Friday: National Cathedral

In the summer of 1974 I taught camping skills at a day camp on the Cathedral grounds.  In those days, there were thick woods directly behind the building, and coming out of them and beholding this Gothic structure was an odd sensation something like being transported suddenly to Medieval Europe.

I don't believe I've walked around the grounds since then, and many things change in 38 years.  The land is now mostly developed with parking lots and athletic fields for the schools associated with the Cathedral.  What remains of the woods is no longer wild but more of an urban park.  I tried to capture some of the feeling I once had with these two pictures taken from the same place.

First I photographed the Cathedral:

Then I turned around and took a picture of the
wooded parkland:

I was a little shocked to realize that those 6 to 10 year olds that I taught knots and fire making are now well approaching middle age.