Inspiration at Monticello

Nothing NOT to like about a day spent at Monticello. 

I visited the vegetable garden in the company of former Director of Grounds Peter Hatch (in a morning session) and current head vegetable gardener Pat Brodowski (in the late afternoon session), with a walk through the flower gardens with its manager Debbie Donley and a tour of the house in mid-day.

It's remarkable to think about how truly experimental Thomas Jefferson was, as a gardener and horticulturist (not to mention all of his other contributions).

His record-keeping abilities are legendary.

A very brief visit to the visitor exhibits after lunch had me equally inspired; Jefferson believed in liberty, justice, and the merits of a well-educated population, as a means to a free society.

This was accompanied by very sophisticated multi-media interpretive visuals, complete with touch-screen vignettes. Very nice, and effective -- much of my career was spent (trying) to create interpretation that worked (not just that told you or wrote stuff that you read), so I appreciated that! 

It was well-done.

Back for another day tomorrow -- the public day of the Heritage Harvest Festival. I'll be bringing more water, as it's been HOT.  I'm a southern gardener, so I'm used to it, but geez, 93°F+ in September?