SEAGL (The Five Valleys)

I wish to apologize for not updating my blog these past few days. I have wanted to, but I have also been waiting for some pictures to be able to supplement the writing.

Not very long ago we went on another geography-type field trip. I have heard some interest in this area from some people, so I will write a little about it. There are five main valleys that lead from the lowlands up into the hills. I would tell you the names, but they probably wouldn't mean much to you. These valleys were significant though because they were the main battle grounds for much of the ancient Israeli/Philistine conflict. We visited the site where Samson grew up and where he set fire to the fields of the Philistines' and wrestled the lion. In fact his whole story pretty much took place in one small valley.


Another slightly more well known valley is the Elah valley, which may cause something in the back of your minds to stir a little. This was the place where David fought Goliath. We did a little reenactment that I have included below. For those of you concerned, not rocks were actually used in the this shot. And if there were, I would have had more luck if I was facing the other direction since almost all of my shots seemed to go directly behind me. We took the pictures because there is an artist in our group who plans on painting the scene--so who knows, one day I may be hanging on the wall somewhere.


This is a picture of a site known as the Bell Caves. They are actually mines that are the sources of chalk used in making of plaster. I think the only reason we went there was to sing some hymns, but it was also just a cool place to see.


This other picture, I just wanted to include because it was just fun. These are some tunnels that where made for some reason--I really don't know why. They have no historical significance, but they were really fun to crawl around in. It was really narrow for the most part, in fact many places I had trouble fitting in. It really brought out my more adventurous side. Lots of climbing, lots of dirt, and lots of exploring.


This was a short blog. I have a big hole to work myself out of, but at least it is a start.