The seasons in a day

That’s not completely true, although it makes a boastful title. We did not experience an Israeli summer yesterday, but we experienced the other three. We departed from our hotel on the edge of the Sea of Galilee and headed towards the ancient ruins of Bet She’an. It was a beautiful spring day. The bougainvilleas were in full bloom, reds, purples and even a yellow or two. We were in high adventurous spirits as we began the tour, exploring the ruins. But as we emerged from the bathhouse the clouds above were laden with rain, and it became dark and menacing. Suddenly spring had turned to fall, and fall did the rain.
But we donned our foul weather gear of various colors and effectiveness and continued on the tour. This is a chance that won’t pass this way again, so a little rain should not slow you down. The guide was kind enough to find us a sheltered place, tell us what we were about to see and what to pay attention to, and then send us on our way. He continually repeats, Chop chop and shake a leg, which ominous sounds like an accented break a leg. We would scurry through the sprinkle and downpours to the next sheltered location, and completed the tour.
From Bet She’an we proceeded to Caesarea and on the way the rain became a real frog choker. And weather turned from fall to winter, with hail that lined the roadway like snow. At Caesarea we watched a couple of interesting films about the construction of the harbor there, and the innovations in concrete usage (volcanic ash and water) to create a breakwater. All of which has been destroyed by the sea and multiple invaders. But the weather was too harsh to walk any of the ruins, so we returned to the bus. And no more than a mile down the road we had returned to fall. So we were able to get out and view a first century Roman aqueduct, right on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.
Fall stayed with us for the remainder of the day. We ventured to Megiddo a high plateau fortress that overlooks the valley of Jezreel or as it is commonly referred to Armageddon. From the heights of the plateau, we overlooked an original excavation by the University of Chicago that revealed elements back to 3000 B.C.E. And then we scaled the depths, and that is what it felt like, as we went down 183 steps into the spring for the fortress which is still functional.
Our next stop was to the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. A beautifully constructed church housing a first century home, similar to the one Mary would have been visited by the angel Gabriel. The first floor of the church is simple, and the second housing the Catholic worship space is ornate and splendid. From this magnificent structure we visited the Greek Orthodox Church of the annunciation (no they are not the same because as Christians we can’t agree on most things). This church was much smaller but no less ornate. It housed the spring of water for the town of Nazareth and it too is still a functioning spring.
The day was filled with thin places, but none more thin that the camaraderie we shared as 40 wet, cold pilgrims.