Thursday, August 23, 2012

DARK HEDGES

Thank you, Lynn, for this link.

The Dark Hedges is a unique stretch of the Bregagh Road near Armoy, in Ireland, that looks like something from a Tim Burton movie. Over the past 300 years or so, the Beech trees guarding either side of the lane have reached up and across to each other, becoming heavily intertwined to create a natural arched tunnel where shadow and light plays through entwined branches.






Seems like a different mood depending on the time of day, the season, and the weather.



A different stretch of road, I think.




This beautiful avenue of beech trees was planted by the Stuart family in the eighteenth century. It was intended as a compelling landscape feature to impress visitors as they approached the entrance to their Georgian mansion, Gracehill House, which is now a golf club. Two centuries later, the trees remain a magnificent sight and have become one of the most photographed natural phenomena in Northern Ireland.



Looks like Autumn




A fire?  Or very late afternoon?





Legend tells that a supernatural ‘Grey Lady’ haunts the thin ribbon of road that winds beneath the ancient beech trees. She silently glides along the roadside and vanishes as she passes the last beech tree. Some say the specter is the ghost of a maid from the nearby house who died in mysterious circumstances centuries ago. Others believe that she is a lost spirit from an abandoned graveyard that is thought to lie hidden in the fields nearby. On Halloween night, the forgotten graves are said to open and the Grey Lady is joined on her walk by the tormented souls of those who were buried beside her.





Red Riding Hood on her way to Grandma's house.


Humor -
Rules of the air, completed (probably)
There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.

You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.

Helicopters can't fly; they're just so ugly the earth repels them.

In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.

Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment.

It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible.

Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed.

Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It's the law. And it's not subject to repeal.

The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you, and a tenth of a second ago.







2 comments:

  1. I love the look of those trees. Where I grew up, we had many dirt roads through deciduous woods with similar arching branches. I love that.
    Something about the landscape where you grow up seems to remain dearest to the heart.

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  2. The people who put them in as saplings never got to see them so majestic. Reminds me of a comment I recently read: "When's the best time to plant a tree? 75 years ago. The second best time? Today."

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