It’s a Small World

Some things work out better, some worse. It’s the end of Galilee day and we’re tired, itchy and a touch sun burned.

After a LONG night at a dump in Bet She’an, we felt ready to tackle the day. And it was a dump. Heath said he had felt positively like he was hobnobbing with the homeless when he crawled under his blanket. Obviously it agreed with him, as he slept exceptionally.

We wound our way slowly to the Sea of Galilee, stopping at Gideon’s Spring to nip a little water. From there it was the Pigs Rushing Into The Sea overlook, and then around to Capernaum. Once again our GPS’s don’t work and we dance between Beirut-Rafic Al Hariri International Airport, Beirut, Lebanon and our proper location. This time we felt a little more prepared. We knew how to look for physical signs and not only follow a little dot.

At noon we arrived at the old marina in Genofet to meet our friend David who owns the boat we usually ride. He had agreed to take us fishing, as we have a couple of diehard fisher persons along. Us and our lunch hopped aboard the boat and we cast off. The weather was calm, sunny and about 73*, so truly perfect. The non fishers lazed around in the sunshine, munching on chips n salsa, while the guys made bait balls and cast and stuff. Whatever fishing entails. Jigging and trolling and what have you. I sorta didn’t listen. The boat has a largish wooden deck over the bow, and that’s where Sharon and I took up residence.

One lonely fish was caught, and it did it’s share of flopping and gasping. We tried various spots without anymore success, so ended up exploring the mouth of a river and listening to David tell stories. The bombers kept up a steady racket overhead and once we saw a big plume of smoke go up from a Hezbollah missile that allegedly landed somewhere in Northern Israel. David didn’t seem too excited so we weren’t either.

The whole thing was epic. Fishing, fellowshipping and in general spending 3 hours dangling on a lake with friends. What more can I say?

Our next bright idea was to walk the hiking trail from Chorazim to Capernaum. The guy at the trailhead didn’t look at us funny or anything when he showed us the map, but he should have. It was supposed to be the old road where Jesus walked, and it may have been, but it was no longer a road. Basically we just walked 2.8 miles across a rocky, thistle ridden, cow pie splatted, muddy hillside. We saw the bodies of two other hikers who had also had the bright idea, but didn’t make it. They may have just been cows, but they were still bodies, and they didn’t smell too good. We did wonder if maybe they had been used as mine sweepers, but since they weren’t blown to bits we decided they probably hadn’t. Why didn’t we turn around you ask? Because Heath had brought the van to the other end of the trail. But we persevered, and between bad jokes and wild flowers we remained mostly cheerful. Eventually we stumbled our way out onto the main road, our legs prickly from thistles and stinging nettle, and headed down to the lake.

Skipping stones and relaxing on the Sea Shore improved our moods dramatically. Nothing quite like playing on a lakeshore to get a dopamine boost.

We knew tonight’s lodgings would be decent, as we had stayed there before, so that was a relief. Kinneret Love Sounds was as welcoming as ever, with citrus trees laden with fruit and a hot tub that some of us promptly jumped into. About that time Garrett, who positively reeked of cologne, thanks to an eager salesman, started complaining that no water came out of the taps. Sure enough. Not a single tap yielded so much as a drop. The owner came on the run and explained that there was city wide water problems and we were slap outta luck. We’d have to move to a different location. Sort of a big deal, with all our bags and food and what have you. Not to mention being neck deep in a hot tub. But we rallied round and trailed her across town to another location that was nice, smelled a touch fishy, but had water. A huge orange moon rose up behind the lake as we stood in the yard and we felt enormously blessed. Beds are soft, there’s water, and we’re stuffed with delicious food. Can’t top that!