After reading, Running TO Paradise (see earlier blog post), I was interested in reading more by Donna Smyth. Fortunately, I had a copy of Harry Thurston’s The Sea’s Voice, an anthology of Atlantic Canadian Nature Writing.
It included Smyth’s stort story, Women Flying, the eschatology of Nature. I could relate well to the following statement.
”Some celebrate this transcendence of Nature, declaring a liberation from the material world, from the flesh … But some of us believe this kind of future holds within itself its own dark virus of destruction. Some of us have taken to living in strange, remote places. We’re hunkered down on the land, on small farms, rethinking our connections to Nature.” p.251-2.
Donna Smyth taught English at Acadia University and now lives and writes on an old farm in Hants County.
This weekend, Heather and I were off to the Flying Apron in Summerville.
Enroute, I recalled a second-hand bookstore in Windsor, Readers’ Haven. We stopped briefly. I found two books. Donna Smyth’s Among the Saints and Silver Donald Cameron;s The Living Beach. Heather also found two books, Elizabeth Balmer’s A Pocketguide to Butterflies and Moths, and Ruth Ware’s, The Death of Mrs. Westaway.
We continued on our way to the Flying Apron. We checked into our room at the Inn and were greeted by a bottle of white wine, Tennycape from Avondale Sky Winery and chocolates from Peace by Chocolate. After a filling brunch, we decided to explore the Rising Tide shores, driving along Hwy #215 to Burncoat Head. We returned to the Inn, just in time to walk down and catch the sun setting behind Summerville Wharf.
Saturday evening, I was able to relax and read the selected stories. From the back cover, Joan Coldwell.
”Whether in novels, stories, plays or poems she (Donna Smyth) creates a sense of the holiness of all living things, the need for loving community in the face of violence and destruction, and a belief in the power of words to change the world”.
Sunday, we had a pre-Valentine’s Day lunch. For the second day, I would only need one meal. Now, I can look forward to reading Silver Donald Cameron.
” The beach is magic, an infinitely complex and beautiful ballet of the shore and the land, a pas deux between change and resistance. Caught up in the dance are the animals and plants that live there. The beach is not just a strip of sand: it is a community, a wild and living thing.”
This becomes self-evident, as you explore the Rising Tide shores of Hants County.
Postscript
Harry Thurston’s The Sea Voice includes Silver Donald Cameron’s Gaia’s Fingernail Chapter 1, from the Living Beach.
References
Donna E. Smyth, 2003, Among the Saints, Roseway Publishing.
Silver Donald Cameron, 1998, The Living Beach, MacMillan Canada.
Harry Thurston, (Ed), 2005, The Sea’s Voice, Nimbus Publishing.
Ruth Ware, 2018, The Death of Mrs. Westaway, Simon and Schuster.
Elizabeth Balmer, 2007, A Pocket Guide to Butterflies and Moths, Parragon Books.
Readers’ Haven readershaven@eastlink.ca
The Flying Apron Inn and Cookery, flyingaproncookery.com
Acknowledgements
Heather shared the Romantic Getaway at the Flying Apron. It was a celebration of my Valentine’s day birthday. I share the date with Edward. Edward added the graphics and links from his Florida base. Thanks to the staff at the Flying Apron Inn and Cookery.
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Ernest Blair Experiment 
Back in my bookselling days I had the pleasure of meeting Silver Donald Cameron and hosting a dinner in Eastern Passage during which he talked about The Living Beach. The book is a treasure, and gave me insight into life on the Atlantic shore.
As someone who grew up on Lake Huron, I always thought that the Great Lakes were like oceans. No, they are not. Though wonders in themselves, the ocean — and its shores — present an entirely different dynamic. They are ever shifting, ever changing. Cameron’s book taught me that the shore, no matter how much we think we can control it, will do whatever it wants. And after experiencing the power of Hurricane Juan, there was no greater truth for me.
Enjoy The Living Beach and Cameron’s soft but urgent voice. Thank you for bringing back such an enriching memory for me.
Cheers, Linda (The Myth-Guided Mind)
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Thank you, Linda.
After exploring the Rising Tide Shores on the weekend .It reinforced my desire to read Silver Donald’s book.
Bob
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Bob
Leslie and I are here in chilly Toronto working on a variety of things — back to NS on Friday. Hoping that next week we can start re-scheduling in-person meetings re ACFA. I will keep you posted.
I have read and enjoyed Silver Donald Cameron’s beach book some time ago along with another that I have in Lunenburg and will send you the title FYI when I get back.
Cheers
Brian
Brian Arnott Principal Novita Interpares | Leaf + Branch
novitainterpares.ca
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We had a technical hitch this morning. Edward’s graphics and links did not get included in the posted version. If you check now, you should see the difference, without and with graphics. Apologies, Bob
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