Stonehenge

"Where the banshees live, and they do live well".

Sorry, I can't say "Stonehenge" without quoting the Spinal Tap song.

According to this story, scientists now believe that Stonehenge is an ancient graveyard. Makes sense. When I was a kid, my dad used to say that large tombstones meant the person buried underneath was "A good man, because it's hard to keep a good man down." Hence the heavy rock, get it?



I visited Stonehenge back in April of '06. During the day, you can only walk on a concrete path that surrounds the monument and keeps you a few dozen feet back. However, we purchased tickets through the National Trust that allowed us to walk (supervised, of course) inside the ring after normal business hours ended.




It was a cold, drizzly day and there were only five of us plus two security guards on the grounds. A tour bus that was supposed to arrive that evening never showed likely due to the crummy weather. So, we were told to linger as long as we liked (or could stand the rain). It was one of the most interesting experiences I've ever had. Walking through and around and up to the stones and touching them really put me in touch with the primordial fear of the unknown that has driven human beings to create monuments and talismans and religions since before recorded history.


So it makes perfect sense to me that the place turned out to be some kind of burial ground for the ruling class. Ah, the rich always have it over the poor don't they?
One guard was from the area; he remembered playing among the stones as a kid and having picnics. It was no big deal back then. Then people started vandalizing the site and the government stepped in to control it (and make a pound or twelve for the National Trust).
Following all this wonder and spiritual experience, we went to a nearby village and had dinner at a pub. I ordered badly and wound up with some appallingly bad chicken curry. The beer was good though.

Hey, that's life ain't it? One minute a satori, the next a bad meal. I take it as it comes. It's easy as long as the beer is good.





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