Last week Zach played in a 3-day national Scrabble (played in English) tournament at the Dead Sea. The drive from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea hotel where it was being held is about 1.5 hours, but the difference in climate and landscape is dramatic. Jerusalem is up high in the Judean Hills and the weather here has been cool and rainy this time of year. The drive takes us through the Judean Desert, snaking down biblical looking landscapes, dotted with Bedouin tents and their sheep, goats, camels. Once down from the hills, the red rock cliffs and caves are stunning. This is the area where the Dead Sea scrolls were found, where the remains of the Roman fortress Masada stands. Down at the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the surface of the earth, the temperatures are predictably at least 10 degrees warmer than in Jerusalem. We had absolutely perfect weather: warm enough to go into the sea, swim, and lie out in the sun reading, not too hot, light breeze... of course, it was a bit lost on those of us in the hotel conference room the whole time with our Scrabble boards...
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