Back to Acadia, Autumn, 2018

Excursion to Acadia with an art friend. 

I got to add another panel to my Moleskine accordion book.

The 1st panel created in June, 2016 

The one before yesterday's: Last May.

To see some past posts re. Acadia, click HERE. And here.

From the path down to the (large) Pond, 

from the Jordan Pond House,

where lunches, popovers & views are divine. 

The left shore. Some years ago I hiked the trail 

around the entire lake.

The shore nearby, the carmines & corals 

are waving, Look at us!

Rather than hike we walked gently along carriage paths.

 

Design, color, dancing lights & shadows, 

translucence, luminescence, 

sparkling, shimmering, glittering leaves!

In the woods a stream that flows into into Jordan Pond...

...My friend, who takes gorgeous photos, 

captured my physical surroundings: a dark shady pocket 

in the midst of sunny, brilliant color.

What she didn't know is that she had also captured a mood.

I was remembering happy times spent with a childhood friend 

with whom I used to play in our woods by the creek.

I was grieving, because

I learned of my childhood friend's death last week.

Eagle Lake, how different 

from our explorations around Jordan Pond.

Places, flora, time of day, weather, mountains, bodies of water, 

changing light, so many varied images... 

I said to my friend, 

"Sometimes the beauty seems unbearable in its immensity."

A National Park like this, open to the public, 

is one of America's treasures.

It's an enchanting glimpse of Mother Earth 

for us town & city folks.

  On the way home, a Maine Blueberry field, at sunset...

That was yesterday...

Autumn is passing through Coastal Maine.

Photo: Dream Summer Winter Nightmare

Kathy, at her blog, Catching Happiness, always gets me thinking about how one has the ability to choose how to go through each day. Her recent post, about summer verses winter in Florida, got me thinking about these seasons here at the other tip of the United States. 

Last last winter I spent some time in a living nightmare because of some unlucky circumstances. But I experienced a phenomenon that I had known to be true from inspirational writing & stories: In the midst of fear & despair one can find fortitude, joy & serenity. With some hard work, & a little (a lot of) help from friends the nighmarish circumstances seem to finally be floating away.

And summer has drifted in like a pleasant dream. I first started living in Maine when I was in my late teens. I feel as youthful today as I did then when I am kayaking...(well, almost...) There I go, paddling gently into happiness...

Acadia National Park: Love All Over Again

Acadia National Park is turning 100 years old. I started a new Moleskine accordion in her honor. I'm going back as soon as I can to fill a few more pages. 

I first fell in love with Acadia in 1968, when I hitchiked to Bar Harbor from Orono with a friend. My last visit was recent, & there have been many, many visits inbetween. There were different eras, different companions, different activities, different seasons, & different me's. Each time I grow more deeply in love, each time there is so much more to explore & so much to revisit. How can it be that two million tourists visit each year, & yet it feels so intimately like my own special place?

I'm not 100, but I am delighted to be growing older with Acadia. I am seeing changes, one of which is more of a focus on preservation with the involvement of newer, younger stewards. The Park needs continued loving care. They say that the current generation of young people is more connected to technology than to nature. However, we did see some delightful families, enjoying the magic. The Park also presents some wonderful Jr. Ranger & Explorer programs for kids.

A little about the sketching process: The new Rigger's Bag (from Hamilton Marine in Searsport) sat on my 3 legged folding stool while I stood to draw. Best arrangement I've found so far!! It also works in the car & has made a difference for me to be able to spontaneously stop & sketch with watercolor more often. 

Mini Landscape Lake Scene

 Yesterday, in the midst of many projects,

I stopped to draw a mini landscape

 in my old style (actual size).

It's a loose interpretation of a place a friend of mine

 loves, drawn from a photo she took.

I hope she'll like my little card, even though it no longer

resembles her actual place.

Mount Desert Island: Early Spring

It's early Spring & I am spending more time outdoors on this beautiful Maine coast. We finally made it to

Mount Desert Island. View from the town park in Bar Harbor. 

The carriage paths and trails were closed due to being wet and soft, but the boat launch at the end of

Eagle Lake, across from Cadillac & the Bubbles, was open. 

 Yesterday I pulled out my old pre-digital photo prints of MDI. I have started sketching from these photos

as well as sketching on location. I'll never forget the first time I saw the wondrous arrangements of rocks on the trails of Acadia, called rock cairns. 

Lake Megunticook: Island in Autumn

I sat in my car by the side of Lake Megunticook, sketching. 

I then made this painting back home, 

from the sketch & from memory. No photo.

Sketching on location gave me

an excuse to be immersed in the colors, movement, 

changing light, & air for more than a passing moment.
Good for the soul.

A gorgeous bouquet from Autumn!

So grateful.

It's one of my favorite spots in the whole world.

Maine, But Not the Coast

You hear a lot about the Maine Coast...

Lobsters, lighthouses, islands, & sailboats...

But Oh! The mountains & lakes

in central and western Maine~

Such immense beauty there!

Quick Winter Sketch

A quick sketch from my photo.

It makes me happy to have this medium that is so simple,

so direct, so low technology.

I had to get a new camera & am frustrated by all the

new menus & choices & procedures that have been added since my old one.

It's this complicated stuff that I don't need & it just

draws more battery power & memory.

My cold little hands would have found it hard to sketch while skiing, 

but I'm looking forward to being able to sketch outdoors again.

Skiing in Acadia: Photos

Do you have favorite spots to which you return

over and over, in all seasons? 

I'm back at Acadia & Eagle Lake. 

Such happiness, moving through an enchanted winter forest 

with a rhythmic kick and glide, body & soul in harmony.

While the terrain varies 

as you glide along,

...there's a stretch where softwood boughs 

create cathedral ceilings...

Art. Beauty. Air. Joy. Health. Strength. Energy. Celebration.

Renewal. Inspiration. Wonder. 

Words fail me here...

And photos can only capture one aspect of the experience.

Please, do tell, what is a place that brings you back repeatedly? 

The Zen of Mother & Child at the Lake

Oh, the pleasure, & perhaps luxury, of the young mom & her child, together in a sort of Zen reverie at the lake. They sat on their towel, they explored holes in the sand. They met a dog & some older children. They picked up stones & twigs & a few toys. They chatted now & again in a mother-child language.  They dipped their feet in the water. They did all this slowly & sometimes they were just still, seemingly doing nothing. They appeared to be in an unhurried trance, the mom following the pace of her child. 

There are many families in which the parents work all hours, where the children rush all day from activity to scheduled activity. There are others where the adults have little time or interest in their kids. Honestly, it warmed my heart to watch these two, so slow, so engaged with one another & with their surroundings. It was a little bit of Zen Magic which seemed to be filled with a lot of Love.