On Monday, we attended the Council meeting of the Municipality in Annapolis Royal. There was a motion before council for a Declaration of Climate Emergency. It was supported with a short presentation by Nina Newington from Extinction Rebellion. A sizeable gathering of citizens were in the Council chamber to witness the event. Of course, interest had been raised by Hurricane Dorian.
Tim Habinski, the Warden made the point that action on the ground happens at the municipal level. This is true, although it does require the collaboration of all three levels of government. This reminded me of a song by Dave Gunning from Pictou County. He performed at the Evergreen Theatre in Margaretsville the previous evening. The song was ‘These Hands’. These lyrics have been included in a children’s book. To be successful, we need ‘all hands on deck’.
That includes a wide array of citizen groups, as well as the educational institutions in the county. For example, David Colville at COGS has developed and maintained a network of climate stations throughout the Valley. Would that be a useful resource ?
Or if we want to monitor changes in land use, whether through natural events or human activities, we could use drone photography.
Or if we are concerned about changes in the coastal zone, we could use the LiDAR technology at AGRG ?
To slightly change the subject. This week at the North Mountain coffee shop in Berwick, I picked up a copy of Christy Ann Conlin’s new book Watermark. I wanted to see whether today’s authors are addressing the questions raised by rural society and its values ( in the spirit of Ernest Buckler).
Watermark is an interesting word. From Wikipedia,
“It is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light. Watermarks are used to discourage counterfeiting.”
In Conlin’s work, it refers to a human quality that is inherent from upbringing. In my world, I think in terms of ‘watermarks’ on the landscape. For example, this week, we picked up thirty bushels of drops in the orchard, planted by Raymond Hunter.
As part of our background research into Hunter brandy, I received the following email from his son, Willy Hunter (September 16th.)
“Ray often said, that even when he planted trees when he was 80, he wouldn’t know who would harvest the apples, but someone would.”
Next week, we shall start picking from the trees.Heather and I are that ‘someone’.
Acknowledgements
Willy Hunter for sharing the rich stories of the Hunter family life in Clarence, Paradise and Lawrencetown. Heather for sharing the orchard work.
Edward is travelling in Cape Breton this week. We will add his graphics later.
Reference
Christy Ann Conlin. 2019. Watermark. Anansi Press.
Ernest Blair Experiment 