Yorktown (4/13/2014)

It was absolutely beautiful on Sunday, and we decided to go for a walk with the dogs in Yorktown proper.  We parked up in the higher part and already when we opened the car door we were welcomed by the sound of bells ringing from the Baptist Church.  I assume it’s a large speaker system that puts the sound out over the village, but still it set a good atmosphere for Sunday morning.  When we got to the river (around 9:30), people were already staking their claim on the beach.  Also there were the guys with their metal detectors, looking for the things yesterday’s crowds had lost in the sand.  We had a great walk along the water and back up to the car.  In all we walked more than 7000 steps according to the fitbit that I wear, which is pretty darn good since my goal is 10,000 steps.  As I tell people, I am trying to get my girlish figure back, but it is a struggle, especially after a weekend of gluttony and wine tasting.

Yorktown is full with older buildings some of which are owned by the park service and others by individual.  There are also not so old homes, and even some older apartment buildings.  It is a nice combination, and a pleasure to walk.   The photo here is from the Nelson House, which dates from 1730 (here is another reference for the Nelson House).  It is a nice historic building that gives you a flavor of the importance of Yorktown in its hay days.  It’s amazing how fleeting some of these things such as fame and fortune can be, and only some will be kept in our memories forever.  People build monuments to themselves, such as ex-governor Nelson who seems to have built the largest house on Yorktown, or maybe the largest surviving house in Yorktown.  Guess we still do this in modern time, but I assume that most of the McMansions here in the US that are stick built, will eventually deteriorate, and few will remain as monument to their owners.  This is so very unlike the Europeans who built with brick and stones and where you still see many old buildings.

Now in modern time we have other means of leaving a legacy or our own monuments.  Some do it with the (non-biodegradable) trash they throw out of their car or fill the landfills with (my wife and I generate less than 2 bags of trash each week and compost all our food waste).  Others do it by writing, blogging or maybe even through things like facebook, twitter, or any other electronic way.  It should be interesting to see what will remain 100 or more years from now.  I personally hope that some of my writing (a few book chapters on scientific items), this blog, my photos on flickr or even facebook will give me some form of immortality.

Oh well, enough rambling.  We walked back by the beach an hour later, we were tired; the dogs had been swimming in the river and were wet.  Metal detector guys were gone and there was nothing left for future archeologists.  A lot more people were on the beach, ready to enjoy our first really warm day in the sun.