Another Ruin

One thing there's no shortage of in this country is contested places. Sitting where it does in the crevice between continents makes it very valuable strategically. No wonder so many have conquered it, though none seem to hold on to it long, when one views this through the long range lens of history, whether it is human conquest that ends an era or natural disaster, or a combination of both.
While we in the States, with our foreshortened sense of history, seem often to prefer to take our leisure in fantasy worlds and amusement parks or else in places as devoid of human habitation as possible, Israelis readily spend their days off in these historical sites.
To me this indicates an acceptance of the wisdom such sites imply, a kind of fatalism I have glimpsed elsewhere in this culture..
My trip to Caesarea with my cousins Daphna and Miri illustrated this beyond much of a doubt.
The crowds thronging the place were composed largely of natives, who favor this place for weddings and other significant events.
But if one stands in one place for a while, it's also possible to hear tours being led in any number of languages, from Russian to English, French, German, and Japanese.
This is yet another awe inspiring feat of human handiwork, from its earliest surviving remnants--one of Herod's palaces, replete with an amphitheater through which one can walk where gladiators and charioteers once played their deadly games.
Far from being sheltered behind gates or protected by barriers, this site affords every visitor the opportunity to stroll the ancient ramparts as kings, slaves, and warriors once did, to sit in the seats of Caesars and nobles.
Fields of ancient marble, weathered as petrified wood, lie strewn like a game of gigantic pick-up sticks. Aqueducts, on the other hand, have been fully preserved, seemingly ready to bear the gush of fresh water through their ancient spillways.
Under the tranquil turquoise surf, a submerged city beckons, calling divers to explore.
Overlooking this site, we lunched on salads and wood-fired bread, then, fortified, continued to wander through the various ruins of chapels and palaces, humbled by a sense of impermanence such a place imparts.
As we headed back along the crowded highways, I maintained the sense of perspective my day among the ruins afforded me, and wondered how much of our present day will be ruins one day, and if so, who will explore them, whether anyone will remain to wonder over what is left.