Welcome to an enchanted forest, gang!!! We continue our visit to Brookgreen Gardens and the "Night of a
Thousand Candles. As we finished up our evening meal in the pavilion adjacent to the Arboretum we strolled toward the sculpture gardens, entering through a magical walkway guaranteed to get us in the mood for more lights. As you will be able to tell from the photographs, we were
joined on our stroll by a fairly large number of visitors but, according to the volunteers to whom we talked, we were very fortunate in our choice of nights to visit. They have had as many as 14,000 guests on some nights and we were not even close to that tonight. But even with large crowds, an event such as this generally causes us all to be a bit more considerate and we seem to get along
remarkably well. I know that was the case for us. Interestingly, when someone spoke in a fairly normal volume it was somewhat surprising. For the most part, conversations were muted and thoughtful. In our first post about the 'Thousand
Candles' display we talked about the number of candles that are used and the fact that there are over 500 floating candles in the ponds, lakes and fountains. They are absolutely spellbinding and the fascinating thing is that when you look at the reflections in the water, they almost defy explanation. It looks like you can see a reflection of a candle that should be obscured by the platform
upon which it is floating. Very strange!!! We have also talked about the transformation that takes place when these sculptures are viewed at night, surrounded by candles and
lights, as we saw with the stately Griffon to the right. It was tremendous fun listening to the exclamations of the youngsters as they walked with their families, particularly the children of pre-school age. They were absolutely enchanted by the displays and their squeals of pleasure and awe really made the evening special
While white candles and lights were the predominant color in the exhibit, there was also a tremendous display of vibrant color throughout the garden as well. We did not see a single area that was not the ultimate
in tastefulness and it was truly amazing that so many displays could be so artfully done. Occasionally we just had to pause, sit down for a while
and absorb the beauty surrounding us. Even though it was December, the weather was delightful, the temperature just right for an evening stroll and the rain that had been forecast had the good sense to stay away!! Some of our old friends among the sculptures and fountains were sources of wonderment for us -
including the beautiful Diana (to the left) we talked so much about in some of our earlier posts. Another major work you would have hardly recognized was the magnificent "Fountain of the
Muses." (On our right.) We won't spend a lot of time re-describing that exquisite work but we have added a photo that will probably be difficult to recognize. Another work by one of our all-time favorite sculptors was transformed by the night skies and the twinkling lights into a dazzling juxtaposition of light and darkness. Appropriately
enough it was "Time and the Fates of Man" by Paul Manship. Mr. Manship was a prolific sculptor and, fortunately for us, many of his works can be found at Brookgreen. Look closely at this one; although we were seeing it at night, it is actually a sundial. Sculpted for the 1939 World's Fair, at 80 feet in height it was
the largest sundial in the world at that time. (And may still be!!!) It shows the three daughters of Themis, the Goddess of Necessity: Clotho (who weaves the 'thread of life), Lachesis (who measures it) and Atropos (who ultimately cuts the thread.) This magnificent work - like so many of the others here - cause us to think about our time on this beautiful planet and reminds us how important it is to do whatever we can to make life more worthwhile and enjoyable for our fellow
inhabitants of this, our island home. I must tell you .... while I am writing this I am listening to an NPR special about Luciano Pavarotti and, at this moment, he is singing the exquisite "Panis Angelicus" a song written by Saint Thomas Aquinas and one which symbolizes our experience here. The song tells of the "Bread of Angels" becoming the "Bread of Man" a reference in the Christian religion to the appearance on earth of Jesus of Nazareth. But, tonight, it also reminds me that the presence of all of this heavenly beauty on the soil of South Carolina is, in its own way, a gift of the angels to all of us here on earth. And - while we're talking "heavenly stuff" I'd like to close out this post by sharing something very, very special with you. While we we were wandering through the grounds of Brookgreen Gardens we were serenaded by several groups of musicians. They were all great in their different styles but the ones who really moved us were Michael Miller and David Rowe who perform under the name "The Miller - Rowe Consort." With Michael playing the classical guitar and David playing the ancient "hammered dulcimer' their sounds were unique to say the least. I am adding their rendition of "I Saw Three Ships" here so you can hear and see how remarkable they are. Please do yourself a favor and visit their web site and, if possible, pick up one (or more) of their CDs. They are great!!
With that we'll close for now and let you rest up from all this walking. We'll be back shortly with more adventures from the beach so come back soon. See ya.
Thousand Candles. As we finished up our evening meal in the pavilion adjacent to the Arboretum we strolled toward the sculpture gardens, entering through a magical walkway guaranteed to get us in the mood for more lights. As you will be able to tell from the photographs, we were 
joined on our stroll by a fairly large number of visitors but, according to the volunteers to whom we talked, we were very fortunate in our choice of nights to visit. They have had as many as 14,000 guests on some nights and we were not even close to that tonight. But even with large crowds, an event such as this generally causes us all to be a bit more considerate and we seem to get along 
remarkably well. I know that was the case for us. Interestingly, when someone spoke in a fairly normal volume it was somewhat surprising. For the most part, conversations were muted and thoughtful. In our first post about the 'Thousand 
Candles' display we talked about the number of candles that are used and the fact that there are over 500 floating candles in the ponds, lakes and fountains. They are absolutely spellbinding and the fascinating thing is that when you look at the reflections in the water, they almost defy explanation. It looks like you can see a reflection of a candle that should be obscured by the platform 
upon which it is floating. Very strange!!! We have also talked about the transformation that takes place when these sculptures are viewed at night, surrounded by candles and 
lights, as we saw with the stately Griffon to the right. It was tremendous fun listening to the exclamations of the youngsters as they walked with their families, particularly the children of pre-school age. They were absolutely enchanted by the displays and their squeals of pleasure and awe really made the evening special
While white candles and lights were the predominant color in the exhibit, there was also a tremendous display of vibrant color throughout the garden as well. We did not see a single area that was not the ultimate 
in tastefulness and it was truly amazing that so many displays could be so artfully done. Occasionally we just had to pause, sit down for a while 
and absorb the beauty surrounding us. Even though it was December, the weather was delightful, the temperature just right for an evening stroll and the rain that had been forecast had the good sense to stay away!! Some of our old friends among the sculptures and fountains were sources of wonderment for us - 
including the beautiful Diana (to the left) we talked so much about in some of our earlier posts. Another major work you would have hardly recognized was the magnificent "Fountain of the 
Muses." (On our right.) We won't spend a lot of time re-describing that exquisite work but we have added a photo that will probably be difficult to recognize. Another work by one of our all-time favorite sculptors was transformed by the night skies and the twinkling lights into a dazzling juxtaposition of light and darkness. Appropriately 
enough it was "Time and the Fates of Man" by Paul Manship. Mr. Manship was a prolific sculptor and, fortunately for us, many of his works can be found at Brookgreen. Look closely at this one; although we were seeing it at night, it is actually a sundial. Sculpted for the 1939 World's Fair, at 80 feet in height it was 
the largest sundial in the world at that time. (And may still be!!!) It shows the three daughters of Themis, the Goddess of Necessity: Clotho (who weaves the 'thread of life), Lachesis (who measures it) and Atropos (who ultimately cuts the thread.) This magnificent work - like so many of the others here - cause us to think about our time on this beautiful planet and reminds us how important it is to do whatever we can to make life more worthwhile and enjoyable for our fellow 
inhabitants of this, our island home. I must tell you .... while I am writing this I am listening to an NPR special about Luciano Pavarotti and, at this moment, he is singing the exquisite "Panis Angelicus" a song written by Saint Thomas Aquinas and one which symbolizes our experience here. The song tells of the "Bread of Angels" becoming the "Bread of Man" a reference in the Christian religion to the appearance on earth of Jesus of Nazareth. But, tonight, it also reminds me that the presence of all of this heavenly beauty on the soil of South Carolina is, in its own way, a gift of the angels to all of us here on earth. And - while we're talking "heavenly stuff" I'd like to close out this post by sharing something very, very special with you. While we we were wandering through the grounds of Brookgreen Gardens we were serenaded by several groups of musicians. They were all great in their different styles but the ones who really moved us were Michael Miller and David Rowe who perform under the name "The Miller - Rowe Consort." With Michael playing the classical guitar and David playing the ancient "hammered dulcimer' their sounds were unique to say the least. I am adding their rendition of "I Saw Three Ships" here so you can hear and see how remarkable they are. Please do yourself a favor and visit their web site and, if possible, pick up one (or more) of their CDs. They are great!!
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