February 24, 2023
117th entry, Brienzwiler
There were so many impressions. Many of which saddened me. Above all, the treatment of nature. So much trash. Now after ten days in Jericho, I am back home lying in bed with a fever of over 100℉ and processing this intense time.
On short notice and with a small group of seven other people and a local guide who knew the area well, we ventured to visit the historic land of Palestine. This was our first vacation without the children in thirty years, although, vacation is probably the wrong word to use here.
It seems to me that the once-great spirit of this land has long since blown away in the vast stretches of the desert sand.
I still do not know how this experiences will come to life in my art, but I was lucky enough to pick up pieces of bark from under the tree of Zacheaus, which is over 2’000 years old. Zacheaus was small man and a tax collector by trade. When Jesus entered Jerricho, he climbed this very tree, a sycamore tree (mulberry fig tree). This is what it says in the Bible. I already have some good ideas about what I will make from these precious pieces of bark.
Summary: I believe in the good of people; so that the planet will be healthy and people can live together in peace, regardless of religion, language or cultural conditioning. In Palestine. In Israel. In Afghanistan. In the Ukraine. Everywhere.