In the fall of 1961, Cuba had its troops plant an 8-mile (13 km) barrier of Opuntia cactus along the northeastern section of the 28-kilometre (17 mi) fence surrounding the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to stop Cubans from escaping Cuba to take refuge in the United States. This was dubbed the "Cactus Curtain", an allusion to Europe's Iron Curtain and the Bamboo Curtain in East Asia..
The shadow of the fence lined up nicely with the drip irrigation hoses, so I took a picture for Shadow Shot Sunday.
As you can see from this shot of the front, the boarded-up old station is decaying fast.
End of the line."a different kind of ruin. A ruin full of promise. It’s a crack through the wall of the past. It’s a time warp. But as long as it stands ruined, we can dream: we can dream of trains and passengers, we can dream of journeys to other cities and countries, and we can dream of a different Jerusalem.”.
Please ENLARGE !
In Jerusalem you don't see many lawns at all, normally. So the sheer area and deep green of this one caught my eye.
The Optical Center was closed for vacation for the whole of August, so I could not get through the gate to inspect their grass. I wonder if those flowers are fake as well . . .
Israel is suffering from a prolonged drought. This summer the government finally woke up and is trying to do something about saving water. So, no more watering of lawns and watering of gardens is severely restricted.
"The drought tax passed by the Knesset [July 15] is draconic and likely to cause a public outcry that will negate the purpose of the tax to begin with. The fine of NIS 20 [> $5] per cubic meter above quota is three times the average cost of NIS 6.5 per cubic meter, an
unprecedented use of strength by the government to affect [sic] a behavioral change."
The quote is from a media brief by Moreno Meister, where you can learn more about artificial turf use and costs in Israel.
You would think that we would start manufacturing the fake grass. But no.
And the stupid part is that for grass imported from countries with which we don't have certain trade agreements, the government is adding 12% customs. It should be in the national interest to lower prices, not raise them, and thus encourage water saving.
Faux grass is such a new idea for this semi-desert country that the customs folks just didn't know how to classify it, I suspect. Would you believe? They put it in the category of carpets.
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More information in the Jerusalem Post article, "Israelis take to artificial turf."
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ABC Wednesday celebrates the letter F today. For fun, go see what other bloggers have come up with.
And finally the capers sit around getting pickled.
