Diana Wynne Jones on the Magic of Doorways

 

Portmeirion, UK

 

In Diana Wynne Jones' novel Howl's Moving Castle, the wizard Howl has a magical door. Even though his castle roves the land of Ingary, he's not limited by his home's current location. With a twist of the knob, he can push open the door, and step out into the village of Market Chipping, the seaside town of Porthaven, the capital city of Kingsbury, or even his childhood hometown in Wales. 

Although Diana Wynne Jones was born in London, England, she was evacuated to Wales during World War II. Like wizard Howl, she could call that part of the United Kingdom (UK) home. Perhaps Howl's ability to visit his hometown whenever he wished bespoke Wynne's love for the land of her youth. 

 

If so, it would seem that, like Wales, doorways also held a special magic for her. Ordinary doorways separate a home from the street or the garden. In an interview in the back of her novel, she mentioned that she usually kept interior doors in her home open, just to prevent another place turning up on the other side of them.

No place is that more likely to occur than in the Welsh village of Portmeirion in Jones' beloved Wales. Sir Clough Williams-Ellis designed the village so that every possible viewpoint could present a strikingly different scene. It remains a village that invites photographers, filmmakers, and artists to share his colorful and evocative vistas with the rest of the world.

 

If I had a front door like the wizard Howl, I would love to adjust the knob and return to the idyllic Welsh village of Portmeirion. But for now, I think it best to adopt Diana Wynne Jones' view on doors. Every time I go outside, I step into a place in which anything is possible.

A world in which I can make anything happen.

Dragon Dave

Sedona Sunrise

 

Five years ago, during our last visit to England, we stayed in a bed-and-breakfast in Harrow, where a friendly Indian couple took good care of us. The man seemed very intrigued by our explorations of his country. "I've never been to some of these places you've visited," he told me.

If, like us, he were to take a trip halfway across the world, what place would he like to visit in the United States? His first choice: Sedona, Arizona.

 

Due to the pandemic, the war in the Ukraine, and the troubled airline industry, my wife and I have elected to drive to nearby locales for our vacations. We visited Sedona twice last year, and both times, the touristy nature of the community oppressed me. But this year, I was able to see past that, and enjoy our time there. 

 

We stayed in the village of Oak Creek. Everyday, we went out for a walk. Somedays we explored the residential streets. But several times, we struck out on the walking paths surrounding Bell Rock, and walked through the arid wilderness.

 

 

Too often, and especially since March 2020, I've longed to return to England. This time, I was finally able to embrace Sedona, and view it like others do: as a place of healing and rebirth. This change of mindset allowed me to look at many things in my life differently. 

There's not just one ideal place. There's not just one path to follow. Our world offers innumerable opportunities. Explore them all!

Dragon Dave

In Awe of Tuzigoot

 

Tuzigoot National Monument was not carved into a cliff. Nor was it sprawl across a plain. It was built atop a hill overlooking the Verde Valley, and stood several stories high. 

From the safety of their hilltop community, the ancients descended to forage and hunt. They planted crops. They called this hill home for centuries.

 

From their hill, you can gaze out upon their surroundings. Although much has changed since people called Tuzigoot home, the land to one side remains arid, while the other is still marshland. Knowing how and where water flowed--when it flowed in this desert landscape--helped them capture and harness it. This knowledge also helped them avoid its potentially devastating effects. For even today, in the Verde Valley--despite all our ability to access the latest weather information--the unwary still die in flash floods.

 

 

Their time has long passed. Yet life still flourishes in the Verde Valley. You can observe it, as they once did, if you choose.

 

Visitors return to this ancient site every year. Descendants of those ancient inhabitants work with the National Park system to carry out regular repairs to the stonework. They may not rebuild the structures made of wood and other less durable materials. Yet they preserve the foundations, and keep the ancient hilltop community safe to visit. 

 

 

My wife and I observed these members of our land's first nations during a visit last year. This year, they had moved on, to another site in need of preservation. Still standing after a thousand years, and inhabited for longer than the United States has been a nation, Tuzigoot National Monument still inspires.

Dragon Dave