More reflections from my walk in the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens...

   Back on June 21st I visited the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine.  I did one post the next day and promised to post some floral studies later.  With Monhegan Island occupying my thoughts for a couple of weeks I'm just getting to it.

   If shadows and pathways are common themes in my work, reflections must rank right up there as well.  It stands to reason a  contemplative photographer would be preoccupied with "reflections" after all, that's what we do...constantly.  This was a particularly lovely one at the garden.  It was what my "contemplating frog" must have been looking at when I photographed him...an upside down world!  Is this his idea of "clouds"?  Floating and shifting reflections in the pond water that is his home?  Does he ever look up at the real clouds?  Many people live this way too; preferring to experience the world second-hand on the computer screen or tv screen.

   As I write this, friends who are visiting for the 4th of July are hiking Chocorua mountain with their teenage daughter who went under protest.  She wears her ear plugs so she can listen to her music and walks along quickly to "get it over with".  That is, of course, what teenagers do.  She'll miss the glorious experience because she will, no doubt, never look up or around for that matter.  She has a perfect excuse...she's 16 years old!  But, unfortunately, many adults move through the world in the same way...oblivious to the wonders all around them.  They seem to prefer to experience their world second hand.

    Seeing, in the finest and broadest sense, means using your senses, your intellect, and your emotions. It means encountering your subject matter with your whole being. It means looking beyond the labels of things and discovering the remarkable world around you.

- Freeman Patterson 

 

On Location at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens...

A Solitary Visitor

   I spent the summer solstice in the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor.  It was the day before my trip to Monhegan Island and I came a day early just so I could walk these amazing gardens.  I also wanted to check out their labyrinth prior to starting to lay out mine. (More about that later!)  It is an experience I want to share with you all.

The Way is Clearly Marked

   This garden is absolutely stunning and so completely different from the created landscape of the Arnold Arboretum (which I wrote about here).  As a passionate gardener, I appreciated the amazing plantings and stonework.  It is a lovely balanced of formal and informal as well as a woodland walk.  It would take me a dozen posts to even begin to describe this place.  I was with another photographer and, unfortunately, a bit pressed for time but our two hour stroll was nonetheless inspiring. 

   I have to say, I really preferred the woodland walks and secluded meditation gardens to the more formal areas of the garden.  The shadow patterns were gorgeous and the little creatures seemed to enjoy posing for visitors...completely unafraid of the human presence.  I particularly liked this little frog who was so content to just sit on his rock and regard his tiny world through half open lids.  If I could achieve his Zen-like tranquility I would be delighted!  We have much to learn from nature.

Contemplating Frog

   Despite all the amazing flowers around me, I seemed more drawn to the stone and the shadows! Such is the power of attraction...we must listen to its tug on our heart.  I'll try to share some of my floral studies tomorrow if I can.  I will be taking the ferry today for Monhegan which is 20 miles out to sea. I haven't set foot on the island in over 20 years but I doubt much has changed...it's just that kind of place. The internet service on the island is sketchy at best but I will try to continue my daily posts...there is so much I want to share with you all!

 Here is a short video tour of the garden...

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Walking the Created Landscape....

   There is something wonderful about walking and photographing in the "created" landscape.  In New England, we are blessed with many marvelous examples. I planned to visit two this month.  The first, which I visited yesterday, is the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, a horticultural masterpiece owned and maintained by Harvard University. Founded in 1872, it is the oldest public arboretum in North America.  It was designed by the world famous Frederick Law Olmsted, and it is the second link in the famed "Emerald Necklace" of Boston.  It is home to many rare and exotic trees from around the world but in May it is the more domestic and commonplace lilac that takes center stage.

    Lilacs are one of those simple rural flowering shrub that every farm wife planted next to their front door in New England in the 19th century.  I have some old examples at my 1851 farmhouse in Maine.  I went with a friend to enjoy a stroll through the 265 acres of the arboretum on a glorious Spring morning.  Every step brought another wonderful vista or a charming detail to explore.  The pure joy of walking through a landscape designed to elicit joy was very therapeutic.

  What insights can the contemplative photographer gain from walking in a created landscape...a place specifically designed to wrap visitors in a blanket of peace and tranquility?  Here, in the heart of a vibrant city which had suffered such a tragic event as the marathon bombings, was a place to gain solace in nature's ability to heal itself and emerge with fresh hope.  The lilacs, with their intoxicating fragrance seemed to be telling us, rest here for a while, all will be well in time.  Here, amongst the birdsong and sun dappled landscape, was a place  the founders created especially for city-sore souls to find peace.  It was the brilliance of Olmsted's design that has given generations of people a safe haven to escape to and this contemplative photographer never ending inspiration.  In the late 19th century people had awakened to the need to create these havens of created landscapes before urban sprawl removed every visage of nature from the map.  Olmsted was, in fact, America's first landscape architect.  He also gave New Yorkers their wonderful Central Park.

   In about ten days I will visit an entirely different created landscape, the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden in Boothbay, Maine.  It will be an interesting counterpoint, I think, to the Arnold Arboretum.