While we were in Lunenburg (see Day Trip), Heather found Sarah Cox’, Signs of Life at the Lunenburg Bound book store.
As the subtitle indicates it provides Field Notes from the Frontlines of Extinction — from the Spotted Owl in British Columbia to rare lichens in Nova Scotia’s disappearing woodlands. I was selectively interested in Haida Gwaii and Southwest Nova because we spent time in both landscapes.
In Nova Scotia we camped out to stop the spraying of the forests. Subsequently, we became members of SOOF (Save Our Old-growth Forests (see sample posts, Saving Forests, SOOF Soup Sunday, and Two Meetings; Two Questions)
Receiving their weekly newsletter, we have gained insight into the role that citizen scientists can play in the identification of species at risk (see Local Geography, for example).
In Nova Scotia, we have a local chapter of Extinction Rebellion (see Anatomy of a Protest).
Sarah Cox provides an excellent description of the work of this group, and the role that Nina Newington and others play in stopping the indiscriminate logging and spraying in Southwest Nova Scotia.
With the weather improving, it was time to bring the bicycles out of the garage. They had stayed hidden after the move. Doug Brown at Oakhaven, Belleisle brought them back to life in short order. Now, I have no excuse, on the next sunny day, if I want to cycle the Middle Road between Lawrencetown to Middleton. or take the ‘rails to trails’.
The reading, the bicycling and the identification of rare species in our shared landscape are indeed all ‘signs of life’, as we change with age.
References
Sarah Cox, 2024, Signs of Life: field notes from the front lines of extinction, Goose Lane Editions.
Save our old-growth forests (SOOF), Weekly newsletter
Nina Newington, 2025, Log now, protect later makes no sense, Opinion, Chronicle Herald, Thursday June 5, 2025. A8.
Goldsmith Lake Calicioids, Stubble lichens and fungi surveyed in mixed forest west of Goldsmith Lake.,2022-2023. Poster available at local bookstores.
Ernest Blair Experiment 