The Water Column At the end of September, 2024 my wife and I hiked the entire length of Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. This UNESCO world heritage trail follows the northern most border of the ancient Roman Empire. Begun in AD122, it was a stone wall stretching across the whole width of the island. It is the largest Roman archeological feature in Britain and was the inspiration for the Wall in George R. R. Martin’s best selling series “A Song of Ice and Fire” dramatized in the TV series “Game of Thrones.” Hiking fifteen to nineteen miles each day, we completed the 85 mile trek in six days. There were moments of awe and wonder each step of the way. When walking next to intact sections of the wall, I would marvel that I was placing my feet in the same places that Roman soldiers and citizens did in the first century. I was walking in the “old world” touching stones that had been placed almost two thousand years ago. Standing amongst the ruins of forts and castles where...