Friday, April 27, 2007
Rediscovering Williamsburg
In the 22 years we have lived in Williamsburg, we have driven the three miles from our house to the historic area probably on average once a day. When I taught at William and Mary and when our son was in the Colonial Williamsburg fife and drum corps, we traveled the route so often that we joked that our car automatically went that way.
Yesterday as part of our training for our pilgrimage in Spain, we walked to the historic area along the route we had so often driven. My husband spotted prehistoric scallop shells in a deep ravine. Traveling the route by car, we had never seen them.
The sea once covered Williamsburg, and the shells are about five million years old, give or take a few million years. We were especially delighted to collect a few shells since the scallop shell is the symbol of pilgrims who travel the Camino to Santiago de Compostela. Pilgrims today, as they have for 12 centuries, wear a scallop shell.
Every year we enjoy seeing the azaleas that festoon the homes in Williamsburg. This year we didn't zip by them as we usually do. Rather we were able to experience their lushness as we walked.
Yesterday as part of our training for our pilgrimage in Spain, we walked to the historic area along the route we had so often driven. My husband spotted prehistoric scallop shells in a deep ravine. Traveling the route by car, we had never seen them.
The sea once covered Williamsburg, and the shells are about five million years old, give or take a few million years. We were especially delighted to collect a few shells since the scallop shell is the symbol of pilgrims who travel the Camino to Santiago de Compostela. Pilgrims today, as they have for 12 centuries, wear a scallop shell.
Every year we enjoy seeing the azaleas that festoon the homes in Williamsburg. This year we didn't zip by them as we usually do. Rather we were able to experience their lushness as we walked.
