It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.
But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.
There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
Alan Cohen
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
Groucho Marx
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

In the Land of Rip Van Winkle


You know, I am in the land of Rip Van Winkle. 
The Revolutionary War and Mohicans , the Vanderbilts, the Roosevelts and more history than I can even think of at the moment.
We won't discuss my ever wonky memory .. some days everything is clear as a bell, others I am lucky I remember the names of my children .. you know, what's his name and his sister .

We are going to be living near some wonderful homes that belonged to some pretty interesting people .. 
They now belong to the National Registry of Historic Homes and are safe from demolition and urban sprawl ... if it were ever to sprawl this far into the countryside .. and I intend to spend quite  a bit of time, wandering gardens and taking photos.
Which I will share here.

I am reminded of all this as I sit here in the near dark, as the sky gets ever more black and thundery looking .... that Headless Horsemen rode near here, that Indians hunted in the forests nearby , that settlers came through winters that I cannot even contemplate to make a new home here .. as I sit in a 200 year old house, with a dishwasher and a new car sitting outside.. 
I am struck by the age of it all and how little I really know or remember about it all. 
( not that I should remember the Revolution ... I am not that old ! but lessons learned in school tend to fade fast for some) .. 
I am going to start paying attention again .. I will learn more or remind myself of the history of this place .

Do you live in a Historic place ? 
Near monuments or sites of great events ?
Do you ever think about it or is it just the neighborhood, the area , your town , your home ? 

Thunder is rumbling .. I think I will go make sure the windows are all closed and look out the windows, just in case there is a ghost of a horseman out there .. 

6 comments:

  1. I believe that it is an age thing - the older you get the more interested in history you become, and especially so about the area you are residing in. My H always has a history book on the go - he is half way through reading the History of England - I think he has reached Henry VIII.

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  2. We too are blessed living in a beautiful, historical area. Our history tends to be more around kings, queens, and the French Revolution. Although the châteaux of the Loire Valley are quite close, I'm just as interested in the quaint villages and appreciate their simple charm.

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  3. A WONDERFUL read this morning! And thank you so much for coming by to leave a comment, so I know you have visited! What a place you live in; you are making me now think about where I live. This is what a writer does, makes the reader THINK about things they otherwise would forget.

    I live in the land of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bob Dylan, Judy Garland and a host of others who I suspect used these long winters to ponder and create works of art. I must investigate these giants in the artistic field!

    Have an inspirational day, Anita

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  4. You have touched a cord with me today as my last name is Van Tassel. Although I live in Canada, my roots apparently come from your area. I have never been there, but look forward to discovering my ancestors beginnings someday.
    Thank you for sharing.

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  5. I can't wait to see the photos and descriptions of nearby historic places, especially Olanna! MtV

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  6. Oh, lucky you, to be living someplace historic!
    We used to go to the library in the last place Charles I slept on his way to be beheaded in London....and get groceries near Winchester Cathedral. Not so much in Oregon...we trace ancientness back to the 1970's :(.

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