Thoughts on Canterbury and Sunday contemplation
Here is the final stage we shall see the amazing chalk drawing I shared the other day.
I shared this in my previous post showing the beginning of this amazing piece of sidewalk art being started during our Sunny week here in Canterbury.
The reason I know we shan't see a finalized version of this is yesterday, at the base of the drawing, I saw this message scrawled onto it from the artist.
His message states: So Long Canterbury...it was too rough this time
Normally I would assume "rough" to mean possibly the weather, yet we've had a stunning week of sunshine.
However, when I saw this being trod upon I was aghast. I had seen it the day before carefully taped up with cardboard and plastic. This morning I was looking for it and saw people just strolling across it with the non-nonchalant determination of Christmas shoppers. I think, perhaps, his " too rough" then could have meant the quantity of people milling about.
I caught this wonderful drummer using all sorts for his craft and you can see the quantity of passers-by.
Therefore I hope to assume that the Quantity of people was the reason the artist had to leave off his work and not the Quality of people, as one could imagine the great unwashed rudely trodding upon his work as he means to go about his creation. I like to give the benefit of the doubt to the human race, but as often as not, I come up short in such charities.
Canterbury is a smallish city
It is a walled and a cathedral city so beauty abounds. Yet it is quite small, almost like an enlarged version of a Village, which I truly love. The High street here, with all it's ancient buildings, can be quite bustling; particularly this time of the year.
The old cobbled streets are fronted by ancient buildings in the shadow of a great cathedral.
Yet, the modern world happily interjects itself into the mix.
American food chains happily collide with the ancient beauty.
The ornate entrance gates to the Cathedral add to the character of the city.
This being one of my favourites, as I even did a study of this gate I shared with you before.
Yet, happily set akimbo to this ancient beauty is a shop selling all sorts of tourist fluff.
The windows crammed with nodding bobble heads of the queen or the Bishop of Canterbury next to stuffed or be-jeweled versions of London Landmarks.
Shops meant to edify the idea of London sit happily with American "candy shops".
The latter crammed with all the American things I travel to get away from, though I once was a great lover of 'fluffernutter' sandwiches, alas, my carb-free life says NO. Which, in many ways, is probably a good thing.
Overall I truly love having Canterbury in such easy reach.
A quick 10 minute bus ride puts me here and I can work in cafes, window shop, or look in museums or the Catherdral itself. It has, in many ways, even kept me from making my trip to London thus far.
It can often be the case that when we get too comfortable in one spot we find it hard to make an easy effort to go to another desired destination.
A very easy 2 hour train ride to London can seem a daunting task. This is funny when I consider how much further London is from Toad Hall back in the USA.
Yet, it is a happy sort of procrastination.
I am happily settling here in our little village, having coffee at the local tea room of a morning and hearing the village gossip (there is alwasy some good gossip). Wandering the city peeking in windows or writing and drawing in cafe's can fill a day.
One can easily let slip weeks by with such a loose schedule, but I do mean to set about a proper routine in the New Year.
I hope you enjoyed this lazy Sunday reflection on my city and life here in England on this sunny Sunday morning. Now I shall get up and enjoy my day.
My good friend and house mate is heading back to the USA in two days, so we are going to have our Christmas with her today. This will include a Sunday roast dinner at the local and then a Christmas Carol sing in our local ancient church.
I hope all of you get into the festive season and celebrate in whatever way your tradition dictates, or even make up some new ones. This is the time of the year to celebrate before we begin to consider our New Year's Resolutions.
Check out my other posts, if you like, and by all means upvote, resteem and yes leave comments!
- Finished Animal Piece killing two birds with one stone
- Two new pieces for Makers Place as they launch out of Beta
- Working on a new piece, Taxidermy and my favourite Christmas carol
- Computer Failures, lost Art, too much To-Doing
- Country Walks, Pugs, Hedgehogs, Sheep and considering a new series
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such an unusual Jesus on the cathedral! never seen anything quite like it. I feel for the chalk artist and wish him the best in his next creation spot.
I relate to your experience of getting comfy in your small town and not wanting to go to the big city which is how relatively close ...I have the same ;-))
I know, isn't it amazing. I had always thought it Medieval as it has the long proportions but it was actually bade in the 1990's by a German sculptor. I love it, I always pass by it on my daily rounds of the city.
I think it's tough ;0)
But yeah, tough, rough, same thing. A terrible shame.
It really is lovely though, despite the tat. It reminds me of York, have you been there? That is truly one impressive cathedral. I wonder which is most impressive?
I have only been to York once, years ago, so I don't think I'd like to vote on which is better. I DO know I love Canterbury cathedral however, it is awe inspiring and now clad in scaffolding it has an eerie mix of ancient and modern.
I can't wait to see it at some point!
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TrufflePigI am glad that you captured the chalk art. The fact that it is such a beautiful art that will never be finished, along with the message he left behind, those make me feel a sense of ephemeral. There are many beautiful things all around us and if we don't appreciate them in time, soon enough they will be gone again as if they're never there. When I read this post the first time, I felt a sense of sadness too because of this realisation. And a bit worried for the artist, I hope he is doing fine wherever he is.
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I always feel like I'm being sucked into England through your posts, Donna <3 They are amaaaaazing <3
Too bad the artist couldn't finish his work, some times.... things are just not meant to be, but it doesn't mean the future is closed.... I hope he will return to try again another time :)
I was a little sad when Iceland decided to let Dunkins in...but found a little hope hearing that one closed after running at a loss, after year one.
There always has to be souvenir shops for the americans.
One another note...you should be getting something from me in the post soon.