The Art of Memory and Place

This week, we returned to Pictou Lodge.

It has been the location for our family reunions since 2014. The lodge was built in 1926. Well-known visitors have included King George V and Princess Juliana of Holland during the Second World War. More recently, Brian Mulroney (1983), Condoleezza Rice(2006) and Jamie Oliver (2015). No reunion this year, cancelled by COVID-19.

For light reading, I brought along Divisions of the Heart, and Elizabeth Bishop: Nova Scotia’s ‘home-made’ poet. I thought that we might stop at the Balmoral Grist Mill. The cover of Sandra Barry’s book shows Bishop at this location in 1976.

At the lodge, I discovered a copy of At Home on the North Shore: The Summer 2020 special edition is sponsored by Healthy Pictou County. It contains an article Best Practices, by Crystal Murray, that describes the formation of a Citizens for Healthy Pictou County who agreed ‘that a collaborative effort was needed to institute transformational change to the local health care system’. Given the state of health care in Annapolis County, it begs the question: how can this model be deployed elsewhere?

‘A grassroots movement is part of the ethos of Pictou County and has been the key to the success of many community assets in the region’ p.12.

I noted too (p.44) the new challenge: Pictou County badge.

‘Hike in beautiful Pictou County known for its sandy beaches, warm community spirit and a fascinating industrial history. To qualify you must hike just over 30 km. along the trails and old rails in the region’

How about an Annapolis County badge?

The Divisions of the Heart, Elizabeth Bishop and the Art of Memory and Place includes a keynote address by Anne Stevenson. Her essay is entitled ‘The Geographical Mirror’.

‘Bishop has always been a difficult writer to ‘place’. She found self-placement, both geographical and psychological, so difficult that it is tempting to read the entire body of her work as an extended ‘Questions of Travel‘.

‘Who am I ?‘ and ‘Where do I belong? ‘ p.21.

For myself, through Heather who is from Pictou County, returning to Pictou Lodge raises similar questions. Or in Sandra Barry’s words.

“The book-end essays comprising ‘Her own Prodigal’ and ‘Borderlands’ speak to elements of self – the poetic and the political – which held Bishop’s attention her entire life. They situate Bishop in two fundamental dimensions of place: the imagination and the nation”. p.14.

Postscript.

Michael Goodchild recommended Sue Stuart-Smith‘s book ‘The Well-Gardened Mind’ in response to an earlier blog. Looks very promising.

Acknowledgements

Heather Stewart with her roots and understanding of Pictou County. Sandra Barry for her knowledge of Elizabeth Bishop, her life and poetry. Edward Wedler for his online graphics skills.

References
From Pictou Lodge, in-room directory. A Step Back in Time.
Sandra Barry, Gwendolyn Davies, Peter Sanger (eds.) 2001, Divisions of the Heart. Elizabeth Bishop and the Art of Memory and Place. Gaspereau Press.
Sandra Barry, 2011, Elizabeth Bishop: Nova Scotia’s ‘Home-made’ Poet. Nimbus Publishing.
At Home on the North Shore, Summer 2020. A Place in the Sun. Vol 5 Edition 3.
Anne Stevenson.The Geographical Mirror, p.21-33, in Divisions of the Heart (2001).