Stonehenge
31/12/11 04:51
In 1978 Susan and I had the opportunity to visit Stonhenge in England. It is undeniably a very mysterious and interesting place. Archaeologists have dated the construction somewhere between 3000 and 2000 BC. Standing in the shadow of the massive stones, contemplating the human effort that must have been required to move and put them into place.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Even if we return someday, it won’t be the same. These days, tourists cannot wander at will among the stones. Docents and guards are required to keep the crowds at a respectable distance. I have never particularly felt the need to go back. My memories are very strong. When our daughter visited Stonehenge a few years ago, looking at her pictures reminded us of the power of the experience. I know almost nothing of the beliefs of the prehistoric people who constructed the site. My own faith wasn’t changed by the visit to Stonehenge, but my appreciation of a faith that is different from my own was increased.
Some years later, Susan and I paid a visit to Maryhill, high on the bluffs of the Columbia Gorge in Washington. The railroad man and developer Samuel Hill, in his later years, decided to build a Quaker community alongside the Columbia River. He named it after his daughter Mary and he had built, as a centerpiece of this community a full-size replica of Stonehenge. He dedicated his structure as a memorial to the soldiers and sailors who fought in World War I. Instead of trying to reproduce what is currently found in England, Hill built a structure out of reinforced concrete designed to look like Stonehenge looked before the stones weathered and began to crumble with time. It was a major effort. Construction began in 1918 and wasn’t finished until 1930, just a year before Hill died. He was buried on the hillside just below his version of Stonehenge. Unlike the English version, which is set in the middle of agricultural lands, the Washington Stonehenge replica sits high on the hill with a fantastic view of the Columbia River Gorge, the Sam Hill memorial bridge and, in the distance, Mt. Hood.
My education about Stonehenge, it seems, was just beginning.
All that was before I moved to South Dakota and took the trip south to the ranch land just outside of Alliance, Nebraska, to visit Carhenge. An incredible creation of cars buried in the prairie in roughly the shape of Stonehenge, Carhenge has been named the No. 2 Wackiest Attraction in the United States. Having seen it, I’m thinking “only in America.” There are plenty of places in the world where so much effort would not have been expended to create such a strange sight. I recommend that all of my friends visit Carhenge. I don’t think you can see it without having a smile on your face.
Ah, but it doesn’t stop there.
For Christmas this year, I received a book from my daughter and son-in-law. Being perceptive students of my reading tastes, they found a perfect gift book for me: Weird Missouri: Your Travel Guide to Missouri’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Reading that book has been a treat this week, and I have been keeping a list of things in our children’s adopted state that I want to be sure to see.
High on the list is Boathenge. Yes, you’ve got it! Someone has taken a backhoe and a stack of old boats and started to set those babies in the ground in a circle. I’m pretty sure this one qualifies as “Only in America.” It might even qualify as “Only a Redneck.” I’m planning to make time to see it. Given its location on the Katy Trail between Rocheport and Jefferson City and the closeness of the trail to the Missouri River, the ideal way to visit would be to paddle in and out - an excursion just right for someone with my interests.
As they say in infomercials, “But wait! There is more!
Mark Cline built a replica of Stonehenge near Natural Bridge, Virginia, including the altar stone, where it is believed human sacrifices were made. This version is known as Foamhenge because it is made entirely out of giant blocks of styrofoam.
In 2003, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, artist Adam Jonas Horowitz and the Primordial Soup Company constructed Fridgehenge - or is it Stonefridge? Anyway they found a creative use for more than 100 old refrigerators. And they have built a monument to the creativity and sense of humor of our fellow citizens in this wonderful country.
Then there’s America’s Stonehenge outside of Salem, New Hampshire. Although it doesn’t look at all like the one in England, it is a 4000 year old human-made archeological site.
Given enough time I could check out the Georgia Guidestones, a large granite monument in Ebert County, Georgia, or Stonehenge II in Kerrville Texas, the 60% scale replica made of plaster-covered steel, or the subdivision named Stone Henge in Athens Georgia, or Stonehenge Jr. in Wichita, Kansas. Given its location in Missouri, home of boathenge, we might one day actually visit the University of Missouri at Rolla, where there is a 1/2 scale replica of stonehenge built to showcase the stone carving capabilities of the University’s High Pressure Water Jet Laboratory.
One that we may never see except in pictures is Stonehenge Montana. Tucked up in the northwest corner of Montana near the Canada and Idaho borders, a wealthy resident of the private Crystal Lakes Resort had his own replica made. Some consider the structure, built by Anderson Masonry, Inc. to be nearly perfect. Pictures of the construction are featured on the web site of the company. Although we love to travel in that part of Montana and there is some paddling I’d like to do in the region, we won’t likely ever receive an invitation to see this replica that is on private land and not open to the public.
But it got me to thinking. I’ve got about a half acre. There is the problem of neighborhood covenants, but so far no one has built a microwavehenge, or a dryerhenge, or dead computerhenge, or bicyclehenge . . .
The possibilities are endless!
Happy New Year!
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Even if we return someday, it won’t be the same. These days, tourists cannot wander at will among the stones. Docents and guards are required to keep the crowds at a respectable distance. I have never particularly felt the need to go back. My memories are very strong. When our daughter visited Stonehenge a few years ago, looking at her pictures reminded us of the power of the experience. I know almost nothing of the beliefs of the prehistoric people who constructed the site. My own faith wasn’t changed by the visit to Stonehenge, but my appreciation of a faith that is different from my own was increased.
Some years later, Susan and I paid a visit to Maryhill, high on the bluffs of the Columbia Gorge in Washington. The railroad man and developer Samuel Hill, in his later years, decided to build a Quaker community alongside the Columbia River. He named it after his daughter Mary and he had built, as a centerpiece of this community a full-size replica of Stonehenge. He dedicated his structure as a memorial to the soldiers and sailors who fought in World War I. Instead of trying to reproduce what is currently found in England, Hill built a structure out of reinforced concrete designed to look like Stonehenge looked before the stones weathered and began to crumble with time. It was a major effort. Construction began in 1918 and wasn’t finished until 1930, just a year before Hill died. He was buried on the hillside just below his version of Stonehenge. Unlike the English version, which is set in the middle of agricultural lands, the Washington Stonehenge replica sits high on the hill with a fantastic view of the Columbia River Gorge, the Sam Hill memorial bridge and, in the distance, Mt. Hood.
My education about Stonehenge, it seems, was just beginning.
All that was before I moved to South Dakota and took the trip south to the ranch land just outside of Alliance, Nebraska, to visit Carhenge. An incredible creation of cars buried in the prairie in roughly the shape of Stonehenge, Carhenge has been named the No. 2 Wackiest Attraction in the United States. Having seen it, I’m thinking “only in America.” There are plenty of places in the world where so much effort would not have been expended to create such a strange sight. I recommend that all of my friends visit Carhenge. I don’t think you can see it without having a smile on your face.
Ah, but it doesn’t stop there.
For Christmas this year, I received a book from my daughter and son-in-law. Being perceptive students of my reading tastes, they found a perfect gift book for me: Weird Missouri: Your Travel Guide to Missouri’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Reading that book has been a treat this week, and I have been keeping a list of things in our children’s adopted state that I want to be sure to see.
High on the list is Boathenge. Yes, you’ve got it! Someone has taken a backhoe and a stack of old boats and started to set those babies in the ground in a circle. I’m pretty sure this one qualifies as “Only in America.” It might even qualify as “Only a Redneck.” I’m planning to make time to see it. Given its location on the Katy Trail between Rocheport and Jefferson City and the closeness of the trail to the Missouri River, the ideal way to visit would be to paddle in and out - an excursion just right for someone with my interests.
As they say in infomercials, “But wait! There is more!
Mark Cline built a replica of Stonehenge near Natural Bridge, Virginia, including the altar stone, where it is believed human sacrifices were made. This version is known as Foamhenge because it is made entirely out of giant blocks of styrofoam.
In 2003, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, artist Adam Jonas Horowitz and the Primordial Soup Company constructed Fridgehenge - or is it Stonefridge? Anyway they found a creative use for more than 100 old refrigerators. And they have built a monument to the creativity and sense of humor of our fellow citizens in this wonderful country.
Then there’s America’s Stonehenge outside of Salem, New Hampshire. Although it doesn’t look at all like the one in England, it is a 4000 year old human-made archeological site.
Given enough time I could check out the Georgia Guidestones, a large granite monument in Ebert County, Georgia, or Stonehenge II in Kerrville Texas, the 60% scale replica made of plaster-covered steel, or the subdivision named Stone Henge in Athens Georgia, or Stonehenge Jr. in Wichita, Kansas. Given its location in Missouri, home of boathenge, we might one day actually visit the University of Missouri at Rolla, where there is a 1/2 scale replica of stonehenge built to showcase the stone carving capabilities of the University’s High Pressure Water Jet Laboratory.
One that we may never see except in pictures is Stonehenge Montana. Tucked up in the northwest corner of Montana near the Canada and Idaho borders, a wealthy resident of the private Crystal Lakes Resort had his own replica made. Some consider the structure, built by Anderson Masonry, Inc. to be nearly perfect. Pictures of the construction are featured on the web site of the company. Although we love to travel in that part of Montana and there is some paddling I’d like to do in the region, we won’t likely ever receive an invitation to see this replica that is on private land and not open to the public.
But it got me to thinking. I’ve got about a half acre. There is the problem of neighborhood covenants, but so far no one has built a microwavehenge, or a dryerhenge, or dead computerhenge, or bicyclehenge . . .
The possibilities are endless!
Happy New Year!