Today the the GSB team went the way of the herd.
We joined the excursion to Skara Brae.
Skara Brae is a 5,000 year-old settlement that was discovered by a local when a storm removed the sod covering the tops of these stone homes.
To put this in a biblical perspective, 3000 B.C. would have been perhaps a few hundred years before the Noahic flood.
Their homes were built from stones placed in holes they dug out in the ground to protect them from the wind and cold.
What happened to these people? Our tour guide said we don’t know. But look at those stone homes.
From there the bus took us to the Ring of Brodgar. This is a series of standing stones arranged in a circle, surrounded by a ditch. This was very similar to Stonehenge, which we visited on the last GSB tour. Again, there were many questions no answers, but lots of speculation. Why was this built? Who built it? What is it? Our tour guide said we don’t know. But look at those stones.
After the Ring of Brodgar, we drove past the Standing Stones of Stenness. More stones. These people liked stones.
Everyone seemed fascinated by these ancient peoples who liked stones. I found it only mildly interesting.
Instead, I kept looking around at the mountains on the horizon disappearing into the clouds, and in the foreground, the rolling treeless hills, covered by large carpets of heather.
As I looked I thought of the of the God who could create such a place. So simple in appearance, yet so awe-inspiring, and so complex in reality. Hugh Miller would have said we could learn something about the Creator in such a place. GS