Thursday, September 19, 2013

CASTLES

Shakespeare said, in "Macbeth" --            
"This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
 Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses.”

Pictures of homes in magazines seduce me.

Would I want to live there flies into my mind and flies out of my mind, as I turn the page and see another mansion, a country house, a cottage tucked into the trees.



In my mind, I enter the huge elegant homes -- estates with monumental entrances -- explore attics, tread on the rambling porches, drive on the swirling driving ways, and applaud the swimming pools and gardens, as I'm calculating the number of rooms, baths, and kitchens, and estimating what it would cost to buy the place.

The price doesn't bother me. It's just part of my trip into another life.

I live in the tower room, pace on the widows' walk; I peek into the master bedrooms, check out the kitchen, the library, the sun-room, and bathrooms, estimating how many employees I'd need to maintain things. 

Inside the house pictures, I am old-fashioned, and also renovated and up-to-date modern, as I'm using the latest practical conveniences. I am grandly,  queenly rich, as I ponder how to clean all those windows looking out onto other homes on the hills and in the valleys below the sky and the mountains I've never before seen.

In his book, "Who Owns the Mountains," Henry Van Dyke said "They were all ours, from crested cliff to wooded base"

Who owns the mountains the lawns, driveways, gardens, the mansions, country houses, cottages, all those castles tucked into the trees?

I do. I do.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a small child, I fantasized about living in my school's building, converting all the classrooms to super-sized bedrooms, with the auditorium as being my living room, and the gym as the playroom. The cafeteria was of course to be the dining room outside the king-size chef's kitchen; and the nuns were to be the maids whom I got to tell what to do. I was a strange kid.

Poet_Carl_Watts said...

A good use of imagination, healthy! Keep creating for your self and others. #AwesomeTeam♥#Odycy☮:-)

Linda Phillips said...

Our Em is both romantic, as well as highly poetic. Yet she is also highly pragmatic and practical. I love it!

She is enchanted by those wonderful castles and mansions, but also counting how many cans of Babo (do they still make Babo?) it would take to maintain all of those bathrooms! :-)

I love a show on Bravo called Million Dollar Listings. There are 2 versions. One is LA and one is NY. I gape in awe at many of those palatial homes that they are selling (selling again! :-) ). But in reality, I would never ever want to live in any of them. I like living in small spaces that are cozy and comfortable. A large home would be just too overwhelming for me.

Carola said...

I love big old houses. But as for real castles, they have their drawbacks. The last time we went to France we must have visited 15 medieval castles. You had to go up steep narrow winding staircases to get from one floor to the next. I won't do that anymore.

Anonymous said...

Loved this blog on castles! If I was rich I would own and live in a castle or even a mansion like your pics show. It is so fun to dream and imagine the elegant and majestic rooms and the beautiful green yards. Thanks for posting this Em. kam