Just as I haven't read Moby Dick through but still have my own opinion of the book after reading a few chapters, I haven't visited Biltmore House in North Carolina, which I have heard is just a must-see for everyone. On our recent trip to central California, I did take the basic $25 a person tour of the Hearst Castle. I really don't know much about William Randolph Hearst. I read some of the information on the man in the Wikipedia. I did learn that his father was a very wealthy man and that his mother was the first woman regent of the University of California system. I have heard that the movie "Citizen Kane" is a classic and focuses on WR Hearst but I don't know the film at all.
One of the many blessings in my life is not having been born into great wealth. I think it can be a burden and a trap. The trap may be stronger and more damaging for a young man, whose adventures and strivings may be blunted or caged by vast wealth but in today's world, I can imagine heavy costs for a young woman, too.
I do respect the adventure of trying to build a really wonderful house. I respect trying to design and maintain an enchanting garden. Trying to build a place that houses bliss may be a waste of time, since bliss comes and goes. To try and pin it down with great paintings on the wall and meals of expensive wine and meat is probably a hopeless task. If I lived in a time without central heating and had to heat with wood fires, had to travel with horsepower, needed people as servants to manage the laundry and cooking and lighting candles, maybe a great house would be wonderful.
I was intrigued by a comment from a gentle lady in our group. When I asked her what she thought of Hearst Castle, its ornaments, grand art and impressive setting high on a hill, she said," I don't want to use the word 'phoney'". She commented that Hearst could go out and buy anything he wanted. She seemed to mean that buying whatever one wanted ruined the result. I was reminded of artificial vs. real flowers. If they are realistic enough, they ought to be as good but they aren't.
The search for heavenly paradise is an old one. From the King James Bible's Ecclesiastes:
2:4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
2:5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:
2:6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:
2:7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
2:8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
2:9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
2:10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them,...
James dm, King (2008-03-02). The King James Bible (with book and chapter navigation) (Kindle Locations 16994-17000). Diana Mecum DianaDoesIt.com. Kindle Edition.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
