October 23, 2000

Picking olives.

Climbing to get more of the harvest.

Day three of the olive adventure. Most families here rely on the harvest to either make ends meet or to supply their entire oil for the year - which means that the town basically shuts down - this includes the school for today.

Tomorrow is a Muslim holiday. Interesting note about that - it is based on the cycle of the moon, but the official day is not announced until a few days prior, making the theological statement that God can always decide to change the cycle of the moon. Fortunately, though, the good Lord obliged us, meaning we have a three day weekend!

Letting the wind do the work.

One task of the olive harvest is sifting out of the leaves that inevitably become mixed in with the olives. This is done by meticulous picking or by dumping them as the wind blows, the heavy olives hitting the ground while the lighter leaves are blown away. So many Biblical metaphors, too, of the olive tree and the harvest...