The Hunt

The Hunt for Irises
I have been reading about the legendary "black irises" which apparently can be found in Netanya (a city north of here), Mt. Gilboa (a mountain north of here and very close to the West Bank), and also in the Negev (the south of Israel).  The problem, however, is that newspapers and magazines in Israel are never specific about WHERE exactly things are located.  For example: WHERE  in Netanya, on Gilboa, in the Negev, can I find the irises??  No idea.  Anyway, I wanted to see the irises and decided that Mt. Gilboa was the best bet because there is only one road on it, so surely the irises would be along that road.

So, on Monday, Sweetie and I booked lunch at one of our favorite restaurants (called Herb Farm, located on Mt. Gilboa), and left a bit early so we could do iris viewing on the mountain.

We drove up the mountain and initially stopped off at the spot where I encountered Mr. Lizard last month.  But, everything was parched and the flowers were gone, so we didn't linger.  Sweetie took over driving at that point, because I was not well (the smog/sand that has been around for a week finally did me in) and though I didn't tell Sweetie, I had been feeling like I would pass out during the previous 1+ hour of driving.

We ventured on, with me going cross-eyed as I scanned the roadside for the elusive irises.  We eventually decided to give up and turn around in a parking lot labelled "The Irus Way."  Fortunately, Sweetie is not blonde like I am and he figured out that this was where the irises (with an "i") were.  So, we disembarked and wondered along the path.  We managed to find about four irises (or "iruses," whichever you prefer) and couldn't help but wonder if people had walked off with the rest (a la that Finn recently who knocked an ear off a Moai statue on Easter Island).  

Anyway, I felt a great sense of accomplishment that we found the irises!