The Summer Solstice, Druids, A Follower and Me

The most famous stones in the world.

When we lived at Pitts Cottage, they were our neighbor for they were a mere 5 miles away. No matter how many times you see them, they are still awesome -- these giant stones of Stonehenge!

More than nine hundred stone rings exist in the British Isles. Of these, Stonehenge is the most well known!

The Brits market attractions differently than we Americans. As you're driving along the roadway, you can see the stones from the car. Rising skyward out of the Salisbury Plain.

In America, they would be fenced off so that you couldn't see them unless you paid admission to see them. A big tall fence would enclose the stones! But not in Britain!

Some Stonehenge Facts:

Stonehenge was built between 3100 - 1100 BC.

The circle was aligned with the midsummer sunrise, the midwinter sunset and the southerly rising and notherly setting of the moon.

The ground plan and structural engineering of Stonehenge incorporate sophisticated mathematical and geometrical understandings on the part of its builders.

And although the Druids are associated with the stone rings today, they had nothing to do with the construction of Stonehenge. Druids of yore were known to conduct their ritual activities mostly in sacred forest groves not amongst stones on the plain!

There were two types of stones used in its consruction: the "bluestones" (weighing as much as four tons and brought from 240 miles away) and the Sarsen stones (averaging eighteen feet in height and twenty-five tons in weight)

The construction of Stonehenge required more than thirty million hours of labor!

When we were there the end of May, alas, we saw no Druids -- for the rituals they perform at Stonehenge are on the Summer Solstice, the Winter Solstice, and the Spring and Fall Equinox.

Of which, today is the Summer Solstice -- so would assume that there would be a Druid sighting or two if you visited the stones today.

But we did see . . .

One of the Dalai Lama's followers -- just a regular tourist with camera in hand!

One of those interesting pictures, me thinks!

As for the me: one of our favorite pictures from a 1980's trip we took to England with 12 year old Daughter Sarah, was the three of us standing in front of the stones . . . we updated the picture this trip so that it's a picture of an older (and wiser) Jim and Martha, a grown-up Sarah and new family member, son-in-law Andy.

It's Wednesday and Stonehenge and the Summer Solstice is for Outdoor Wednesday. Please join Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for more Outdoor Wednesday posts!