Hee hee, Petrea. $7.65 would definitely get you a "stop" rather than a "nonstop" flight. In fact it probably wouldn't even get you as far as the runway.
It might well be, Ms.M. It is a particularly magical tree for me. It lives (or at least the small part of its old trunk that is still alive and thriving lives) on the south-western corner of the old ruined battlements of the Roman town of Venta Icenorum, a few minutes drive from my house. The town was built to subdue and control the Iceni after Boudicca's rebellion. The trees around there were used to crucify all the males of fighting age left in the heart of Iceni territory (you'd have thought after Boudicca had slaughtered half of Roman Britain that they'd be wary of the women, too). This hawthorn is several hundred years old but there are oaks round the place much, much older, whose parents and grandparents must have had the local tribespeople nailed to them. Hawthorn, like yew and oak, is a mystical tree on our little island and this particular one is a favourite old friend of mine which I visit regularly.
Wow where did you get to know all this stuff, oh yes I remember all those books!! Wish you would get writing that book that must be in there somewhere...great photo...
It's the same in this house, Petrea; a warm chair and an aroma of coffee tells you the Old Git has come and gone. I am a huge fan of old trees. Some yews in local churchyards were already a few hundred years old when Jesus was still a gleam in God's eye. That's why the bristlecone pines up in the Sierras are on my agenda when I eventually get to California, as well as those beautiful redwoods.
Back again … The Fortingale Yew up in Scotland is reputed to be about 5,000 years old and is the oldest one in Europe. Our local ones go back around half that far. A lot of churches here were built on old pagan sites and the yew being a sacred tree lived on while the churches crumbled.
The history you know about trees in your area is phenomenal and fascinating! I can see how this tree is a favorite of yours. For fun, I researched the oldest tree in Idaho. Here's what I found: "Elk River is home to the largest tree in Idaho, the Idaho Champion Western Red Cedar tree. The tree is over 3,000 years old, has a diameter of 18 ft. and stands 177 ft. tall."
That's awesome, Ms.M. If it's close enough you'll have to go visit it and post photos. It's inspiring to spend some time with a tree that old; looking at it, walking around it, touching it, picturing just what it has witnessed over all those thousands of years.
Elk River is an 8-1/2 hour drive from here; it's in northern Idaho. We probably won't get there this year. But I agree that it's inspiring to spend time with old trees. When I lived in Oregon there were some awesome old ones in the forests we saw while camping.
Whooee, America sure is full of wide open spaces, Ms.M. If you drive that long in England you fall off the edge into the sea. In fact it only takes nine hours to drive to Paris from my house using the tunnel. We get complacent over here, thinking your states are the size of our counties, when n fact they are the size of whole countries. You lived in Oregon? Wow! I've always wanted to go there.
It is mind-boggling sometimes to think of the size of countries in Europe as compared to the size of states in the US. It would take us about 10 hours to get to Canada from Boise. Canada is the nearest foreign country. And you can drive to Paris in 9 hours??
I lived in Oregon for 10 years, in Salem, which is in the western part. Some wonderful old forests there. And a wet climate, rather than high desert.
By train, Paris is a little under five hours away from me. Phil regularly drives to Brussels in under nine hours, and southern Portugal, right down in the bottom right corner of Europe is a two hour flight away.
Western Oregon must be beautiful. If I had the money I'd be off like a shot.
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I now have two free places to stay in England so I am saving for airfare (and time off, of course). I have $7.65.
My WV is "nonsto." I'd like a nonstop flight but I'm not quite there yet.
Hee hee, Petrea. $7.65 would definitely get you a "stop" rather than a "nonstop" flight. In fact it probably wouldn't even get you as far as the runway.
This looks like it could be an "enchanted" tree, home to wee folks and maybe hobbits.
It might well be, Ms.M. It is a particularly magical tree for me. It lives (or at least the small part of its old trunk that is still alive and thriving lives) on the south-western corner of the old ruined battlements of the Roman town of Venta Icenorum, a few minutes drive from my house. The town was built to subdue and control the Iceni after Boudicca's rebellion. The trees around there were used to crucify all the males of fighting age left in the heart of Iceni territory (you'd have thought after Boudicca had slaughtered half of Roman Britain that they'd be wary of the women, too). This hawthorn is several hundred years old but there are oaks round the place much, much older, whose parents and grandparents must have had the local tribespeople nailed to them.
Hawthorn, like yew and oak, is a mystical tree on our little island and this particular one is a favourite old friend of mine which I visit regularly.
Wow where did you get to know all this stuff, oh yes I remember all those books!! Wish you would get writing that book that must be in there somewhere...great photo...
Reading books is a whole lot better than sitting on my fat butt in front of a TV all day.
There are places on this planet--even in urban areas--where the Old Ones came and went. You know them when you see them.
It's the same in this house, Petrea; a warm chair and an aroma of coffee tells you the Old Git has come and gone.
I am a huge fan of old trees. Some yews in local churchyards were already a few hundred years old when Jesus was still a gleam in God's eye. That's why the bristlecone pines up in the Sierras are on my agenda when I eventually get to California, as well as those beautiful redwoods.
Back again …
The Fortingale Yew up in Scotland is reputed to be about 5,000 years old and is the oldest one in Europe. Our local ones go back around half that far. A lot of churches here were built on old pagan sites and the yew being a sacred tree lived on while the churches crumbled.
The history you know about trees in your area is phenomenal and fascinating! I can see how this tree is a favorite of yours.
For fun, I researched the oldest tree in Idaho. Here's what I found: "Elk River is home to the largest tree in Idaho, the Idaho Champion Western Red Cedar tree. The tree is over 3,000 years old, has a diameter of 18 ft. and stands 177 ft. tall."
That's awesome, Ms.M. If it's close enough you'll have to go visit it and post photos. It's inspiring to spend some time with a tree that old; looking at it, walking around it, touching it, picturing just what it has witnessed over all those thousands of years.
Elk River is an 8-1/2 hour drive from here; it's in northern Idaho. We probably won't get there this year. But I agree that it's inspiring to spend time with old trees. When I lived in Oregon there were some awesome old ones in the forests we saw while camping.
Whooee, America sure is full of wide open spaces, Ms.M.
If you drive that long in England you fall off the edge into the sea. In fact it only takes nine hours to drive to Paris from my house using the tunnel.
We get complacent over here, thinking your states are the size of our counties, when n fact they are the size of whole countries.
You lived in Oregon? Wow! I've always wanted to go there.
It is mind-boggling sometimes to think of the size of countries in Europe as compared to the size of states in the US. It would take us about 10 hours to get to Canada from Boise. Canada is the nearest foreign country. And you can drive to Paris in 9 hours??
I lived in Oregon for 10 years, in Salem, which is in the western part. Some wonderful old forests there. And a wet climate, rather than high desert.
By train, Paris is a little under five hours away from me. Phil regularly drives to Brussels in under nine hours, and southern Portugal, right down in the bottom right corner of Europe is a two hour flight away.
Western Oregon must be beautiful. If I had the money I'd be off like a shot.
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