Over the weekend, Israelis flocked to the western Negev, to grab an eyeful of the annual miracle of the return of the Kalaniot – the red Anemone which paint the desert red each winter after the big rains.
It’s a big deal in Israel, and since the eviction of the Jews of Gaza and the Hamas takeover of the Strip, it has become dangerous, too, to roam the Negev roads to feast one’s eyes on these delightful flowers.
So every weekend, the news here is full of 2020 Darom Adom (red south) Festival stories of families who just had to have their fill of carpets of kalaniot fill up the desert to the horizon, trusting that the powers that be – depending on one’s faith – guard them from harm (“God guards the fools” – Psalms 116:6).
By the way, the colors of the kalaniot—red, purple, pink and white—depend on the soil, which is why you often see whole fields with just one color – usually red.