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Goodbye Kentucky hello Virginia!<\/p>\nGoodbye Kentucky hello Virginia!<\/p>\n
After an earlier start than originally intended (which I will admit, did lead to me being a bit of a grumpy bear until I was able to take a nap), we left Kentucky behind and crossed the state-line into West Virginia.<\/p>\n
I really had no idea that West Virginia was so beautiful. Also, I had no idea we were going to be driving through the Blue Ridge mountains\u00a0 and the Shenandoah valley (What can I say, I\u2019m pretty sure I flunked geography). This is beautiful, lush country, we were high enough up in the mountains that my ears almost started to pop. That said, while the weather is beautiful it is still hot and humid and we were beyond grateful for the well-functioning A\/C in the car.<\/p>\n
We made better time than we anticipated and ended up in Virginia with plenty of time to spare. This is where Amras\u2019 grew up, and it\u2019s pretty amazing to see a friend come home for the first time in twenty years. There were a lot of times today I almost wanted to cry just out of happiness for him. Amras\u2019 doesn\u2019t talk about Virginia for the same reason I don\u2019t truly talk about London \u2013 at least not to just anyone. Virginia is his snowglobe, the one he keeps next to his heart.\u00a0 I am touched and oddly flattered that he\u2019s brought me here..<\/p>\n
Despite the sweltering heat we made our way to the Cold Harbor Battlefield, because since this is deep into Civil War territory it seemed only right that I see at least one battlefield. I had not been prepared for how huge<\/em> it was, or how \u2026.peaceful it felt. I know there are a lot of Civil War sites that are not yet at peace, and I\u2019ve no doubt that some of those still at Cold Harbour may not be either, but as we hiked among the dappled trees there was only one sense I kept picking up on, and perhaps it wasn\u2019t\u2019 them at all, perhaps it was me: \u201chaven\u2019t you figured it out yet, haven\u2019t you figured out that all of this solved nothing<\/em> in the end?\u201d<\/p>\n Cold Harbour Battlefield is a tremendous lush forest now, trees overrun the old lines and rabbits have made warrens under the earthworks. There is little indication that once people died here, that once the waters of the little creek ran so red that they called it Bloody Run. \u00a0Nature is gently healing the wounds, washing off the blood, taking the land back. She\u2019s good at that.<\/p>\n People often say that ruins are picturesque, but that\u2019s usually long after time has washed away the blood and nature has smothered the screams \u2013 Polgara the Sorceress<\/em><\/p>\n I get very pensive in forests, and this one in particular. It seemed that I was walking in two realities at once. There was what is<\/em>, overlaid tightly by what had<\/em> been, every so often it felt as though if only I looked hard enough I wouldn\u2019t see what is at all, I would be looking at what \u00a0was<\/em>.\u00a0 But no matter how I squinted my eyes or strained my ears, I could not see, there was still just the forest, stretching on and on with only the occasional rustle of a rabbit or squirrel breaking the sleepy silence.<\/p>\n And into that silence, I found myself doing something I really don\u2019t normally do around other people, I was singing.<\/p>\n What are you humming?<\/em><\/p>\n Song my Mum taught me. The end is a comedy song\u2026but the beginning, the beginning isn\u2019t<\/em><\/p>\n Oh?<\/em><\/p>\n Hang on, let me find the start\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t looking at him, I wasn\u2019t singing for him, I was just\u2026I think I was singing for them. For the ghosts in the woods. Perhaps it was my way of trying to tell them that I understood them, perhaps I just like singing in the forest, but for whatever reason, in a much higher, younger voice than I normally seem to have\u2026<\/p>\n One brother wore blue <\/em><\/p>\n One brother wore grey They must have been so terrified, all of them. Perhaps now they are finally at rest, in the peace of the forest where the creek no longer flows red.<\/p>\n <\/em>Perhaps one day, we will truly be done, and there will truly be peace\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Goodbye Kentucky hello Virginia! After an earlier start than originally intended (which I will admit, did lead to me being a bit of a grumpy bear until I was able to take a nap), we left Kentucky behind and crossed … Continue reading
\nOne brother he went
\nAnd the other one stayed
\nOne brother is here
\nOne brother is there
\nWhere shall I go lord?
\nAnd what colours shall I wear?<\/em><\/p>\n