I have a hazy memory of walking over to Gilgal for the first time after school with friends from Bryant Jr. High in the ‘60s. I sat on a cement or rock wall on the north side of the garden and just watched my friends, who were more familiar with the place, along with some other young people I didn’t know. I don’t remember investigating the statues and rock art up close but looked at them from my perch on the wall. I felt like we were trespassing, and I think a few of the wilder people might have been drinking beer, so I was a bit nervous. But my overall impression was that this was an odd and strange place constructed by someone with a lot of imagination and an eccentric religious intellect. Fast forward to 2019 when I was invited to join the Friends of Gilgal Garden board, so now more than a half a century later, I’ve come full circle!
July 21, 2020