photo by Sean Kernan, reprinted from the NY Times.

Here’s one of the more famous Stonehenge replicas, named The Circle of Life. It even has its own website and a description of its creation process by the man hired to oversee the process.  Conceived by and on the property of Jonathan Rothberg, who hired Darrell Petit to get it done, it is made up of 700 tons of Blue Pearl Fjord granite from Norway and stands in Sachem Head, Connecticut.

The story is that the idea for this Stonehenge replica was born when plans for an astronomical observatory were rejected by the local zoning board. They say this wasn’t revenge exactly . . . *grin* Anyway, it was built very carefully, astronomically correct (costing, of course, a bundle of $$!), and ultimately the fascination with the project itself overtook the  original impulse.

It’s a classic and leaves us in awe, as much at what money and modern technology make possible as of the structure itself. Score: 7½ druids for this one, maybe 8, although there is no inner ring, no great trilithons, no ditch and bank. What really inspires awe in us is the undying impulse to rebuild Stonehenge and the myriad ways it is manifested by the hands of men!