Reflections on a Misunderstood Way of Life

Note:
The GoGeomatics conference review is now available. Check link on the right hand side of the Ernest Blair Experiment site.

This week, we had two accomplishments.

Neil Stanton and his team installed fourteen solar panels on our south-facing roof. It was a good feeling to see the meter going in reverse. We were contributing electricity to the grid. Given the cost of the installation, it will be a few years, before we see a positive payback. But it seemed to be the right action in these times. Perhaps one day, we will be able to store the electricity in a battery which can provide power for an electric car, for short drives around the Valley.

The second accomplishment was triggered by a visit to the Bridgetown library. I picked up Facing the Hunter: Reflections on a misunderstood Way of Life. This book, by David Adams Richards describes his life, growing up in the north woods of New Brunswick.

I particularly liked the following quotation from p.89.

“My neighbours do not understand me. That I am the fellow who devoted his life to writing books….
And I think of many of them like this:

”If people were actually paid for their value, these people of self-reliance would surely be living in the finest houses.”

“A nice enough woman novelist once told me I shouldn’t give too much credit to the working class. I don’t – it’s just that I refuse to give them less credit than I give anyone else.”

Here is a follow up to recent blogs. I managed with the help of Kyle to transfer all my blogs from GoGeomatics and Ernest Blair Experiment to a thumb drive. Integrity Printers will give me a quote on a hard copy version.

Yesterday, I had a meeting with Ed Symons, Planning Instructor at COGS. Ed told me that he had converted the blogs into a podcast MP3 file for use on his mobile phone. That way, he can listen to them on his Highway#101 commute from Port Williams to Lawrencetown. I will ask for the link.

Acknowledgements

Kyle Hackenschmidt at Bridgetown Computers for his technical skills. Likewise for Ed Symons and Edward Wedler.

Reference

David Adams Richards. 2011. Facing the Hunter: Reflections on a misunderstood way of life. Doubleday Canada.

PS. Perhaps, after I have curated my blog collection, it could be titled:
’Seeking the Geographer: Reflections on a Misunderstood Way of Life’.