Oldness Makes You Ponder

^ The statue replicas featuring Roman emperors atop the Roman Bath

In a city with so many things from the days of yore, one tends to be nostalgic and philosophical about life which will reflect in the photos taken.

The lure of old things lies in their connection to the past, the days when people led a primitive life. The ways they acted and thought are reflected in the relics having stood the test of time. Where I touched and walked and watched could be the places some ancient poets and generals did the same.

« The Roman Bath

The captivating thought is those people died a long time ago and the present-day me will not be missed by the visitors coming here some hundreds of years later. By then, I will be a part of the history, long gone, a past tense.

^The intriguing roof patterns of the Bath Abbey

This thought perplexed me further when I wandered inside the Bath Abbey, looking at the tombs of different descriptions.

I walked past a tomb which a husband made for his dead wife. The epitaph wrote briefly the bereavement haunting him. But the sad feelings of her death and his were blown away by the breeze in the corridor of history. ^Issac Pitman was the man who invented Pitman shorthand.

The man who died with the most toys is still dead, so goes the common saying.

^The tomb of a high priest leading the Bath Abbey some hundreds of years ago.

What am I to leave in this world? So went the question across my mind.

Tomorrow, will anyone notice that Nevin had been in Bath? Does anyone notice that I am here in Bath? Will my next generation miss me? What am I going to leave to them? These questions kept popping up for which I had not the slightest clue. The best answer I could think of was my good deeds. I can help. Helping others does not really require any money. Helping others is one of the few things before which all people are equal. Another similar thing is death.

I can comfort the people around me when they are in need. I can give them a hand when they want one. I can, if you believe in prayers, pray for them when all I can do is praying. I can do by example and these stories of good deeds can be passed on.

^River Avon and the meadows stretching from the bank to the hill sitting afar

If history is a river, a life is a drop of water in it. The river keeps flowing and our chance of staying at any one spot any longer is zero. But the beauty of a river is in its flowing.

So, our life will continue to unfold in a way as always. And when our last day come to pass, we are to be dead man no matter how many photos we have taken, places we have been to, money we have made, etc, etc.

^A stone bridge across the River Avon

It's time to figure out what we are going to do in the even decreasing days we have on earth. Incidentally, it's also time to reflect on this UK trip of mine which is nearing a close.