Figure 1 – Avalonian granites, Singing Beach, Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2020.
Saturday was absolutely the herald day of spring. So we went to Singing Beach in Manchester-by-theSea and there I found the most glorious Avalonian granites depicted in Figure 1. Superlatives do not approach doing it all just. Giant boulders, massive plutonic flows, and threatening fissures.
Avalonia speaks of a long lost time in the Paleozoic when a great volcanic arc formed off the coast of the continent of Gondwana. It rifted off to form the Avalonian microcontinent. Today the crustal fragments of Avalonia form the base of south-west Great Britain, southern Ireland, and the east coast of the United States. It takes its name from the the Avalon peninsula in Newfoundland.
But really there is something more. It speaks of a long lost time and place in collective consciousness. The word Avalon speaks of a mythic place, sacred to the Arthurian legends of English speaking peoples. It is a place of great magic, a place to be sought, but only attained if you are worthy and ready.
“Avalon will always be there for all men to find if they can seek the way thither, throughout all the ages past the ages. If they cannot find the way to Avalon, it is a sign, perhaps, that they are not ready.” – Kevin”
This is close to what I expected Plymouth Rock to look like. The lingering hope of that made me forget that I saw the Pilgrims’ landing step immediately after seeing it, so that 20 years after doing so, I asked to see it again.