"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” John Muir
I'm not sure where I read or heard that quote recently, but it was on my mind Friday on a beautiful outing with Mike. We had one of those peaceful kinds of days out in nature that lighten your cares and make the whole world feel lighter.
Mike's company has had a stellar year, so they gave their employees the best of rewards: an extra week of paid vacation this summer. Mike decided to use his for days off here and there, whenever the mood strikes and the weather is clear. For his first bonus day we dropped the kids off at school and went a little north to Castle Acre, site of a medieval monastic priory.
One of those things that has probably been obvious to everyone, but I'd never really considered, is that one of the reasons they tore down the cathedrals and priories at the Dissolution was to ensure that there wouldn't be anything of value to give back, should the political winds change again.
It seems like such a waste, yet I think I like wandering around in the open air around ruins more than I do inside cathedrals.
My other little learning moment was finding that chevron has been a popular design since the Middle Ages!
Can you smell the old, old stone mixed with earth?
I just love spiral stone staircases, especially when they're so steep they are a little bit scary.
We had to give up the cozy, quaint tea room for a nice outdoor table in the summer sunshine.
We had a little more time, so on the way home impulsively stopped by Grime's Graves, another English Heritage site. We knew nothing about it, yet found the name intriguing. You can't tell from our picture that the site is open grasslands with a pocked appearance - little collapsed mounds dot the fields. Besides a very small visitor's center, there's nothing to see but open sky, grassy fields, sheep and distant trees. It's such a peaceful place to wander.
The area was mined for flint, dating back 5,000 years. You can climb a ladder down 30 feet into one of the mines. I sure wouldn't have wanted to be a miner back before electricity and modern enforcements.
There's nothing like a day out in nature for a good reminder of loving where you're at.
That does look like a very nice day... I can't quite figure out your school schedule - when do summer holidays begin?
ReplyDeleteShannon, the school year is divided into 6 week half-terms. So Jan it was back to school for 6 weeks, then a 1 week break, then 6 more weeks, then 2 weeks off, 6 weeks then 1 week off the last week of May, then 1 more half term until July 24th, when they have 6 weeks of summer vacation. UK has about 3 extra weeks of school than California (shhh, don't tell my girls).
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting - it makes more sense really than our crazy breaks (2 days here, 2 weeks there, half days liberally scattered about.)
ReplyDelete