Thoughts while driving through the desert

We arrived in Israel without incident. Lots has changed - got to use a jet way, last time I was here we walked in off the tarmac. Grabbed our rental car and .took off. It was about a five hour drive to Eilat and it was close to five pm when we hit the road. .More on that later.
I''ve always felt strongly attached to Israel. As an adult that attachment has cycled the gamut of emotions from love to fury to pride to disgust and back again. Often with several conflicting ones at the same time. Growing up as a Jew in one of the first generations after the H:olocost the importance of a Jewish homeland was never a question to me. As a young boy it was comforting to have the image of the strong, self reliant Sabra to contrast with the daily depiction of the Jew as a victim in film and literature..
It was not till we lived here in the late 70.s that I began to get a incling of the incredible complexities of creating an idealistic society where it was safe to be a Jew, to build a community melding the Zionist dream with the realities of human rights, and still keeping religious tyranny at bay. It certainly hasn't gotten any easier. And given the complacency with which we've allowed our own (usa) government to trample our ideals with so little outrage, I am in awe that Israel remains.
At this point you should give thanks that I am doing this with two thumbs on a blackberry. I'll cut to the chase.
I've been looking forward to coming back. To see things that I missed the last time around but also to refresh my own concept of what Israel is today.
Arriving in Israel 32 years ago as a twenty something was an unforgettable experience on so many levels. One that has continued to influence me. I understood that "my picture of Israel" was locked in 1976
Driving through the southern Negev .
Was wonderful. Incredible vistas, small farms, shepherds and goathearders, plenty of camel crossings and lots of wilderness- time to mull over and ponder on how strong a tie I feel to this place and it's history
There Debra: and you said I wasn't writing enough. As I said there will be more later.

David Zimet