BBQ in the woods

Friday- the first day of the Jewish weekend (Saturday being thier sabbath or as they say Sabbat (imagine you are a gangsta and drop the 'h'). D nD hatched a plan with the rest of their family to drive into the wilderness where they knew of a natural spring. We would have a barbie with



firewood, lounge around chatting with the occasional plunge in the pool- as temperatures climbed into the high 30's, all very agreable.
After calling round D n D's with breakfast our first task was to gather firewood. This necessitated a trip to the Kibbutz factory but their stack of pallets offered meagre pickings so it was off to the Kibbutz rubbish tip for a bit of bin diving. The place smelt so bad that as a result of parking neaby with the car doors open, the car stank for several hours afterwards, God knows what we were like. Dan's wood spotting skills were outstanding and we soon had a boot full of old lumber riddled with rusty nails.
We took off, collecting other members of the family at road juntions en route until a decent convoy had formed. Twenty minutes up a track we stopped and formed a line of porters reminiscant of Victorian expeditions as we carried food, wood, children and a massive rolled up carpet up a dusty track toward the spring. After some clambering we made our objective only to find that the spring was built into a seriously steep slope and all but the 'plunge in the pool' part of the plan was viable. After some kicking around an executive decision was made and and the expedition porters headed back to the car park. After a bit more kicking around and the usual family dynamics which led to a fair amount of frustration for Dan who is a switched on bloke and we were back in convoy looking for our alternate location. We drove past a roadside picnic area and onwards to a dusty track adjacent to a stream which would have been picturesque had it not been for all the warning signs declaring how incredibly toxic the water was. After a bit of stone throwing amongst the guys it was deemed inappropriate and we mounted up again. By now Dan was tamping- eloquently explained as a result of people who offered nothing, would not say what they didn't want to do but only pulled faces and whinged when it happened. We drove back to the picnic area and Dan found a shady secluded spot amongst the trees.
Then came the serious business of food preparation. Dan's brother (who was tolled up for the occasion which I intial found odd but learnt to realise that carry a gun is very normal in Israel) supplied the beer but was not told I was coming so supplies were a bit limited, as the guest I was looked after while fantastic spread was laid on. Dan's bro' had the disc off an agricultural harrow which, when placed over a fire made perfect pitta brerad. All sorts of salad and humous was cracked out while meat and vegetables were crammed into a cast iron pot (similar to the African Potje) which was left on the fire for a couple of hours. The result was a very tasty Napalm type stew, my kind of food (once you let it cool down a bit)- I had three helpings. The remainder of the time was spent chatting (everyone had very good English), playing with the children and I even managed to get a doze in- although I have a vague idea that I woke myself up when I farted, if anyone noticed they didn't take the piss.
It was then I realised that the best pleasures in life were simple ones. Dan kept apologising for the disorganised nature of the day but I was quite happy to sit back out of the decision making process for a change. I was pretty happy, the shady boughs had taken the heat out of a very hot day, the company was excellent as was the food and I had fun playiing with Dan's 3 year old nephew (or was it the other way round?) The only way to improve on the day was to strangle the twat who raced around our little spot on a souped up quad with no exhaust- and have a go on it myself.