Wandering amidst the American new, occasionally my mind will stray. Back to so much living history, where I can point out with child-like glee that the cardo and the decumanus still form the central arteries of Arles with a bumpy heart-beat boom.
These old Roman roads.
They cross the countryside, still full of the promise of going…
…even when their paving stones, covered in two-thousand years of moss and tears, have been pushed aside.
Simply reminders now…
…of the many that came before…
…slowly, so slowly…
…at a pace we only know with our breath.
These old Roman roads, joining empires of the mind and yet there are flowers, such bright poppies.
They too burn in bloom, saying follow me. Follow me. Home.
Soon, soon…
I am glad that you enjoyed it Yvonne. And I wasn't exagerrating (for once!) – the decamanus road in Arles was dug up a few years back in Arles and they could see that it had only moved a few inches in 2000 years…
Thank you Keith! That was what I was hoping to do. 🙂
Yes, absolutely G. That same scenery was host to such terrible times and yet such wonderful moments too.
Jane and Lance, something that I love in seeing the photos of your travels is that you both look perfectly at home wherever you are, as if you had always been there, always been a part of that history…
Perfectly said, as always, dear V…
What a truly amazing thought Joan, especially as it is entirely possible? Chills!
The overlapping is one of my favourite things about history. Beautiful post Heather and thank you 🙂
When we visited Arles and the Pont du Gard several years ago I felt the weight of history and the almost dizzying sense of suspension in time. We here in North America consider a 100 year old home old. How can we who live where everything is so new possibly grasp that weight unless we return to older lands that have felt the tramp of time?
The poppies reminded me of an impressionist painting, too. Beautiful photos, beautiful words that evoke a sense of longing and of uncertainty about where home really is.
Love these old roads, love the fields, love the wild flowers and the poppies, LOVE this post!
Warmest greetings from the Périgord,
karin