I was inspired with today’s word “camera” to share mostly photos rather than words, although some explanation is required. You see, I have a penchant when we travel for capturing the interaction between humanity and monuments. What tends to catch my eye is potential humanity, in particular, which is to say children being children.
The earth is 4.5 billion years old, humans around 6 million years, and civilization about 6,000, so you might say the rocks have it all over us. As Virginia Woolf once said,
The very stone one kicks with one’s boot will outlast Shakespeare.
–To the Lighthouse
Yet while we stand around in reverence, snapping photos of the million-year-old natural rock bridge or a Michelangelo masterpiece, children do what they do, which is to say play games, be naughty, and generally act as if they own the place. Which they do, in the most essential way. I first observed this at Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly back in 1993, where a late April water gully created a stream where a dozen Navajo children played. The sight of the massive rock edifice and 500-year-old abandoned Anasazi ruins carved out of the walls, set against the kids splashing water around and shrieking with laughter was both incongruous and perfectly natural. To me, it was like our genetic potential breathing.
Those are highfalutin’ ideas, but I frame them around this “photo essay” to help explain why these photos were taken in this way.
OK, it’s not Stonehenge, it’s Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska. But wouldn’t be cool if you saw a toddler running through the sarsens erected by the ancient Celts?
This is a game of hide and seek at Ostia Antica, a coastal town outside of Rome which acted as a summer beach town to the emperors and patricians. The buildings date back to the 3rd century BC.
Castel Sant’Angelo was erected around the tomb of Hadrian starting in 135 AD. Popes lived here as well as famous prisoners like sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. The roof, with its giant statue of Archangel Michael, is also the setting for the final scene in Verdi’s Tosca. These non-opera fans were playing tag and turning cartwheels.
The bambino’s name was Maria. Is that ironic, with the Pieta in the background, or is it just such a common name that the odds were in favor of that most illustrious name? (It happens to be mine as well.)
She had a very fancy, expensive SLR-type camera. Let’s pretend it was a birthday present. So everything in the Frari Church in Venice (@1300). where Titian and Monteverdi are buried, was fair game for photos to her. Brother and his friend were giving her rapid instructions in Italian, and asking perhaps to take a turn. but she kept that strap firmly about her neck, and brushed them off.
The Battle of Boyne was fought in 1690 between deposed King James II and William of Orange. William’s victory led to the continued presence of Protestants in Northern Ireland and all the strife that ensued from the tension between Protestant and Catholic. Inside, at the cafeteria, a single mom had brought Irish twins. When she went to go get them some food, they stayed AT THE TABLE like mom asked. Which meant one climbed down and meandered around the table, always touching it with one finger but trying to reach with the other hand for tablecloths and plates at other tables. Meanwhile, the brother climbed on top, overturned the salt shaker, and somehow took the menu apart in order to start banging the sharp edge against table top. Even though in this picture you can’t see the stone memorials gloriously honoring the fallen, I had to share this because, you know, IRISH TWINS!
Lastly, here is a photo of my own kids, years ago at Gettysburg. Picture number one was shot at the top of the hill, where the Union army defeated Pickett’s Charge. On that third day of this decisive battle, Lee sent 12,500 confederate troops marching across nearly a mile of open uphill ground while George Meade’s cannons fired down at them, until the Southern army was basically wiped out. Some would argue that the defeat at Gettysburg, which turned the war, was where the United States of America ultimately began. A commemorative statue of Meade marks the spot where the Union army repulsed the one attack that made it to the cannons; you can see the tail of Meade’s horse in the upper right. My son was ten and my daughter eight, both playing their own battle and chase games. (They’re now both in college.)
Picture two is at the tomb erected to honor the Pennsylvania contribution to Gettysburg. The rock, carved some 150 years ago, is already being worn away by wind and snow.
The earth abides.
–George Stewart
Author’s Note: A heartfelt thanks goes out to Fandango for continuing to inspire with Daily Word prompts, such as “camera.” I just did not feel excited to write another post about Christmas. For next week, though, I’m working on a statistical analysis and numerical heat map for movie versions of “Scrooge.” Stay tuned.
