Bird's Eye View

Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing she hath wings.

Victor Hugo, French author and statesman (1802–1885)

From my rooftop perch just before sunset, I delight in all the activity of the final hour of light. The shepherd, who visits this same patch at sunrise, brings his small flock for a final munch.

The farmer drives up on his motorcycle and takes a look at his land. Today he brought a small sickle and trimmed the lower leaves of the yearling banana plants.

And the path across the way is well trod as people make their way home at a pretty quick pace. While all this activity bustles on all sides of my perch, a hundred birds sing praises to the day. Cheers!

Out in the World

Finally! I was out of bed (albeit, not until 10 AM) and doing something today. I will not treat the tiny peanut so casually ever again. The Time Traveller took me on a walk through the banana grove.

Banana flowers are sooooo exotic!

Through the banana grove, across the river, and up to the rooftop patio of the Susanna Hotel to watch the Sun descend and plumes from sugarcane fires rise.

The Time Traveller's Souk Experience

A shopping strategy has evolved for the Time Traveller and I: he sits in the tea house guarding our purchases while I wander through the many vendors, chatting and buying our weekly supply of vegetables. Temperatures soared to 40C today. I swear I heard the parsley sigh with relief when I dumped the bag into a cool chlorine bath.


Today, the Time Traveller's tea expanded to include a tasty bowl of koshary. This is a typical Egyptian morning meal made of rice, pasta, chickpeas, lentils, fried onions, and tomato sauce that is accompanied by hot pepper or lemony garlic sauce.


Bananas are so beautifully exotic! These buds at our front gate will grow into a big bunch of fruit.

Eternally Fertile

You may recall the burning field featured a couple of weeks ago (February 15). Now the land is plowed and the field is being busily filled with banana saplings. The fertile Nile valley produces one crop after another, with 365 days of growing season per year. No wonder it is the Cradle of Civilization.


Bananas were first cultivated in Egypt in the seventh century A.D. I suspect that a time traveller from that period would not feel out of place in today's fields.


From sugar cane to bananas or wheat: crop rotation is good for the soil. Bananas are a water-intensive crop, using twice as much water as wheat.

9PM UPDATE: The Time Traveller and I decided to walk through the newly harvested cane field to the village beside the Nile for dinner tonight.


We walked through banana groves and under soaring date palms. Did I mention that I love palm trees?


We tried a newly opened fish restaurant: King Fish. Pretty good food. We both chose grilled bolti fish, which is your basic talapia. Babaganoush, tahina, and baladi salads accompanied the main course, which arrived with rice and cooked vegetables on the side.


After the big meal we walked to the river to admire Luxor Temple from the opposite shore. A very nice evening.

Valentine's Day with Stella

The Time Traveller and I returned to the rooftop of the Susanna Hotel to toast the day with a cold Stella and a good dinner. We enjoyed conversation with another resident of the West Bank who lives half the year in the Luxor and the other half in Denmark.



The sunset was beautiful on this warm February evening. No jackets required in the 20-degree Celsius heat -- even after sundown. The temperature rose above 30 during the day.



We had walked from our home to the Nile along a path with sugar cane to our left and bananas to our right. Egypt has been expanding its banana production in recent years. It is #19 among banana producing nations (India is #1).



Banana plants are so exotic. This photo is taken looking up into the flower.



We met the tilling crew who had worked the land beside our flat a week ago. Six men have covered a lot of territory in just a few days. And, of course, they were accompanied by several of their friends, the Cattle Egrets.

Monday Dawns

I'm needing to get up earlier to catch Ra on the horizon, but Cat is doing her best to help get me out of bed on time. I can't believe my good fortune to see sunrises over palm trees.



But I'm not the only one up early. Balloons are always so cheerful - I guess because they first enter our psyches through birthday celebrations - and there are plenty of them here this time of year. We've counted as many as 14 flying at the same time. Even without balloons, I love to look westwards during the sunrise to see the gebel (escarpment) turn beautifully pink in the glow of Ra.



Within an hour, work is well underway. I am 'hoovering' in the house, while the farmers are tilling the land between the banana plants. Looking closely you will see several white cattle egrets. They are nicknamed "Farmer's Friend" because they follow him as he hoes (by hand, by tractor, or by roto-tiller) and feast on the plant-eating insects that are turned up. The bird's official name in Arabic is Abu Kirdan, "Father of Ticks", because it used to be seen perched on the backs of water buffalo and pecking off the irksome pests -- bringing to mind a similar camaraderie in the comic strip "B.C."

7 PM Update: For those who are wondering, the painter did NOT show up today and I was NOT happy. In frustration I ate a bowl of arrabbiata pasta and had a nap on the balcony.