7: Castles

Ok, we just don't have old castles in America. There are a large variety of castles and cathedrals here, from different periods of time and in different states of repair. I have really come to like being around them, not necessarily in them, because they evoke a sense of time in me. I understand that if there is a pointy spire there is a tomb below, if there is a great circle of grey blocks it is probably Norman, that the fear of the forest was palpable and big moats were for them what homeland security is for us. Wealth was measured in land claimed, and castles were really like little villages. The human need for arts resulted here, in these centuries of castles, around wealth and psychology...jousting, great balls, jesters, minstrels, falconry, painting. They lived in thier self importance really. Even the churches were a show of power. We have visited a few, and will get out to see many more in the coming year...because there is a permanent structure to mark the passing of decades further back than I have ever contemplated, and something erie and old that it wakes up inside of me...some preposterous sort of memory! And well, we all love to play save the princess don't we?