June 7th, Wednesday – Maine Sculpture Trail, Caterpillar Hill, America’s Cup, Greatest American Naval Defeat before Pearl Harbor

They promised us a warm, clear day.  Well, someone got it wrong.  It was still only in the 50’s and it remained cloudy all day.  At least we didn’t have any rain although it threatened all day.  However, that didn’t stop us.  It was time to go find more sculptures and whatever else we might happen upon along the way.

So off we went.  We were in quest of several more sculptures that make up the Maine Sculpture Trail.  You would not know it by looking at the towering sculptures created through the organization’s efforts, that the whole idea was started by Jesse Salisbury who grew up in the very rural town of Steuben, Maine. Supported by friends, family and partnering communities, Jesse Salisbury’s vision resulted in the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium.

From 2007 to 2014, Maine’s Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium drew artists from all over the globe who participated in five summer sessions.  Using locally quarried granite and basalt, the sculptors who hailed from 16 nations created various sculptures.  The resulting Maine Sculpture Trail  is a  34 piece outdoor exhibit spanning over 200 miles along the coastal region of Downeast Maine.  It winds through Hancock and Washington counties and includes pieces in Bangor, Orono and Old Town. The Maine trail also is linked to a similar project — Sculpture Saint John — across the border in Canada’s New Brunswick Province.

We have already shared some of the sculptures with you and we want now to share some more that we found today.  The first one we went to today is placed in the Franklin Memorial Park that also featured a Granite Industry Display (more about this in the future).

The sculpture residing here was entitled Recurrent Journey.  The artist who created this

was Mark Herrington who is from Maine.  He explained his sculpture this way:  There are many things we do that seem to be built within patterns we establish.  We walk down many paths again and again.  This sculpture reflects that journey.

Moving on, we next went to Sorrento where we located this sculpture entitled Gate of the Sun.  This sculpture was created by Jog Plickat from Germany.  He explained his sculpture

this way:  The sculpture is directed to the north so that the sun will pass behind the sculpture during the day.  From ancient times you find ritual gates in all cultures of the world.  

Back on the road again, we made our way to Little Deer Isle which required a trip over

this bridge and then yet another causeway to Deer Isle.  Eventually we arrived at the park on Deer Isle were the sculpture was located.  The sculpture located here was entitled Deer Isle Project and was created by Attila Rath Geber from Hungary.  

He explained his sculpture this way:  I wanted to reflect the natural elements.  I kept the natural aspects of the stone in a form such as could be found in nature, and in this context lies the subtle influence indicative of the creator’s presence.

We still were not finished for the day.  Working our way back from Deer Isle, we next went to Blue Hill where we located this sculpture entitled The Window of the Sea Wind.

This sculpture was created by Hitoshi Tanaka from Japan.  The artist explained the sculpture in this way:  The light and wind will pass through this window.  So the hearts of the people will also journey through this window.  This sculpture made of stone is Blue Hill’s Welcoming Window.  Both Barbara and I agreed this was one of our favorites.

Continuing on we worked our way to the town of Surry.  Here we discovered the sculpture entitled Wave Sounds.  This sculpture was created by Bertha Shotiss from Switzerland who explained her work this way:  My sculpture is dedicated to the ocean, the power and movement of water and the sound of the waves clashing on the stones of the coast.

Before getting back on the road, we decided it was time for a lunch break.  Just adjacent

to the sculpture was a nice rock table with small benches on either side.  A nice place for a picnic lunch, so here is Barbara getting things ready for a delicious lunch for two.

Add to this a small but beautiful waterfall just off to the side of the table and it was the perfect place for a picnic for two.  What a beautiful world God has created for us to enjoy.

Almost finished for the day, just one more stop to make in the town of Ellsworth.  There we found this sculpture, perhaps the smallest to date, and one that I truly just don’t get at all.  But then again I was never, ever into art, abstract or otherwise.  Take a look.

This sculpture is entitled I Want To Ride A Cloud and was created by Narihiro Uemura from Japan.  The artist explained the sculpture in this way:  if you look at my sculpture from the perspective of the planet, it is merely a chip of stone, but I hope it will become an image that lives on in the minds of the people.

That’s it for sculptures today.  During our travels we also discovered a really neat little turnout on Route 15.  We later discovered that it was called Caterpillar Hill.  It offered a sweeping vista across blueberry fields to Penobscot Bay and Camden in the west, south to Isle au Haut, and east to Jericho Bay.  You can, also if you look close, see the bridge to Deer Isle somewhat in the middle of the picture.

There were also several plaques displayed here with facts of interest.  For example,

this plaque tells the story of the sailing sloop Defender that was the winner of the America’s Cup in 1895 and was crewed by sailors from this region.  Some 140 sailors from Stonington and Deer Isle applied and 40 were chosen to fill crew positions.

This plaque tells the story of the Maine Lake Ice Company which some historians consider the largest natural ice-producing operation in the world off of Walker Pond.  At its peak of operations, the Maine Lake Ice Company boasted a complex structure of conveyor tracks with cogwheels powered by steam-driven engines and four giant ice-storage sheds, two on the ridge near the Herrick Road and two down the hill by the granite wharf jutting out into the Punch

Bowl on Eggemoggin Reach.  Over 120,000 tons of ice were shipped yearly on large four- or five-masted schooners to Baltimore, Washington DC, the Caribbean, and South America.  It’s been written that one shipment of ice, insulated with sawdust, made
it to Calcutta, India.   The very first load of ice was shipped in the schooner Albert T. Stearns, with Captain Chase, to Baltimore. All year-long, shipments left once or
twice a week, frequently on the five-masted Mary F. Barrett, Gardiner Deering, and Fannie Palmer.   With the invention of refrigeration and the spread of electricity, the ice
business as a large operation on Walker’s Pond came to an end in 1916.

Then, there was this plaque which really attracted my attention.  It tells of the single greatest defeat of the early American Navy.  The Penobscot Expedition during the American Revolution was the worst naval disaster in American history until  Pearl Harbor. That a huge force of men, ships and guns failed to take a small British fort in Maine has been largely forgotten. The Penobscot Expedition included 40 vessels, nearly

2,000 seamen and marines, 100 artillerymen, 870 militia and 350 guns.  The shortcoming of the whole expedition was simply that it was planned by civilians with little military input and carried out by badly trained part-time soldiers.  The officers in charge bickered among themselves and could not agree on a coordinated plan of attack.  While they argued and quarreled among themselves the British reinforced their position and brought in reinforcements.  The Americans attack was soon cancelled and the Americans burned and sank their ships and disappeared into the woods, heading for home. In the end, all the American ships were destroyed except one, which was captured by the British. The Americans lost 470 men; the British only 13.

Now it was time to finally head for home.  We again covered a lot of territory, discovered some more sculptures and learned some fascinating facts about Maine around the area of Caterpillar Hill.  Once again, the day was made even better by the fact that we did it together, traveling along, singing our song, side by side.  We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Returning home we discovered that for some reason the refrigerator had shut down.  We couldn’t discover either why when it failed on electric it didn’t switch automatically to propane.  Thankfully, we didn’t lose any food.  We just have a mystery to solve.  I’m wondering if our friendly ghost is back.  Makes perfect sense to me.  Time will tell.

In closing, just a simple thought for the night:  when I was young a nap was viewed as a form of punishment – now I view it as a mini-vacation!

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before