Travel Theme: Time

Ailsa's travel theme this week at Where's My Backpack is: time!  As in, how you visualize it and the passage thereof.  I dig these sorts of themes.  They're so up for interpretation.The picture below was taken in front of the Super 8 in Sturbridge, MA.  Why the owner bought this carriage is still a mystery, even to him.  He said, "I was just really, you know, drawn to it.  I had to have it.  Now I don't know where else to put it."  Fair enough.  Time has clearly had its way with the old girl, though I think it's fair to say that despite the ravages of time (and weather, and carelessness, and probably raccoons) you can still see what a lovely carriage she must have been, once. The owner said he wanted to restore it at some point, though it would take a ton of pimping to fix this ride.  But who am I to harsh on his restorative ch'i?  Go for it!The installation of the glass pyramid that serves as the main entrance to the Louvre made people INSANE with rage when it was first installed, but I dig it.  I know that now people are cool with it (for the most part), even though it took a while.  It's difficult to argue with I.M. Pei's capacity for design, once you accept that he's not going to subscribe to the notion that he has to design all 16th-19th century (12th century if you look at the foundations) neo-classico-baroque-renaissance-gothic curlicued French.  I love the juxtaposition of modern and not-so-much that shows the evolution of design sensibilities over time, not just next to one another randomly on a street but rather, incorporated into one functional building.  Awesome.This next photo is a passage of time double-whammy.  This lock was probably a hundred years old and so severely weathered that it's beyond use; it is rusted shut and now, if you want to open it, you'd better have some manner of hand saw near by.  Of course, if you wait a little longer it just may crumble, the metal is that spent.  The gate on which the lock sits surrounds a small family plot in the middle of a larger church graveyard in scenic Mazeppa, PA.  Look toward the bottom left and you'll see the cool grey of an eroded headstone behind the gate.  All things pass.  Even metal.The next photo was taken during the waxing stage of a new moon.  It was a beautiful night and it was the fourth of July and the moon was spectacular rising through the trees.  The moon, of course, is what the ancients used to mark time (moon->month, see the connection?) and so...When in Rome...go to the Forum.  While Rome is indeed an ancient city, that doesn't mean that all its streets are exactly as they were 2,000 years ago.  Since Rome is subject to things like flooding from the Tiber River, and because people live there and are a dynamic presence in their environments, streets and buildings have altered over time.  But not at the Forum.  The structures may not all be intact, but the paths and steps and view are indeed the same steps that Julius Caesar walked, the same stones Cleopatra crossed, the same view that greeted Marc Antony.  The Roman general, not the ex-husband of JLo.  Holy pockets!  Though admittedly, that doesn't signal so much the passage of time as it does take me backwards through time.  But who cares?  It's all good.Time, time, time.  See what's become of me?[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFRx4PkXeVM]What?  Like I could resist.