About Kali's name.

Kalanit is the name of a flower that grows in northern Israel. It looks like this:



It grows wild and even adorns places like minefields and mountain bunkers.

Yarden is the Hebrew translation of "Jordan". The Jordan is the river that brings fresh water, and thus life, to much of the land of Israel. (side note: all those gospel tunes and church songs about the mighty Jordan river? We of North America would probably call it a creek. Towards the end of the summer if you go rafting on the Jordan, you can feel your butt scraping the bottom of the river in places.)

We chose a name beginning with the letter Y in honour of Mr. December's paternal grandfather Yehuda. He was the first generation to really abandon traditional Jewish life and assimilate into North American culture - to the point where he never used the name Yehuda... his parents also gave him the name Julius (it's hard to think of a less Jewish name), and that's how he was known. Our hope is that by naming Kali after him, we're bringing that process full circle and returning the family to a place where we can be proud of our heritage.

So that's the story of her name. Thanks for waiting patiently!