“For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over, and it is gone. The flowers appear on the ground, the time has come for the birds to sing, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land.” (Song of Songs 2: 11-12)

The summer arrived in Ein Karem full of joy, with many colures in flowers, the clouds more timid, sometimes appear almost as transparent as a curtain opening a sky blue, navy, turquoise, all shades. In the balance of life, I always miss some sacred minutes looking at the changing colures of the sky.

The day dawns yellow and goes to sleep with the red colour of the sunset. The other day I heard someone say that here is paradise, I do not know if it is. But I would say: Ein Karem is a piece of God in nature giving life to my life.

The fruit trees are also giving the air of grace! Small clusters of grapefruit form like a fetus in the mothers’ womb. The pomegranates with their red fruits hidden in the foliage are growing.

Ah! and has a caramel-coloured fruit that I do not even know the name says, it’s delicious is everywhere. Walking in the afternoon I find them giving off to me a wonderful aroma and a unique flavour. Speaking of aromas, what can l say of the roses that are so lush and rich in the garden?

They dance in the wind, in the air, in the atmosphere, they are really beautiful and so, colourful a feast for eyes, and for the soul a cure. I love to see them every day especially in the morning Sometimes I drink my coffee with the Roses, they are delicate and sensitive.

I scatter them throughout the house, into vases different shapes, and with loose petals. Roses exude love!

Awakened with the singing of the birds in different songs, an orchestra of several voices in a single tuning they enchant any ear One day I went to put the trash of the house outside, and in the middle of the way I was surprised with noise of a tapping touch. I stopped and saw a beautiful woodpecker working in her new home and looking for food for her young.

The butterflies and bees also come in search of food in the flowers and if we watch closely, we can see each one has a different way of feeding.

Now the wind is no longer the same, the one that brings the summer is a fresh and calm breath, the lightness of the wind at this time changes the season, the temperature and life that passes so fast, that now I wish it were slower. I wish summer had no wings, but legs so it would walk and not fly.

All of this beauty that we see here on Earth. An earth dried now by the sun. Deep in their stories and roots, land where everything was destroyed and rebuilt in stones, memory and nature.

Here I am witnessing this singular beauty of a new season, of a new colour.
Erika Santos, NDS