So..what's this all about ?

OK. Here I am, midsummer in this dry hot climate, snatching a few minutes here to share all this with you before another day at the farm.

As I emerge from the bathroom, my gaze lingers on my long unused make-up box. The mascara within its' slim wand has probably disintegrated into brittle grey crumbs after so many months of neglect.

Fumbling around the closet for yet another one of my faded overlaundered T-shirts with scissored-off sleeves ( gives me the appearance of a seasoned truck driver - you know what I mean..), I catch an unexpected glimpse of myself in the full length mirror.

This is definitely not a delicate reflected image. Rather, it's solid, athletic and unintentionally suntanned with clearly visible little hills of muscle created in a location very distant from the air-conditioned gym.

Someone very close to me had a dream. That dream became the fish farm : that fish could be grown and sold far from any coastalal area. In an environmentally responsible and sustainable way. Sounds noble ? Did I mention that the basis of the whole enterprise was to move us to the next level of financial plenty ? Did I also mention that neither of us had any background at all in aquaculture (that's what it is). He always had superb technical know-how including an ability to create and visualise structures three-dimensionally inside his head.

This, together with an unshakeable belief in the "vision" of a set of 30 fish pools under cover, sustained by recirculating biologically refreshed water in the middle of a large agricultural field within the boundaries of our land produced, amidst inumerable setbacks and not inconsiderable never ending sheer hard work, THE farm. Two large igloo structures, total 48 pools..

So one day, towards the start of all of this, he asks laconically " So, do you want to help raise these fish ? " "Sure !" I replied enthusiastically.

How could I not after it sounded as easy as falling off a bicycle. ( I cannot ride a bicycle)

Easy it was not. I knew nothing. I only ate fish, filleted and purchased prettily packaged, from a supermarket. My background did not give me any clues here either. Dad was not one of those outdoorsy types-he never as I remember expressed any interest in fish or fishing.

I had one undergraduate degree and three-quarters of a Masters - in the social sciences. An experienced Australian coffee-slurping, credit card waving urbanite, uncomfortable with getting my hands even a little bit dirty and of even the tiniest drop of sweat. I was a social science professional, accustomed to "work" being synonymous with sitting in meetings and preparing lengthy erudite reports within large air-conditioned institutions.

Here in Israel, where Hebrew is the lingua franca, jobs for English-speaking Social Science professionals are not exactly plentiful. Time to consider alternatives. With the promise of easy success, I agreed to become part of the fish "team".

The team ? "Hungarian Dan", our pedantic but conflicted resident marine biologist whose task is to guide our practices towards optimising fish health and growth, "M.R.", the edgy and perfectionistic technical visionary, the human engine which drives the whole project forward and "E.N." the ex-Israeli intelligence services spook who calmly supervises the financial aspects.

And of course there is the tall, enigmatic and distinguished locally-based European professor of all that is connected to maintaining a high water quality for our finned investments. The water chemistry expert.

"Joe", our control systems engineer, who has an obvious, andeven obsessive delight in all that is connected to food and eating. Joe would easily be first choice as a participant for the producers of that TV reality series"The Biggest Loser".

Lastly, in the pecking order -me. My only claim to any shred of importance is that the land on which the farm stands belongs to me. A landowner.

A landowner whose functional importance is to ensure that the administrative process hums along, that the fish are fed and that biosecurity is maintained through regular and endless monitoring and cleaning. A lot of cleaning. A lot of sweating.

I am assured that financial rewards are around the corner. Where I am to look for that corner is not specified..