Serials and Scenario's Walk the Land ...

My thoughts:

I love biographies and meaty accounts of lesson-filled journeys. I am also fascinated with cultural differences and physical challenge accounts.

That said, the journey taken by the Pex’s is a fascinating idea, miles and miles of hiking through the heart and sometimes, soul, of Israel.  The trek through all sorts of obstacles that made them physically stronger makes for a rich source of information and ideas. And Pex shared some fascinating bits of history and cultural richness throughout her account. There was spiritual application and ideas to contemplate as well.

However, I may have misunderstood Pex’s sense of humor or personality. She’d begin to share details about the rugged terrain and the physical challenges, but then lapse into sharing about her physical discomfort, or frustration about her husband’s more laid back style of hiking. Encounters with others on the trail were snippets of random conversations as they very likely happened.  Her lessons jotted in her journal that she shared within her chapters were very basic, symplistic lessons that she learned on the trail, about life, about herself.

I think this book might be valuable to someone who is considering taking on a journey along these lines. There wasn’t a blow by blow of what they did to prepare completely, but many details are covered as are details about the trail itself. Those who love insider’s insights about different countries and a taste of culture may enjoy this book as well. Literary biography lovers would find themselves frustrated. Those looking for heavy Biblical truths may also be disappointed. However, this could be a nice companion piece/reference if studying ancient Israel, the life of David, Moses or the Life of Christ, Paul or Peter and their missionary journeys.  

NOTE: If you have a Kindle you can get a free down load through April 2nd. 




Book Description:

Come with John and Judy Pex as they hike the 600-mile Israel National Trail from the Egyptian to the Lebanese borders. During 42 days of trekking through spectacular scenery, Arab towns and villages, past Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian holy sites, they discover: + Sights seldom seen by tourists + Physical challenges and spiritual tests + Cultural encounters and historical insights + Lessons about peace, faith, and endurance. This book will appeal to: 1) Students of the Bible 2) Middle-agers who want vigorous role models and new challenges 3) Christian believers seeking creative ways to test and share their faith 4) Young adults pursuing the great hiking trails of the world 5) Readers interested in Israel. Illustrated with (color) photos of scenes and people from the Trail.

Ordering Info :

176 pages

Price: $14.99

Available through Amazon.com and other online retailers, or through bookstores anywhere.

The Amazon Kindle version is FREE March 29 - April 2 here .


http://amzn.com/B00725SP1W

Review Quotes:

"I wholeheartedly recommend this book for its glimpses of the people, history, and beauty of the land, and for the author's spiritual insights." - Jeremiah Greenberg, The Messianic Times, Jan/Feb 2008

"For thirty years I have had the incredible experience of traveling the land given to Israel by God -- from Dan to Beersheba to Eilat. However, 'walking the land' with my friends Judy and John [by reading this book] has brought a whole new dimension and depth to my understanding of Israel and its people. I know you'll be enriched spiritually through Judy's story of the insights given her by her God on this journey of a lifetime." - Kay Arthur, Precept Ministries International

About the Author:

In their fifties, Judith and John Pex, who run a hostel in Israel, felt the need for renewal and decided to walk the 600-mile Israel National Trail. In WALK THE LAND, Judith shares what they discovered about God, themselves, and the history and people of Israel, and how their love for the land opened doors to share their faith in Yeshuah (Jesus).

Author Photo:

Author Video:



Interview with Judith Galblum Pex:

You have traveled much of the world. What are your favorite cities/places to visit?

Usually the latest place I've been becomes my favorite, though I prefer the more remote locations over large cities. One incredible experience was going with Galit, who is like an adopted daughter for us, back to the village in Gondar, Ethiopia where she was born. She had left there with her mother twenty years previously as a young girl and walked to Sudan from where they were air-lifted to Israel with Operation Moses.

For people who have not yet read your book: What drew you to Israel?

I was traveling around the world, searching for a purpose in life. After hitchhiking alone through Europe for a year, my goal was to reach India, where I thought I would find a guru. I decided to stop in Israel on the way. I'm Jewish and have relatives here, so I thought it would be a comfortable place to rest before the big trip East. I never dreamed that Israel would become my home.

What were the biggest challenges and rewards in raising four children in Israel?

Our oldest son was born our first year in this country, and I had no family and no fellowship of believers in Eilat. I think that raising children in a different culture than the one you grew up in is always a challenge. But, on the other hand, raising children anywhere isn't easy. All four of our children served in the Israeli Defense Forces which also presented challenges. I am thankful to have raised them in an international, multi-cultural environment. They feel very Israeli, but have three passports and are citizens of the world. The best part is seeing them develop into independent adults whom I enjoy being with.

How did you and John get started running a hostel?

There are several reasons. Both of us had traveled a lot and felt that we understood what kind of place backpackers were looking for. At the time, no such hostel existed in Eilat. When we started the Shelter we had three children and couldn't travel as we used to, so a hostel enabled us to keep meeting people without leaving home. Furthermore, we have always opened up our home to guests and we really needed a hostel just to accomodate all the folks who were staying with us!

Did you know you wanted to write a book about your journey on the Israel Trail before you hiked it, or was it a decision you made afterward?

Before we walked the Israel Trail I had started a book about our experience in running the Shelter Hostel. So writing a book was on my mind. I thought that our journey on the Trail would be a good subject for a book, so I kept a diary of our walk for that purpose.

You find many parallels between your walk on the Shvil Israel (the Israel Trail) and your spiritual walk.

I love maps and when I'm hiking I enjoy checking the map often. That way, even if I get off the path, I can't stray too far. I make sure I read my Bible every day also to keep me on the right path for my life. Another lesson I thought of is that sometimes on a hike we come to a crossroads and have to make a decision about which way to go. Once we've chosen a particular trail, I try to be satisfied and appreciate it. Even if it isn't what I'd thought, I can always enjoy and learn something from it.

Which languages do you speak?

Besides English, I speak Hebrew and Dutch (John is from Holland), fluently, and some French, which I studied in school.

Do you have a favorite Bible verse?

I have many favorites, but there's one special chapter -- Isaiah 53. In verse 6 is the key: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." It is amazing how clearly Isaiah speaks about the Messiah here, 700 years before Yeshua, Jesus, was born. Many Israelis, when they read this chapter for the first time, think they are reading a portion of the New Testament.

What would readers be surprised to know about you?

When people meet me today they are often surprised to hear I was a hippy/traveler and that I lived for three years in Alaska in an Eskimo village above the Arctic Circle.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Citrus Ruffle Bread

I was inspired by this recipe.

After a few tweaks I made a Vegan version that was pretty stinking delicious....if you like citrus, sweet bread, and basically most things yummy.

Citrus Ruffle Bread

Dough:

3 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or flour of choice)

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon quick acting yeast

2/3 cup liquid (I juiced one orange, one lime and saved 1 TBSP of this for the frosting...then I added non-dairy milk to make the liquid level reach 2/3 cup. Use all fruit juice if you want. If you add the juice to the non-dairy milk it will curdle...so don't be alarmed.)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 flax eggs (2 TBSP ground flax and 6 TBSP water, set aside a few minutes until it gels)

Mix 2 cups of the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in mixing bowl and set aside.

Heat milk and coconut oil in microwave, in a warm oven or over double boiler until mixture is warm and the coconut oil is melted. Add vanilla.

Pour wet mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until moistened.

Add flax eggs and stir.

Add the rest of the flour about a 1/2 cup at a time, kneading dough until well mixed. This takes only a few minutes, the dough will still be slightly sticky. If you find it too sticky just add a bit more flour, a tablespoon at a time until you can handle the dough easily. (I generally knead right in the bowl and use the same bowl for rising.)

When kneaded cover and let rise until double, approx 1 hour.

Meanwhile prepare the lemon sugar mixture:

1/2 cup sugar

Grated zest from 1 orange, 1 lime or lemon or combo.

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

Mix together.

Once dough is risen roll out to a 12 x 20" ish piece. Spread the citrus sugar coconut oil on the rectangle.

Cut the dough crosswise into 5 strips. Layer the strips on top of each other carefully and cut into 6 squares.

Place these squares sideways into a greased 5 1/2 by 9 1/2" bread pan. Or you could use 2 smaller loaf pans.

Let rise until almost doubled, approx 25 minutes.

Bake in 350º for 35 minutes until golden in color. (I crammed my dough into one pan and if you do that I'd recommend that you place foil on the bottom of your oven or a cookie sheet under the bread pan. My batch oozed the oil/sugar/citrus a bit.)

Good without the citrus glaze, but the glaze is yummy, so slather it on.

Citrus glaze:

1/4 cup Vegan cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon citrus juice ( the set aside 1 TBSP of orange/lime juice mix from the bread recipe)

Powdered sugar to reach the consistency you want. 1/3 to 2/3 cup.

Mix until smooth.

Drizzle glaze over top of loaf and, as desired, on each piece.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Costco Magic, Little Airplanes, and Chopping Onions...

The asparagus was divine.

Yesterday's Costco run was overdue hence an expensive grocery trip. Fabulous asparagus fresh from the garden helped with that.

I have to confess to a rotten new addiction. #3 has been telling me I needed to watch Modern Family...that it's so up my alley, that I'll laugh...a lot. 

So I watched a few episodes on Hulu. And, unfortunately, she's right. It's kind of hilarious.

Sarcasm, check. Physical injury humor, check. Dry humor/delivery, check. Dysfunction with heart, check. 

Our local library had Seasons One and Two available on DVD. Therefore, my cooking and cleaning moments over the last weeks have included an ongoing Modern Family marathon. 

(As do my Pinterest and blogging sessions.) (Yep. As in right now.) Phil is going to get nailed by a remote control plane any second. Suspense building...here it comes. Yes! That was hilarious. While Phil lies bleeding, Mitchell discovers Costco.

I am telling myself that the timing and comedic delivery of the show will somehow make me a better writer. That as long as I'm multi-tasking it is not a colossal waste of time.

(Speaking of writing, Michelle did get her promised Fabio scene.) (Speaking of on-line social fun...a friend overshared something of a delicate nature on their Facebook page...#3 took a break from Pinterest (and we were between Modern Family discs) to read it out loud. Awkward pin drop moment and really, not as Pinteresting as the oversharer might think.) Note to self, note to all, sometimes the details are best left hidden. Just sayin.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Farm Fresh...It's Coming...

Fun farm fact. The farm is ramping up to start the season. 

One of the farmers dropped into &'s coffee shop yesterday. She cordially requests our presence to help plant tomato plants in the high tunnel this week. Uh yeah!

And to, I don't know, make the invitation more enticing, she brought in a bag of first fruits. 

Yep. 

In March, they have been able to harvest some of the baby asparagus we planted last year. 

Yum. Yum. Dinner tonight will include our first green treasure. 

Oh, and on a creepy side note...I was able to harvest our first tick of the season, too. Off of poor &'s thigh. Ugh. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Fruit Pizza

Fruit Pizza:

Crust.

•  
•  
•  
•  
• 3 TBSP of ground flax seed
• 3/4 cup of applesauce (OR) use 1/2 a mid-ripe banana (not banana bread ready ripe, think yellow with a few spots) and 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 2 tbsp. Coconut oil
• 1 tsp. of baking soda
• 1 tsp. of cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp. of salt
• 2 tsp. of organic almond extract
• 2/3 cup of garbanzo bean flour
• 1 1/3 cup of whole wheat pastry flour

Grease two 8 x 8 pans, layer cake pans or a 9 x 13 (or use 3/4 of the dough for 8 x 8 and bake the rest as cookies). Bake approx 14 minutes.  A knife poked into the crust should come out clean. The topping will soak into the crust so overdone is going to be better than not done enough.

Creamy goodness layer:

1/2 cup Vegan cream cheese

1 ripe banana

1 TBSP nut butter (optional)
3 shakes Vietnamese cinnamon (optional)

1 TBSP brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

I mixed it with a mixer. A food processor or Vitamix make it creamier.  Super incorporated wasn't my goal since a layer of fruit was going to cover it completely.

Fruit layer: If you use bananas or apples make sure you dip them in citrus juice.

I used an orange, a sliced Granny Smith apple, four sliced strawberries and a handful of blueberries. If you add a banana, dip it in citrus juice and add it right before serving.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Law Lesson #4

Last night we listened to the county attorney and a representative from the 9-1-1 call center. My notes were squished as I furiously took them and I didn't get the official acronym title for the call center. Let's maybe just call em busy. : ) and important.

But county attorney report first. He was an engaging, entertaining guy who had a whole lot of downer facts. The reality is that people can be messy and ugly. Keeping things under control and cleaned up is his job.

Drugs are a problem in just about every community in the ole U. S. A. and that's true for mine. A question was asked about synthetic drugs, as did the comment that we need to educate and treat so he doesn't have to invest the resources of the county on prosecuting and keeping our jails chock full of people who need to be kept away from others. The drug problem is a three legged stool, he said. And money is required to keep those legs on said stool. There's only so much money to go around and most people are opposed to paying more taxes to make sure people don't start doing drugs. He said his focus had to be on his leg. Makes sense.

Synthetic drugs (mish-mashes of chemicals that produce bad side effects like highs and hallucinations when applied, smoked, injected, ingested, or inhaled into the human body) are really becoming an issue. He said legislation to keep the crap off the streets needs to be in place before users and sellers can be prosecuted. The drug chemists are creative, and quick to create and the law's wheels take a bit more time. Common sense says that if you think it might mess with your mind you probably shouldn't put it in your body. But most dealers are not after wisdom, instead they shoot for the moola.

He shared stories about some of his adventures. Like being questioned when he discovered some seedy business within his department and the policies and procedures that came out of that. And his own frustration with the system that doesn't always deliver the most just results. One guy earned probation for seriously hurting another guy. No tooth for a tooth justice, but the perpetrator lost his job, had to pay restitution and got busted because of his own big mouth. Fair enough. The little consequences added up big time.

9-1-1 is high tech. We have bells and whistles that our much bigger neighboring city doesn't have. Our emergency phone operators are trained to talk people through the Heimlich maneuver, CPR and even baby delivery. Cell phones manufactured after 2010 are supposed to have GPS and the system can usually locate a call to within 300 yards. One guy asked if someone broke in, he dialed 9-1-1 on his cell phone and threw it aside, if they'd send someone. (So the intruder wouldn't hear him talking.) She said that they have to make the decision based on what they hear. Pocket dials happen. But if a person whispered into the phone, they'd send a car, or if something like gunshots were heard, definitely. They will try to return a pocket dial call. The technology is coming where 9-1-1 can receive and send texts, and pictures can be sent. She said it's a great idea in case of intruders, suspicious cars, and evidence but a bad idea for idiots who might think it's fun to prank the call center. Someone asked about pranks. She said that they've had to send an officer to talk to frequent nonsense callers. And that a handful of restraining orders have been put in place for harassment. Uhhh. Harassing a 9-1-1 facility? One that has access to guys with guns? People can be very, very scary and stoopid.

Very fascinating and informative. And I'm thinking both of these jobs seem really stressful. The busy days (August is the busiest month) will bring in up to 90 calls per operator in an eight hour shift. Not all of these are life and death, most aren't, but all of them require time and knowledge. Many are calls asking questions like, "When does the parade start?" "Who do I call to handle...."

Very, very interesting. And the officer I sat next to was so observant that he noticed a stupid button fall off my jacket and roll under the table. He didn't offer to sew it back on though. Ha. Ha.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Make Your Own Dang Quesadilla...

This is what we had for dinner last night. 

I made a double batch of Super Genius Tortillas, pulled out my very dusty quesadilla maker (and cleaned it up). Haven't touched that sucker in two or so years. 

We have a few really perfect avocados, some of the fabulous Restaurant Style Pinterest Salsa (with a few tweaks), and some frozen (thawed, of course) beans. 

Tada. Quesadillas.

Two tortillas per person. 

1 to 2 TBSP of beans or meat substitute 

Avocado slices (we went with plenty)

1-2 TBSP Salsa (if you want another option, Mango Salsa)

Slap the top on. Smash and heat through. Yummy. 

Lots of potential. I'm thinking this will be a nice rediscovered tool. Hmmm.

If you don't have one of those bad boys, you could add Daiya cheese (to help it hold together) and cook them in a pan like a grilled cheese sandwich and slice with a pizza cutter.