Taken at…

Taken at Uffington, White Horse, looking out over the countryside. It was misty that day, and somehow the view seemed impossibly Tolkienesque to me, reminding me of his watercolors. So very English.

I think you'd need to be up in the air to get a decent view of this, but it's the oldest of England's white horses, 374 feet wide -- made of chalk (not carved into the hillside, as many think, but chalk mounded and built up) three thousand years ago. The others (scattered across the country) are more naturalistic, and somewhat smaller; this one is immense, stylized. No one knows now how they managed to get the proportions so accurate, or, of course, why they created them at all. Perhaps in worship to Epona, the horse goddess, although some think this one is actually supposed to be a dragon, rather than a horse. If you're interested, much better photos and more details can be found here. I recommmend at least glancing at their photos -- the figure is very beautiful.

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