curiouswombat | Extra Pic spam... empty buildings and empty space.

I mentioned yesterday that I had taken some pictures of scenery, but would leave posting until today. They were taken last week, Wednesday I think, on a warm day that was not quite as clear and sunny as most this past few weeks. I was travelling from Port Erin, in the South, to St John's - by the more coastal route, known as The Sloc road.

I stopped to take some pictures of a deserted farmhouse, and then took a few more along the way. It is surprising, sometimes, how much empty space there is on our small island.

So - these pictures are of an abandoned farmhouse in an area known as Lingague.

As you can see, it is past redemption -

And I took this because I liked the lines and shapes-

These two are simply taken in the hedge where I stood to take the first picture - I'm guessing it is clover, but I'm not sure - it really was this colour -

And with added bugs...

In the field alongside there were two horses - this one was more interested in the camera than the other one -

I think you can get an idea of the day from that one - warm, but a bit grey.

A few fields away there is another farmhouse, still inhabited. You can see that it is built to the same, traditional, pattern as the abandoned one. This is, in effect, what the derelict would have looked like maybe twenty years ago -

Oh - and a foxglove just coming into flower -

I drove a little further up the road - and I do mean up - it rises slowly, climbing higher and higher; it got brighter as I climbed, too. These are taken where I stopped to eat a, rather late, lunch. As you can see, it is a remarkably empty - you can just make out the line of the road climbing up and away -

The sea is just over the edge of this hill -

And finally - just beside the wall I perched on for lunch - simply because I liked the effect -

Taking pictures reminds me how fortunate I am to live somewhere where it is still possible to be so alone, in such beautiful (well, to me) emptiness.

Oh - and... today the weather broke - about 3pm, whilst I was in clinic at the hospital, unable to get home to take in the washing I'd hung out at lunch time... I've just left it out; it'll dry again, sometime, I guess!

Also I must share D-d's text message from Italy - "Ate Pizza. Saw Colosseum, Forum, Vatican and THE POPE!! Going to Pisa and Florence. Getting on really well with everyone." Sounds good!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Amazing, LotR-like pics as usual!

This may seem like an odd question, but how do people from Man feel about the Pope? Is there a significant Catholic population on Man, or is it all Anglican like the rest of the UK?

Ummm - we aren't part of the UK - just one of the British Isles...

Britain, generally, is by no means all Anglican. Only about 45% of the British population are Anglicans - and that includes the ones who never go to church!

For example Scotland has only a few Anglicans - in fact the differences between Anglicanism and the form of Protestantism followed by most Scots was one of the roots of the Civil War (the English one, not yours) - had Charles been more equable towards the Presbyterians (not really much like American Presbyterians...) then his Scottish subjects would have supported him against the English, but they didn't as he was too Anglican! The Church of Scotland is still their national church - it is a Presbyterian type not an Episcopal type like Anglicanism.

The protestantism in Northern Ireland is a type of Presbyterianism rather than Anglicanism as well.

In Britain generally about 10% of the population are Catholic. The figures here on the island are slightly higher, for a variety of reasons, just as the number of Methodists is slightly higher too.

However - D-d is a very definite low church protestant, so the Pope is not really important to her religiously - more as a fascinating historical figure, just as if she had seen the King of Spain had she been there.

Ah...OK. Thanks for the information! I didn't expect to learn so much. We don't even learn much about our own nation's religious heritage; few people over here realize that the Puritans/pilgrims were religious radicals escaping their homelands in search of religious freedom. I don't think even parochial schools cover religion in American history. Of course, that's probably because the majority of parochial schools are Catholic, and none of the American founders were Catholic.

Sorry to assume you're part of the UK! I just figured everyone in the British Isles was part of the UK by now, barring the Republic of Ireland.

I do get carried away when I start speaking history. However - if it had been my daughter you'd have gotten an hour lecture on the religious causes of the outcome of the Civil War...

I will stop now though, with hardly a mention of why Protestant Scots would later support a Catholic Stewart king...

You really can't learn history without considering religion.

Seriously? I think the movie "National Treasure" with Nicholas Cage was the first time most Americans found out that the founding fathers of the American colonies were Deists (and some Freemasons) rather than "true" Protestants. Of course, it probably also went right over their heads.

Yeah, I'm not really too convinced that many Americans are intelligent or at least critical thinkers.

History and religion are completely intertwined; Stonehenge - sun worship? Should ceremonies be at midwinter or midsummer? Are the bodies buried within the site high nobles or sacrifices tot he God(s)?

Egyptian history - relocation of the capital as argument ensues between Akenahten and the priests; monotheism v pantheism.

Romans and the birth of Christianity. The sacking of Jerusalem, the sacking of Constantinople (a shameful historical event - Catholicism v Orthodoxy...) and so on...

Yes! Yes! and Yes! I too get "nerdgasms" over historical topics like this.

I hate to sound older than the hills, but when I was in grade school the curriculum definitely covered why the Puritans came to the New World.

The Colony of Maryland was founded as a haven for Catholics by a royal charter granted by Charles I to George Calvert, First Lord Baltimore. It is therefore possible that some of the founding fathers were Catholic.

Actually, you're right. It probably was covered in grade school why the Puritans came to America when I was still a young'un (not that long ago, but long enough). I guess being of the younger generation exposed to all the video games and internet and all that at a young age, I've gotten a shorter attention span and less long-term memory than people of the older generations who would remember that kind of thing. OK, I'll shut up now...

I didn't know that! It's been a while since I thoroughly studied the colonies. And being in the Midwest, there's not too many museums around that focus on New England, just Illinois and the Great Lakes, so I haven't had it repeated at me over the years.

I'm pretty sure that even we learnt a little about the different religious groups who set up colonies in North America.

Although, to be honest, the thing I remember most about learning about the Pilgrim Fathers in Primary school is that one of the girls in my class lived on the very farm that Miles Standish's wives' family had farmed, about 2 miles from our school in Ramsey.

The Pilgrims and the Puritans were an interesting group of people. Just because they fled religious persecution didn't mean that they were liberal on the subject of religious observance, no quite the opposite as Roger Williams found out.

I think the information about Miles Standish's connection to the Isle of Man is fascinating. It personalizes history to have a connection to the historical characters, however tenuous.

Just because they fled religious persecution didn't mean that they were liberal on the subject of religious observance

I remember pointing that very same thing out to someone a few months ago - they believed everyone should have the freedom to worship exactly as they did - rather than everyone should, like them, have freedom of worship!

Lack of liberality is the problem with all revealed religions, even within the same religion whether it be Judaism, Christianity or Islam. Christians have over the centuries become more liberal about other religions, but there was certainly a long process involved before reaching that position.

Extra Pic spam... empty buildings and empty space.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject