Bridgetown Weekend

It has been a hot weekend in the Annapolis Valley. On Saturday, we took a break from gardening and went to Aroma Mocha, in Bridgetown, for a morning coffee.

Had to stop at the Endless Shores bookstore. Heather found Isabella Tree’s ‘Wilding’. It describes a ’rewilding’ project in West Sussex. This challenges farming practices in the UK, and raises the question about agricultural practices in the Valley.

I found Scott Milsom’s “Voices of Nova Scotia Community: A Written Democracy“. After a Foreword by Silver Donald Cameron, it describes Milsom’s work with the Coastal Communities network. I have started on the Evangeline Trail, travelling from Yarmouth up towards Canning. Given the suite of public meetings on County Planning, it offers useful insights.

From the Internet, I received a notice that they have published posthumously Barry Lopez’s last book “Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World“.

On Sunday night, we went to the Tragedy Ann & Basset concert at the Dawn Oman gallery. This was a beautiful surprise, within the restored church, surrounded by Northern artwork, we listen to folk songs by a young duo from Southern Ontario. In the intermission, we picked up their latest CD, Heirlooms.

After dark, we returned home to a chorus of tree frogs from the vernal pools in the forest. Earlier, in the afternoon, we had been serenaded by a sapsucker, beating out a tune on the wooden pergola. Above, in the birch trees, hummingbirds take a rest; the azaleas are in flower and attract both the hummingbirds and the bumblebees.

One last book review.

In the Inside Story, Heather found “Alone on the Trail“; a new book by a young Newfoundland author. We are savouring this one. It is a novel, describing a trip by a small group along the Long Range Mountain trail in Gros Morne National Park. Heather and I used to run back-packing trips through that geography in the early 1970s. What a coincidence!

Postscript

We stopped at Button Brook farm on Hwy #201, outside of Bridgetown, at their farmer’s stand. One can buy fresh vegetables, as well as seedlings for the garden. They opened this weekend.

Acknowledgements

To Dawn Oman and Scott for bringing Tragedy Ann to their exquisite venue. Sadly, in times of COVID, it was a small audience. Heather shared the experience and time away from the garden. Edward added the graphics.

References

Isabella Tree, 2018, Wilding: The return of nature to a British farm, Picador.

Scott Milsom, 2003, Voices of Nova Scotia Community: A Written Democracy, Fernwood Publishing.

Barry Lopez, 2022, Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World, PenguinRandomHouse

Emily Hepditch, 2021, Alone on the Trail, Flanker Press.

Tragedy Ann, 2022, CD Heirlooms, tradegyannmusic.com