Last week, at Shelf Life Used Books in Kentville, I picked up Wandering Home
by Bill McKibben. It is subtitled ‘a long walk across America’s most hopeful landscape. McKibben walked from Vermont to the Adirondacks in New York State, often accompanied by friends or colleagues. The book was originally published in 2005, as part of a series of small books about ‘writers taking walks’. In his afterword (2014) he describes the impact of Hurricane Irene in 2011.
“But the psychological effects linger: each season of weird weather makes it harder to maintain the idea that our local progress will be enough to forestall the press of global decline.”
McKibben is the founder of the environmental organization 350.org and was among the first to warn of the dangers of global warming. Other books include The End of Nature, Oil and Honey, Eaarth, and Deep Economy.
His efforts remind me of our effort to walk ‘The Road to Georgetown’. As we hear about changes to the Nova Scotia landscape through forest cutting, one approach is to walk, cycle or paddle through the interior of Nova Scotia, recording our observations along the way … ‘Wandering Home’ in the footsteps of McKibben.
Meanwhile, at home, we are busy picking up the apple drops in the orchard. We wait for the apples to grow larger on the trees. We also wait for the first batch of Hunter’s brandy at Ironworks Distillery. Interspersed, with walking Patrick’s retired Inuit sled dogs: Uqaliq (rabbit) and Siqsiq (ground squirrel).
This weekend, we are off to New Glasgow for Grandad John’s ninetieth birthday party.
Next week, it is time to check out Extinction Rebellion, Annapolis County.
Acknowledgements.
Heather Stewart, Edward Wedler and Bodhi who shared the Road to Georgetown.
Reference
Bill McKibben (2014) Wandering Home. St. Martin’s Griffin. New York.
Ernest Blair Experiment 