Schooner Head Mirage

Egg Rock Lighthouse, Frenchman Bay

7 June 2021

I'm blogging out of order again, but there's some freaky stuff here that I wanted y'all to see.

There was haze on the water and heat on the land when we checked out of the hotel. With the car packed full of luggage, moose paraphernalia, and sour beer, we drove to Schooner Head in Acadia National Park for one last look around.

We were halfway down the crumbling asphalt path when I saw a spider hiding in a rock crevice. I scurried back to the car to get the good camera, only to find that it was a boring* old house spider after I took the picture. 

The heat was bordering on uncomfortable, so we didn't stay long. I snapped a few pictures of the coast.

And I zoomed in on the Egg Rock lighthouse. The warm air over the cool water turned straight lines in to waves:

I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of waves crashing on rocks. So, here you go, a moment of zen:

Beyond the lighthouse, something weird was happening. You know how, when you're driving on a highway, the road ahead looks wet, but the puddle moves and disappears as you approach? That's a mirage created by hot air refracting light. Until today, I'd never seen it happen over water. I mean, water is already wet, and yet, the mirage made it look wetter.

Here, the mirage extends all the way to the far edge of Egg Rock.

We turned back onto the wooded path, where what looks like tiny dogwoods are flowering.

A foot-high fir tree grew among the rocks:

 We got back into the car, blasted the air conditioner, and drove off of Mount Desert Island. 

During the winter, before we knew what would happen with the pandemic and vaccines, we booked a hotel room for mid-September. Then, in early March, I got my first shot and Jack got his second, so we made reservations for the first week of June, which was a lot cheaper. When we checked out today, we didn't cancel the September reservations. Until we made this trip, I figured we would. Now, Jack is already talking about returning in September. I'm not going to try to dissuade him.

(*Not really. Spiders are never boring.)