Tuesday, October 4, 2016

The Devil's Arrows

Just up the road from our house are three large standing stones lined up in a row called The Devil's Arrows.  As you can read in the Wikipedia article, these 4,700 year-old stones are there because the devil fell a mite short while aiming at the village of Aldborough, about a half mile from Boroughbridge.  I've yet to hear exactly what Aldborough did to anger him, though one article I just glanced at intimated that it was because Aldborough was a Christian settlement.


We like to walk over from time to time, mainly because the sun sets right behind the field where two of the stones are, and it's just a nice little stretch of the legs from our front door.  The third remaining stone Ella is standing in front of is on the other side of a road now.  It's not unusual to see a van of tourists pull up and park while everyone piles out to take pictures.  They are probably some of the oldest things I'll ever see.

Last spring there was a field of rapeseed planted all around them.


These pictures were taken one December afternoon in the last half hour or so of light left in the day.  That would make it around 3:15 p.m.


KJ's magical rabbit warren picture was taken in the shadow of an arrow.


This picture taken shortly after midsummer when the wheat was growing is my favorite from this year.  There's some encouragement to be found from this tall tale of sorts surrounding the stones that fell short of their mark.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will
rest in the shadow of the Almighty...
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his
wings you will find refuge...you will not fear the terror
of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day...
- Psalm 91:1, 4a, 5 -


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