HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Motoring along Route 411 toward Rehovot six weeks ago, I chanced to glance through a row of Eucalyptus trees and, behold, a field laid out entirely in red. Adrenaline bursting in my veins, I parked my car and stepped into a magical forest of brightly-colored, children's breakfast cereal, growing nearly two meters high in a glorious mixture of green, gold, yellow, orange, red and burgundy.
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With a little help from a knowledgeable friend, we identified this curious grove as Amaranth, known commonly as pigweed, but with a long history of healthful cultivation around the world. The word Amaranth comes from Greek and means “unwilting” and though an annual, the plant has come to symbolize immortality. Amaranth varieties have been used for dyes and for ornamental purposes and have also found their place among the epics of literature.
A poem, counted among Aesop’s Fables, declares: An amaranth planted in a garden near a Rose-Tree, thus addressed it: "What a lovely flower is the Rose, a favorite alike with Gods and with men. I envy you your beauty and your perfume." The Rose replied, "I indeed, dear Amaranth, flourish but for a brief season! If no cruel hand pluck me from my stem, yet I must perish by an early doom. But thou art immortal and dost never fade, but bloomest for ever in renewed youth."
Fare thee well, fair flower, that thou not wither in thy summer's swelter.
TECHNICAL DATA: Camera: Nikon D700, tripod mounted, aperture priority, matrix metering mode, f/4 at 1/500 sec., ISO 400. Raw file converted to Jpeg. Lens: Nikon 70-200 VR zoom at 130mm. Date: June 22, 2015, 7:09 p.m. Location: Route 411, Mazkeret Batya.
