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A Rock Castle
On watching Cleopatra rave and die on the stage, a middle-aged British matron remarked: "How
different, how very different from the home life of our dear Queen."
Not all castle displays seem relevant at first encounter, but see if
there isn't a very good reason for them anyway.
Contents
Supporting "well medleys" are presupposed
throughout:The Rock Castle
Hard to scale
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Standing, crawling or sitting on another hill nearby, one can see how the terrain is shaped from the seldom resting hands of nature. On the outermost part of the peninsula nature has formed half of an impressive castle - one part of it is a tiny mount that goes very steeply into the sea. It's hard to scale it. From boats that sail by underneath, it looms up about 55 yards, full of steep cliffs. Under their sheltering slopes there is also a very rocky beech, well over a hundred yards long, where it is possible to bathe and sun-tan in peace and quiet for most part, if luxury yachts don't anchor there for the same purpose - it happens.
The back side of it - the east side, is well protected. There is a little field inside that spacious courtyard. Cattle, dogs, goats, and hens were known to thrive there, as well as other animals. One of them was a fox. Ah, but that's another story.
- There may be sleeping enough in a well protected place, and not just in death.
Firs and gales
THE GALES are brought from the west and north and can be dangerous. There was a girl
that found that if she took shelter from the mount on a grassy field to the south of it, the
wind was pressed up from the shore so that it might lift her into the air and blow her off
her feet. She could fly -On the western and in part northern side of the mount the winds sweep across and leave little room for living to others than kelp, wonderful grass, many golden flowers, caprifoliums, aspens, tiny birches and many firs. And then there is the shrubs and heather, that gives an over-all brownish impression when looked at from afar, such as from fields across the fjord. There are many such farm fields still.
The outermost part of that peninsula brings on a very lovely scenery. You can see far and wide, and if the weather is clear, a broad range of elps that are intersected by fjords. This panorama views are among the finest in the whole world-famous tourism region.
- Let us not refrain from telling the truth that suits us too.
Windsore -
THE OVER-ALL shape of that bastion made of very hard, enduring rock, makes it fit
for a castle - for most of it looks like it and is halfway shaped into a castle as it
is.One evening a Swedish artist was taken to the peninsula "fort" to have a look. He strove to light a candle on the top of the mount, for he wanted that. It could not be done. The wind made him sore. Windsore. We drop the letter 'e' to make it terse-looking, and end up with Windsor, a castle of rocks. Well, there it is.
- Let us compare and not refrain from stating fair and fit facts that suit ourselves.
- He who hesitates tends to become a nest of thoughts.
Good Tidings (to Some)
SOMEONE: "My ladies: A castle of rocks can be different from one of stones and boulders.
Which could serve good living the best? It stands to reason that it is the former, the one
shaped over perhaps millions of years to glide in in the landscape - thoroughly integrated
and with a "natural look" too. As for the many specifics involved, these may do here. In a
castle of rock:-- Sheep may graze on it, as little upkeep may be needed - nature stands and heals itself in most ways.
- Nothing important should be damaged if there is rot.
- As for gardening, which we like: Maybe you can thin out among the trees and plant a lovely garden in both places, if that is to your liking. If you stick to wild flowers that are hardy and need nothing from you at all, that ensures basic standings and lovely views that may cost as good as nothing.
- If you like smoothed stones to walk on and lie on, nature did it for you for free -
- Think of the low cost.
- Unless you love flaunting, a rock castle can serve you better than thought of, perhaps. The scenery elevates thinking and often brings joy. Think of that.
- And what is more impressive, is the natural discretion you find, and hardly have to build from bottom by hedges, brick walls and the like.
- A mother's breath will end if things get out of hand.
Not beating about the bush
LOVELY things come at a price, and in this case it's far from heat, but rather the
icy cold and rainy weather - at times hard hurricanes, and why not scheming, intrigue-fond
neighbours? They can be hard and not just warty. Or maybe your castle road has to be built
among cliffs and steep slopes. Unless you have a good road, maybe there will be few welcomes
-There may be many other problems. Problems or dangers of castle isolation are seldom told of - yet you can have that in nature too, unless you're lucky. So those who own castles could have an extra need to be surrounded by very good friends that stand by them in thick and thin. It may be added: Good outfit matters terribly much in whatever castle type one survives inside, and the need for polite manners and tact is fairly often escalated in any cramped setting. The possible advantage of the whole rock castle lies could be allied to wild, untamed nature's displays and their effects on us by and by, and a rising joviality as a sign of things working fairly well.
The possible advantages of being solidly surrounded by bricks of clay or handy stones otherwise, is that they often give solid help against troubled and troublesome neighbours. That counts a lot, as "A man doesn't have peace any longer than his neighbour wants (Norwegian proverb)".
It boils down to this: Having thick walls could come in handy. They may reduce much stress and strain, if the space inside them is congenial, not too narrow and alienating from nature and good contacts.
- Good equipment and good contacts help a man, and at times save him too.
Happy Moments
Rustic sceneries have their great and delicate satisfactions. There are reasons for it.
Surrounding several rock castles in Norway are sticks and fjords and lakes - maybe
rivers too. It means you don't have all the work to build an artificial dam or pond (moat)
all around the castle, if you don't feel for it. And then there will be time for happier and
more significant moments - being "here now", and with family and friends.Reflect on the tourists. Now let us exaggerate on the common tourists fare of tomorrow: Slowly the tourists are falling down to being led about, much like cattle. And they are led to pay for their sights, night quarters and experiences too. It is a big, growing "next world industry" that is taking shape, where you have to pay a lot for experiences and vistas that once were free, just like Norwegian roads fifty years ago. Now many of them can not be used unless you pay for it.
Some misdirected, guided tourists don't even think of what are the truly worthwhile views on a day. For example, one day I visisted a restored stone church in a place where the gemstone peridot is sometimes found - at Aaheim on the western coast of Norway. What appealed the most to me, however, were herds of sheep. They are such lovely animals. I hope to find a CD with recordings of a peaceful flock with lambs out grazing. It is far better than some disco-fool sounds you cannot fall asleep from.
Animals of many sorts have "built-in" advantages over stone churches and gemstones in that they are alive. In so doing they have a richer and more fulfilled quality of life than an average rock along the west coast. Sheep, as suggested, move and bleat and show feelings and thoughts too. They show they are more splendid than built stone houses thereby: They have come further biologically. And therefore they are more rewarding to watch and be surrounded by, at least in a flowery field or garden.
Not a few tourists in Norway have found it out. They go for experience vacations in rustic environments and say "Oh, how lovely," "oh, how nice," and such things. There is nothing backward about it. And you may find out in the same vein that the countryside has other hidden advantages too. Tiffany's does not have it all. Vain living shows deflections - so let us take this old wisdom with us to Rome, Athens and other places where people found rocks and carvings and masonry and moats and thick, solid walls to work well for them:
- A castle of bone is better than a castle of stone (British proverb. Cf. 1 Cor 3:16-7 and 6:19-20)
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