Thuya Gardens and Eliot Mountain

Other echoes
Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?
Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,
Round the corner. Through the first gate,
Into our first world, shall we follow
The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.
There they were, dignified, invisible,
Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,
In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,
And the bird called, in response to
The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,
And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses
Had the look of flowers that are looked at.
There they were as our guests, accepted and accepting.
So we moved, and they, in a formal pattern,
Along the empty alley, into the box circle,
To look down into the drained pool.
Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,
And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,
And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
The surface glittered out of heart of light,
And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.

                                                                                  -- T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

Today we went back to Northeast Harbor to visit the Thuya Lodge and Gardens (and climb Mount Eliot). This 140-acre preserve is privately owned and sits just outside Acadia National Park. The really rich guy that owned this part of the island, Joseph Curtis, donated his estate to be held in trust for the residents of Mount Desert. The Trustees maintain the docks, trails, lodge and gardens and ask folks to donate $5.00 to visit to help cover the costs.

The weather was sunny and clear. Here is Kathy at one of the first ledges looking over the yachts in Northeast Harbor. Visitors can come by boat and tie up at the dock at the bottom of the trail.

The formal garden was well worth the price of admission. We've been to Biltmore and Longwood, but these gardens just popped with color and texture. Once we get better internet access at our next campground, we'll upload some more photos to Flickr. Here are just a few of photos we took.

After wandering around the gardens, we hiked up to the summit of Eliot Mountain, which inspired us to re-read the T.S. Eliot poem about a formal garden. Our hike took us over Eliot Mountain and down into Acadia. We headed back toward the parking lot along the Jordan Pond Trail. We ran into a family of five who were hiking over tot he Jordan Pond House for popovers. We assured them that it was definitely worth the 1.5 mile hike.

On the way back to the parking lot, we stopped at the Map House. The map on the wall is from 1959. The map on the table was a lot newer since it had a url for the printing company. It was fun comparing the older maps to the new one we just purchased for our visit. There is Dave reflected in the wall map taking a photo of Kathy in the Map House.

Upon our return to the campground, we got a chance to try out the pool. Our neighbor, Joe, got us a couple more lobsters for dinner. We also had a campfire and Kathy indulged in a couple of s'mores while talking with our new neighbors from Illinois.  (Apparently, there is nothing in Illinois to see, other than Chicago.) We ended the day watching the Olympics.