Did you know that the country of Scotland covers 30,414 square miles? And that the state of Maine covers 35,380 square miles? Those numbers are pretty close to each other. Coincidence? Perhaps. Or, perhaps these two land areas are so similar in so many respects that they should be considered twins. I won’t say that Scotland gets nearly as cold as Maine gets or probably nearly as hot, but both areas offer their fair shares of both low and highlands, flying insects, coastlines, and funny accents that no one from anywhere else can understand. Laura and I live in Maine. We like Maine. We also talk about liking Scotland. We think about it a lot and we like what we see on the internet. We’d love to visit one day, which is what inspired me to write this post.
A few weeks ago, Laura approached me and said, “This is the place. This is the one.” Me, having a curious nature, went to take a look. Laura was showing me photos of a river, a bridge, and a small stone structure, all situated within a network of trails. It’s called The Hermitage and it’s located near a beautiful small town in Scotland, called Dunkeld, which people call the gateway town to the Highlands. The area surrounding Dunkeld consists of farmland, mountains, lochs (lakes), and Tay Forest Park, a patchwork of greenery covering some of the most picturesque parts of Scotland. If you care to watch the following video, you’ll quickly discover why The Hermitage is so special. I needn’t tell you. You’ll see for yourself.
While I’d really love to share with you why we feel so strongly about The Hermitage, I can’t. The most I can do is tease you until I’m ready to talk. The time simply isn’t yet right. I did want to introduce you to the place though so you had a chance to admire its beauty as we have. And when I’m ready to tell you what might occur, I’ll spill the beans.
Before I go though, I’d also like to introduce you to a fun fact about the area – its Douglas fir trees (also known as the Ossian’s Douglas-fir). These Douglas firs were introduced in the 1800s to Scotland by a man named David Douglas. Mr. Douglas planted his fir seeds at The Hermitage and one grew from 1887 until 2017, when it was blown over by high winds. Before its demise, the tree reached the astonishing height of 207 feet, which made it the second tallest tree in all the United Kingdom. While Maine can’t claim a tree nearly as tall, we do have one that’s pretty tall at 120 feet. It’s a white pine. So while not twins regarding our trees, the country and state are sort of like brothers in this regard. Scotland’s got its Douglas fir trees and Maine’s got its white pines and awesome looking hemlocks. That’s good enough for me.
That’s it for now and I promise to keep my elusiveness to a minimum in the future. This one was just too much fun to keep to myself.
