On our biweekly walks on the Israel Trail we go through a route determined in advance by the guide.  This is our fourth year, walking from the northern most point of Israel to the southern tip, so we have to cover a certain amount of space each time.  This means we have to walk at a certain pace.  And we have to miss a lot of things.  And I’m so exhausted afterward I barely function the next day.  

Why do I do it, then?  Yesterday we were in fields of the most beautiful flowers in the world – black irises, tel-aviv garlic (yes – only in the coastal area of this county). and all I could do was snap hurried pictures.  

But now I know where to go back to see the flowers – near Ramat Poleg.

And to know where I want to return is the important thing.  I don’t care about going back to the crusader castle ruins, or the battle sites and memorials for lost soldiers, and I’m glad we went through them quickly.

Suddenly I’m feeling like Joseph Addison, or maybe Samuel Johnson.  Like an old fogie giving advice and trying to teach the young generation how to behave.

But slow walking is for amazing beauty, for smelling flowers.