Dateline June 20, 2024: Happy Summer Solstice! I’m always reminded, on this “longest day,” of the trip that Mr. She and I made to England, and the day we spent at Stonehenge and (just down the road a bit) Avebury. Avebury is another Neolithic Henge, but in this case, the stones surround the village. Once we got inside the stone circle, I tried to make a phone call (cellular) to my brother, but there was no service. “Hm,” I thought. “That’s odd” (and very unusual in Britain). Once we left the stone circle, service came back immediately. A few years later, I read a post somewhere on the Internet where someone else had observed the same phenomenon.
“There are more things in Heaven and Earth” etc . . .
Of course, Stonehenge is in the news for another reason this year, having been attacked yesterday by a couple of of orange-paint/powder-wielding loons who sprayed several of the sarsen stones their favorite color, perhaps indicating support for the Protestant cause in Northern Ireland, or one of the traditional houses of the Dutch monarchy.
Oh, wait. No. Of course not.
Climate. Fossil fuels. Just Stop Oil.
Unclear to me who they think they’ll bring around to their POV with this sort of action. If I’d saved my pennies for the trip of a lifetime to celebrate the Solstice at Stonehenge only to find the monuments defaced by clouds of orange paint, and areas fenced off because of it, I’d be plenty mad. (I’d feel the same way at the Louvre, or at any museum, I’d made a special effort, or spent a small fortune, to visit only to discover that its most popular attractions had been sullied with red or orange paint, or tomato soup right before I got there.) Note to protestors: Pissing off those you’re hoping to convince of the rightness of your cause, probably isn’t a stellar way to make your point. Next time, try logic and reason. Sorry they no longer teach either of those at university. Still, there’s always the real world. First, though, you have to check your egos at the door and spend some time in it.
Stonehenge is open for solstice ceremonies today, with English Heritage saying that the orange powder has been removed with compressed air and the hope that there’s been no damage to the rare lichens–some of which can live for five to ten thousand years–which cover many of the stones.
No doubt the cleanup was paid for by either the British taxpayers or by the well-meaning citizens who’ve donated to cultural charities over the decades with the understanding that they were paying forward, so that access to such civilizational treasures would be preserved and enhanced in perpetuity for their descendants and all the other occupants of this planet.
I doubt any of them donated with the idea that their monies would be spent on repairing the pointless damage inflicted on a UNESCO World Heritage Site by a couple of crackpots with no coherent agenda other than foot-stomping, tantrumming, and publicity-through-vandalism.
I hope when all’s said and done, that Niamh (sometimes the jokes really do write themselves, see above), and Rajan (well, he doesn’t sound Dutch; something else must be at work there) will face appropriate consequences, among which–I hope–is the bill for the necessary public safety, paint removal and any future inspections which might be necessary to insure that no long-term damage was done.** A bit of accountability, and a lot less media exposure might go a long way to shutting this sort of idiocy down. OTOH, were those things to happen, the protestors might have to engage on the merits of their case, in order to make their case.
Judging from the rambling and incoherent nature of their public statements, and the random nature of their attacks thus far, that might be difficult.
**If they can’t pay the bill, involved cultural trusts can always employ them (at minimum wage) to clean up the mess made by their fellow tantrum-throwers in other venues, until a fair accommodation is reached. Eventually, even they might get tire of trying to remove–painlessly and at length–a “protestor’s” hand from the chunk of asphalt that had been sawn out of the road, after said hand had been firmly glued to it in order to prevent peaceable people from going about their business. “Play stupid games: Win stupid prizes,” as they say.
