In the last few days, I have become very ‘place-conscious’. Likely, the result of reading The Hermit of Gully Lake.
One of our regular walks is through the old Lawrencetown Forest Nursery, down to the Annapolis River. This week, I noticed that the platform used by the Lawrencetown Voluntary Fire Department to dry out their hoses has been repainted red and black. It should now be visible from the air.
The abandoned nursery is adjacent to the Lunn’s Mill beer company. There would seem to be a potential collaborative business venture. The old nursery could be turned into an outdoor museum, demonstrating the different planting practices over the last several decades. Visitors to Lunn’s Mill could walk, snowshoe or cross country ski the trails, enjoy the outdoor museum, before heading back indoors for a beer.
A second observation was the ‘outhouse’ on the front yard at Lawrencetown Lane. In fact it is a free library, with a book exchange, groceries and seasonal vegetables. ‘Take what you need; Leave what you can’.
These mini-library ‘book exchanges’ have popped across rural Nova Scotia. Previously, I had seen them in rural British Columbia, and Scarborough, Ontario.
Before taking the photograph, I stopped to ask permission. The owner, named ‘ Outhouse’, had moved to the Valley from Digby Neck. They had received support from the LifeSchoolHouse group in Clarence for this venture.
These two examples are evidence of the subtle changes that are taking place in rural society, in response to the larger societal shifts.
Acknowledgements
Edward kindly inserted the photographs. Heather shared the walks.
Postscript
I managed to find the first edition of Joan Baxter’s book ‘The Hermit of Gully Lake’ at Endless Shores Books in Bridgetown. It was first published in 2005. There are differences with the new 2021 edition however the story remains essentially the same, about a specific person and a particular place.
Ernest Blair Experiment 