Salisbury (New Sarum), England


November 19, 2000 & August 5, 2001

I come here after Stonehenge, with after Stonehenge thoughts. Walking through the fab cathedral, I see the hanging flags, so old their transparent threads ghosting the side aisle. Like visitors through time were the people who came and went in the stone age just like those in the medieval days. Perhaps like Stonehenge and Salisbury, death is just another place we haven't been yet. And everyone has a free one-way ticket.

There's history of great influence locked in this cathedral: the Magna Carter (one of the four original copies). It was this Latin document that put the law to paper. And for the first time the king was also under such rule, who was forced to sign it. It lives today as the cornerstone of English law, the American Constitution and the United Nations Human Rights policy.

August 5, 2001
Salisbury (this town also known as New Sarum) is a cute little town with many 17-century dwellings. It's a bright sunny day on my second visit and I'm showing Ritsuko around town. We stop in to look around the cathedral, quietly and only in the back as a service is going on. The preacher is speaking about how history remembers most people's lives as 'the events leading up to their death, such as in the life of Jesus. The parallels he draws on my solitude thoughts of 10 months ago are ironic, if not also chilling.

Different from last year's visit is the perfect weather today. I feel refreshed and glad to be where I am today, even if it's only temporary.


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