Ernest Blair Experiment

Debby and Rocky Hebb came over for a visit. They had been tidying up, and wanted to find a ‘good home ‘ for three Buckler related books:

Oxbells and Fireflies

The Cruelest Month

Claude Bissell ‘Ernest Buckler Remembered‘

In return, we showed them our collection of giant puff balls. Heather has identified the habitat: mature oak trees, top of slope above the Annapolis River. Besides our property and our neighbours, we have found them at the Pine Grove cemetery ( information from Sandra Barry).

Today on our drive along Hwy#201 to Annapolis Royal, we passed by the Buckler house in Centrelea, described in Bissell’s book. Also featured in last years Centrelea calendar.

In Annapolis Royal, we stopped at the Brown Dog cafe and the Library. I signed out Jennifer Breheny Wallace ,’Mattering’ The Secret to a life of Deep Connection and Purpose. Seemed appropriate in these Trump-ridden times. We also stopped at the ArtsPlace to see Jordan Shaw ‘Data as Material’ exhibition.

References

Claude Bissell. 1989. Ernest Buckler Remembered. U of T Press.

Ernest Buckler 1963. The Cruelest Month. McClelland and Stewart.

Ernest Buckler. 1968. Oxbells and Fireflies. McClelland and Stewart.

Jennifer Breheny Wallace. 2026. Mattering. The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose. Penguin Random House.

Edward is away in Ontario. Hence no graphics or links.

This weekend we were in New Glasgow. Sunday, we decided to ‘SLOW DOWN’.

After a brief stop at the Whistleberry Market (exit #20 on Hwy#104) we drove through the Rawdon Hills.

We knew them years ago, when we both lived in Clarence, Annapolis County.

As is our way, we picked up a brochure about the local economy: Avon River, 2026-2027 Arts and Culture Guide. We could not help noticing the wonderful cartography by Marcel Morin, Lost Art Cartography with a base map, based on NS LiDAR.

Besides being an example of the ‘creative rural economy’, it reminded me to stop by NSCC COGS in Lawrencetown. There are many examples of his creative design on the walls outside the AV room.

It reminded me too of his work at the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Grand Pré.

We decided to ‘slow down’. Take Exit 10 on Highway 101. We stopped at the Visitor Centre, watched a film about the deportation of the Acadiens. We walked to the View Park. Of course, we picked up another brochure, again the work of Marcel Morin.

From the brochure:

“The cultural landscape of Grand Pré bears exceptional testimony to a traditional farming settlement created in the 1680’s by the Acadiens in an intertidal area, with tides over 11 metres, among the highest in the world. The land reclamation used traditional techniques of dykes, aboiteaux (wood sluices) and a drainage network, as well as a community-based management system still in use today’.

SLOW DOWN.
Lessons can be learned from community-based management today. Especially when combined with excellent Cartography.

Postscript

One last brochure ‘10 wonders of Digby’. For another day…..

References

Landscape of – le Paysage de Grand Pre. a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Avon River 2026-2027 Arts and Culture Guide.
10 Wonders of Digby.

This morning, Heather came up from gardening below our deck with three Giant Puff Balls. (see photograph).

Yesterday, we had a good hike around First Lake, on the outskirts of Annapolis Royal. We noted the number and diversity of mushrooms.

Our first thought was this would make a great fungi walk with Keith Egger.

We took the largest puff ball to Keith in Centrelea. He was able to identify it for us: Calvatia gigantea.

It does raise a number of questions. What are the habitat requirements for the species?
Will they return each year?
Are they rare in Nova Scotia?
Do we have other experts, living in the backwoods of Nova Scotia? (Likely members of the Blomidon Field Naturalists)

Today, we walked the trail through Valley View park. Once again, we found Agalinus neoscotica along the road side. Still in flower.

This week, we went down to Annapolis Royal to walk the French Basin trail, and stop for coffee at the Elm Tree Cafe in the Gardens. Afterwards, we visited Joanne’s chocolate and second hand bookstore. I discovered Brett Popplewell’s Outsider. I noted the name, after reading the Walrus ( see previous blog). It is about ‘An Old Man, a Mountain and the Search for a Hidden Past’.

Wednesday, I returned the Walrus to Bees Knees and replaced it with the July/ August 2026 issue. Thanks, Sue Littleton.

We were in Bridgetown for a dentist appointment. The timing was perfect. The Library was open at 10 am. I could read the daily Chronicle Herald. Heather bumped into some old friends, and joined them for their Bridgetown Walks.

On our way out of town we stopped for the mail at the post office in Middleton. We were rewarded with the latest issues of the Guardian Weekly.

The Outsider by Popplewell reminded me of my life in England, likely in the early 1960’s. At that time, I was reading Colin Wilson, The Outsider. I seem to have come full circle. Published in 1956.

References

Brett Popplewell. 2023. Outsider. An Old Man, a Mountain and the Search for a Hidden Past. Harper Collins.

Colin Wilson. 1956. The Outsider. Gollancz.

Edward is away in PEI without access to technology. This may delay publication enhancement.

Meanwhile, we decided to revisit The Hummingbird Cafe in New Germany. Besides, the drive down Highway #10, we enjoyed an excellent brunch. Picked up brochures on the trails of the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg. There is a dramatic shift in geographic information, once you cross the boundary between Annapolis and Lunenburg. Annapolis could take a lesson from its neighbour.

On our way home we detoured through West Dalhousie. Bringing back memories of our time, living in the community, the writing of Ernest Buckler, and the forest fire last year.

Returning home after the trip to Port Moody, we continue to rediscover our home Geography. We stopped at Bees Knees to pick up a few baked goods.

Talking to Sue behind the counter, we discovered that we could borrow the latest issue of The Walrus. (June 2026).

When we are finished, we can return it to the store. She explained the role that the Bees Knees could play in the ‘new’ community library.

Browsing the store, there is a good selection of books by local authors: David Whitman, Jane Baskwill, Bob Bent and others.

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Afterwards, we needed to pick up a gift for John Stewart’s birthday. (97 this week). We decided to stop at Spurr Brothers in Wilmot. I knew that they had an assortment of items from Peace by Chocolate.

The grounds were beautiful. Rows of apple trees running up the slope. A colourful collection of flowers for sale and cutting. This certainly adds to the quality of rural living.

Today I will take a few photographs to share these gems (even on a rain day). Nothing like going away, to appreciate what you have at home.

References

The Walrus, June 2026, I went to Greenland and saw a Warning for Canada, Brett Popplewell.

Ted Leighton, 2022, A Ring of Justice, Moose House Publications.

Yesterday at the Margaretsville Art Shack Gallery (see previous post, Port Moody Visit), I noticed this poster ‘The Beauty of Aging. A Journey of Art’, produced by the Artists Circle of the Annapolis Valley. I wanted to read the eight quotations, ranging from Keith Richards to Frank Kafka.

I did not have a camera. Today, I returned with my iPad (and camera).

I thought the poster was worth sharing. I liked the message ‘Youth is a gift. But age is a work of Art’.

I am sure we could debate the selected quotations., and the authors.

I think the poster would be worth printing on paper.

Nothing further to add.

POSTSCRIPT

The quotes, as originally photographed, were difficult to read due to the iPhone image’s original size and blur. Putting the image through Gemini AI, however, allowed the deciphering of each quote.

Gemini … “Here are the eight quotes from the parchment notes surrounding the artwork, transcribed from top to bottom, left to right:”

Top Left

• “Youth is a gift, but age is a work of art.”— Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

Top Right

• “The Spirit never ages.”— Isabel Allende

Upper Left (Middle-Top)

• “Getting old is a fascinating thing. The older you get, the older you want to get.”— Keith Richards

Upper Right (Middle-Top)

• “Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.”— Betty Friedan

Lower Left (Middle-Bottom)

• “Aging is not about how many years have passed, but how much life you’ve embraced.”— Sophia Loren

Lower Right (Middle-Bottom)

• “Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”— Franz Kafka

Bottom Left

• “Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.”— Eleanor Roosevelt

Bottom Right

• “The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.”— Frank Lloyd Wright

Postscript

Thank you Edward for applying AI to the eight quotations. He is an artist, and collaborator. Thanks, again.

Heather and I have just returned from a one week visit to Port Moody, British Columbia. We wanted to spend time with Laurel and Nic, and the two grandchildren, Marcus and Owen.

There were two considerations:

1. The logistics of travel between NS and BC.
2. The experience/ comparison between the two places: Middleton and Port Moody.

Travel across Canada: NS to BC is not for the faint of heart. Fortunately, there are direct flights between Halifax and Vancouver. Arrangements are different today. In the past, we would work with a travel agent , have our tickets in hand. Today, more travel requires the use of cell phones. Regardless, we were able to successfully navigate the terminals, with help from the next generation (Nic).

Once in Port Moody, we were able to enjoy the local landscape. There are a number of shoreline trails around the Burrard Inlet. We were stunned by the number of citizens walking their dogs and riding bicycles. This experience culminated in a walk around Sasmat Lake in Belcarra Regional Park.

Should we relocate to Port Moody for family support? And enjoy the outdoor culture?
(check out Monet Tyler’s illustrated map of beautiful Port Moody and Side 2)

Back home today, we had to reacquaint with the positive in Middleton. That meant Sunday morning breakfast at the Green Elephant cafe in Kingston.

Afterwards, we ran errands: a new Brickyard Red growler at Lunn’s Mill. Pick up the September issue of the Grapevine.

While we were too busy for reading. I did stop at the library back in Port Moody. I also noted that Laurel was reading ‘Theo of Golden’ by Allen Levi. Time to visit the Library in Bridgetown.

Post-travel Reflection

A few weeks ago, I was in contact with an old school friend in England, Andrew Ronay. He reminded me of my first trip around North America.

I was an undergraduate in Geography at the University of Birmingham. I joined BUNAC (British Universities North America Club). I flew to Montreal. Spent the Summer in Labrador at the McGill SubArctic Research Lab in Schefferville. After the field season, I picked up a Greyhound Bus ticket (99 dollars for 99 days,). Travelled Montreal – Mexico City – San Francisco -Victoria – Montreal, before flying home to England. (Aged 21) sixty years ago. It was easier then.

This weekend, after a day trip to New Glasgow, we decided to take a walk along the Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail (see posts 40th Anniversary Celebration: Delaps Cove Part 1, and Part 2)

We took the Bohaker Trail down to the cliffs of the Bay of Fundy. We found Blue bells, as well as the pink flowers of Agalinis.

Heather completed her thesis at the University of Guelph in 1993, under Judy Canne-Hilliker, ‘Reproductive Biology and Developmental Morphology of Agalinis Neoscotica (Scrophulariaceae).’ (see previous posts, Agalinis Neoscotica, Brier Island , Biogeography, and Middleton False Foxglove)

Fernald named the species after a field trip to Nova Scotia in 1921. It is one of the few flowers with ‘neoscotica’ as the specific epithet.

When we walked the Delaps Cove trail, we did not take a camera. Today (Monday) we walked the old rail line in Middleton to see if we could take some photographs. No Luck. The trail is now a well-used ATV route. Afterwards, we remembered seeing the species in flower on the MeadowHawk marsh trail. This time, I was carrying my iPad for a photograph.

Given the specific epithet ‘neoscotica’, it would be an excellent selection as the ‘provincial’ flower. It favours wetland habitat , as found in Middleton and Southwest Nova.

Perhaps in the days ahead, we will revisit Brier Island, to see how it is faring there.

Reference.

Heather Stewart, 1993, Reproductive Biology and Developmental Morphology of Agalinis Neoscotica (Scrophulariaceae), University of Guelph, Department of Botany.

This week, I stopped at The Inside Story in Greenwood.

Having lived in Nova Scotia, on and off for half a century, married to a Nova Scotia girl for that time, I found it a fascinating read. My experience has centred on post-secondary education at the College of Geographic Sciences (COGS) in Lawrencetown.

The book ends with ‘three big stories to tell’.

1. Ships start here again
2. COVID-19: a global crisis
3. Hockey

And ‘no more playground’.

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It included an interactive video, developed by a recent student at COGS.

From the Bridgetown library, I received notice that I could pick up two books by Andrea Wulf. (see previous blog post Book Review: the Invention of Nature)

1 The Brother Gardeners. Botany, Empire and and the Birth of an Obsession.
2 Founding Gardeners. The Revolutionary Generation, Nature and the Shaping of the American Nation.

Finally, I took off my ball cap. I wanted to photograph this very geographic hat.

References

Ian Thompson, 2026, Nova Scotia’s Lost Century: can we change course?, Pottersfield Press.

Andrea Wulf, 2009,The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birthday of an Obsession, Windmill Books

Andrea Wulf, 2011, Founding Gardeners, the Revolutionary Generation: Nature and the Shaping of the American Nature, Random House, New York,