Of course, we didn't spend all of our time with the dive course though. We took an incredible drive around the west end of Maui. Most of it is a one lane road around tight turns on cliffs. That is, with two way traffic. Let me just add one word here... interesting!

When the Tour Guide takes a break...

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:28:00 +0000

I finished my last tour of the season. Now I have a little bit of a break. To help pass the time (And maybe because I was listening to God) I decided to sell my apartment. That led to making small repairs before I sell it. That led to noticing the deck chairs on the patio have seriously deteriorated over the past year. Since I paid over 1000 shekels for them, I didn't want to just throw them away. Then a funny idea went through my head...
Maybe I can save them!

They were made from plastic strips woven like rattan. What if I took the old strips away and replaced it with ropes? So, I went off to the hardware store and purchased a quantity of right ropes. Then I re-rolled the rope into balls of about 20 meters each. I figured that would be what I needed to be able to work my way through the bars of the frames. I have finished a chair and started the two seater. So far, it seems to be working.

Now to go ahead and sell the apartment... (We are only asking 1,5000,000 shekels.)

Incredible Africa!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:20:00 +0000

Africa is fantastic! Everyone knows that anyway, right? On our first day, we went straight to a large national park where they tell me I might be able to see, "The Big Five." That is, elephant, rhino, water buffalo, lion and leopard. I didn't do that well though. We saw several giraffe, several elephants, lots of bucks, a few zebras, a family of warthogs, a herd of wildebeast and an assortment of other animals.

Oh, there was one or two other interesting characters lying about. This monitor lizard was easily 2 meters long.

Today I said Goodbye...

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 03 May 2008 05:06:00 +0000

We have gotten used to loading the bus by now. The staff at the holiday village somehow didn't write down the time for the bellboys to bring the luggage. No problem, before they could get to the rooms to correct the error almost all of the group had brought their own.

We visited Akko, Haifa and Caesaria on the way to the airport. Several of the group were anxious because of timing for their departure so they wanted to hurry through the incredible archaeology of Caesaria. I got sort of tickled when I looked back and noticed that some were still in the theater taking pictures when I had gotten all the way to the marble pieces near the gate to the palace.

Galilee and the Borders

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:48:00 +0000

The shoreline of the Galilee was lovely again this morning. My true love called me just after dawn to wish me a wonderful day on our anniversary. What could I do but go out to the dock and wish she were there with me. Happy anniversary dear friend!

But the life of the Israeli tour guide is not a convenient one. I gathered the group together and off we went to the Syrian border. We looked at the UN camp on the border and one of the men told me that he had served there. I related a story of a young Canadian soldier who had visited us at our home on leave from that compound.

One of the most incredible tank battles of all time was fought in the "Valley of Tears" just north of the UN camp.

Just one more

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:58:00 +0000

We went back to the Memorial park for the Australian Soldiers in BeerSheva this morning. The tour group wanted one more picture, as a group, at the memorial.

Beersheva Memorial and the Charge of the Lighthorse

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:25:00 +0000

I'm out with a bunch of guys who talk knowledgeably about shooting German Mausers with accuracy at the 400 meter range. I didn't bother to tell them about my skills with the 38 featherweight.
We spent some time this morning walking part of the battlefield from the charge of the Light Horseman (October 31, 1917 Beersheva).

It just seemed like the right place to encourage them to tell stories so we stood in a circle and listened to the old warriors, their sons and their heirs.

One of the main reasons many of them came was the dedication and unveiling of a new park and memorial in the center of Beersheva.

The statue is one of the most powerful war memorials I've ever seen...

Tanks and other powerful forces

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:03:00 +0000

Somebody posted a message on my message board that Aish HaTorah was building near the Kotel (Western Wall) Here is what I saw today.

Just below the expansion project is a large archaeology dig that is nearly ready for tourists.

My tour group is a bunch or Aussies who are here to celebrate the opening of the Anzac memorial. Naturally they are interested in all things military. So... I took them to the armor corp museum today.

I had to post a picture of the Merkava IV for Neil. I told you they had better stuff!

Taking a look at Jerusalem

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:36:00 +0000

We didn't spend all of our time at memorial services. We also visited the scenes of several battles and even some biblical sites.

This one is the group standing on top of Nabi Samwill. This was one of the tough battles alongside the British forces that brought about the conquest of Jerusalem by General Allenby. It also overlooks the valley of Gibbea where Joshua began the battle which ended after Joshua asked God to cause the sun to stand still.

What tour would be complete without a group photo on the Mount of Olives. They weren't quite ready yet in this photo because they were waiting for instructions from the professional photographer and not paying attention to the tour guide. (Good choice occasionally.)