Author: maherrv

We have been moving our household effects from Paradise to Middleton for a week. In between, we have made multiple trips to Valley Waste Resource Management in Lawrencetown. We have changed our mailing address from Lawrencetown to Middleton.

We have learned the importance of cell phones in the movement of household items between houses, and the need to keep in contact.

Perhaps the biggest lesson has been the changing of banks. This includes movement of pensions and interactions with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

After a week working closely with Heather and Andrew we realize that moving books, outdoor equipment, furniture etc at the same time as our financial affairs creates considerable strain. Besides rediscovering personal effects from twenty four years in the same place.

Initial reaction is confusion. Items are no longer in familiar places. New rooms contain a mixture of furniture. Some items will take a few weeks to be rediscovered.

We had our first visitors to the new house. Tim and Judy Easley came from Fredericton. We were able to remember good times working together at Sir Sandford Fleming College at the Frost campus in Lindsay. Plus enjoy lunch at the Green Elephant cafe in Kingston.

Today, we had some reaffirmation of our decision. In ten minutes, we could walk to the Middleton hospital for a blood work appointment. Stopping on the way home we checked our mail and purchased a few grocery items. My knees much appreciated the exercise.

Acknowledgements

I want to acknowledge the contribution of our son, Andrew. Besides the heavy lifting, he was able to bring next generation logic to a lifetime of collection and clutter.

We often slipped into emotional attachment to old technology and past interests. This includes records, CDs and IT equipment. He helped us identify our E-waste.

Until the house is sold, we can enjoy the luxury of two houses and reap the harvest from our fruit bushes e.g. blueberries, red currants and gooseberries plus this years planting of lettuce, broccoli, runner beans and tomatoes.

Finally, I can still enjoy the clandestine pleasure of the ‘ride-on’ lawn mower to cut the grass at the ‘old’ house.

Contact information

Bob Maher and Heather Stewart

46, Connaught Avenue, Middleton, Nova Scotia. B0S 1P0

Box 255

Home phone: 902-825-8175

Cell. Bob 902-825-7012. Heather 902-825-7406

While it is still fresh, I thought it might be useful to reflect on the move. Here is the context.

We have lived on rural route #201 for twenty four years.We have managed an orchard across the road on our son’s property. We have enjoyed maintaining a sizeable woodlot up to the Inglisville Road. We have noticed changes in the local demography. We have noticed a significant increase in traffic and speed on the highway. This has led to a couple of minor accidents.

Our children recognized, before us, that we need to reduce our workload. We also need to reduce time in a car driving for necessities.

Our priorities in selecting a new home.

1) must be in a community, with easy walking access to groceries, banking, health services.

2) must be accessible to the local landscape e.g. walking, bicycling, canoeing.

3) we selected a neighbourhood in Middleton with view/access to the Annapolis River/wetlands, woods and wildlife.

The move itself has three steps:

1) purchase new house;

2) move furniture/ possessions into new house;

3) sale of old house.

Access to both houses allowed us to pace the movement of goods and possessions.

Because the distance between houses was roughly ten kilometers we were able to declutter our personal possessions. Leaving the old house only with large furniture items. The moving company was able to move furniture in a half a day.

We were fortunate that Andrew was able to visit with his family for a week. This permitted a rigorous assessment of our possessions. After 24 years we had accumulated a significant book collection that expressed our life interests. With two houses, we could accommodate our family and ourselves.

What would you do differently ?

1) Timing. With hindsight, we might have made the move ten years ago (after retirement) .

2) Time will tell, if we are able to adapt to small community life. First impressions are positive.

3) From a health perspective, it is imperative to keep active. This relates to both mental and physical health.

It would be worthwhile to update this blog in twelve months. What expectations have we missed ? What were the surprises ?

Clearly, we won’t miss driving to town for services.

Have we engaged in new community-based activities ?

Do our family feel that it was the right decision ?

This week, we are living between two houses. Next week, we should be able to move the heavy furniture and sleep in Middleton. Today’s achievement was to arrange with Bell Aliant for the transfer of phone, TV and Internet service to the new house..

Between the moves, I have been reading three books. The first, I picked up at the Clarence Sunday market, is Inside, an anthology of writing collected during the COVID-19 pandemic on the theme of isolation from writers on the South Shore of Nova Scotia and beyond.

The second, recommended by Edward Wedler, Ronald Rubin Against the Tides. Reshaping landscape and community in Canada’s Maritime Marshlands. It arrived this week through Interlibrary loan.

The third, recommended by Peter, my brother. Edgelands: a Journey into England’s True Wilderness by Paul Farley and Michael Simmonds Roberts.

This morning, we celebrated Heather’s birthday: an early breakfast at the Green Elephant Cafe in Kingston. blueberry Waffle and an English breakfast. This was followed by more U-Haul boxes of collectables to the new house.

Postscript

Finished the Cryptoquote in today’s The Bridgetown Reader (July 12) ‘Life Goal’.

‘I had this problem work or starve so I thought I’d combine the two and decided to become a Writer,’ Robert Bloch.

References

Inside. Thoughts from a Pandemic. 2022. Nevermore Press with South Shore Public Libraries

Ronald Rubin. 2021. Against the Tides. Reshaping Landscape and Community in Canada’s Maritime Marshlands. UBC Press.

Paul Farley and Michael Simmons Roberts. 2012. Edgelands: Journey into England’s True Wilderness. Vintage Books.

We were early for our appointment at the Hearing Institute Atlantic in Kingston. We decided to stop for a coffee at Spurr Brothers in Wilmot.

Sitting outside looking across the landscape, it raised many questions.

How long have they been in business ?

How large is the acreage ?

Do they have a map showing the variety of crops ?

I asked the waitress if they had a map. Could we produce a map using drone technology ? Could this be an example of Agri-tourism ?

I decided to follow up with three colleagues from my previous life at COGS.

To Jeff Wentzell, now with the provincial Department of Agriculture. Is this an example of a new direction in Agriculture ?

To David Colville, what would it take for a student at COGS to produce a three-dimensional fly-over of the property ? Could we identify each type of crop ? Or apple variety ?

To Celes Davar, does this represent the leading edge of Agri-tourism in Nova Scotia ? What type of collaboration is necessary to develop a new form of Agri-tourism in the Annapolis Valley ?

The answers to these questions, could be linked back to ‘a flight of cider’. (see June 30th blog).

We are in the middle of downsizing. Everything in one house has to be assessed, and a decision made about its future value. This process is both cathartic and overwhelming.

While we are making the transition, we have to combine it with day-to-day living. We have been discovering new geographies, discarding some old geographies. We will enjoy the benefits of living within a community. We will miss being close to the trees on South Mountain. We will not miss the fast-driving traffic on Highway #201.

We will miss the birds, butterflies, and the array of shrubs and flowers planted over two decades. Hopefully, we will not miss the accumulated possessions from earlier lives and outdoor pursuits.

We will not miss the regular commutes to Bridgetown or Middleton for groceries, banking, health services.

With the simplification comes time to re-evaluate our interests in an ever-changing world.The road ahead is littered with decisions about the management of our own habitat: the local landscape in the Annapolis Valley; coastal protection in a time of rapid climate change. It includes the relationship between the politics in Canada, North America, Europe and the planet Earth.

Fortunately, we have lived and worked in many Geographies. Some will be worthy of a re-visit Just to benchmark our perception and understanding. Others will remain ‘once in a lifetime’ visitations. We started with very little. We have accumulated much. Now we can divest ourselves, and return to the basic needs: physical and mental health in a supportive environment. That includes ‘community’.

Acknowledgements

I look forward to Heather, Andrew, Patrick and Laurel and their families help in making this major transition. No graphics or links.

This week, we have become sharply aware of the changes in demography in rural Nova Scotia. We are moving from a rural route into Middleton.

Our neighbours have moved from Toronto to Hwy #201, Paradise., with their young family. Furthermore, we met another young family who have moved from Slovenia via Penticton. Arriving this week to purchase a farm property on Hwy #201 in Carleton Corner.

I hope that the residents of Annapolis County will extend support and welcome to these new residents. They are seeking to live close to the land and become part of the farming community.

As part of our move into town, we have had to deal with the bureaucracy of different banking systems. In particular to move assets from ScotiaBank, Bridgetown (closing in November) to the Credit Union in Middleton. The challenge has been exacerbated by the intricacies of online banking.

Hopefully, this weekend, Andrew (our son) will arrive after the long drive from BC to NS.Then we can move the heavy furniture from Paradise to Middleton.

The move presents a time of stress. We have accumulated many artifacts, books and memories from twenty four years at #6326.

Taking a break, we walked the Middleton Marsh trail. It includes new signage prepared by CARP. Thank you Sandra Barry, for keeping us current with the wetland project.

Postscript

Edward is away in Newfoundland. No graphics or links for a few weeks.

Monday (June 24) we took possession of a new (to us) house in Middleton overlooking the Annapolis River.

We were tired of commuting from Paradise to either Middleton or Bridgetown, for groceries, banking and health services.

For the next month, we will declutter and move our essentials to our new community. We had for some time considered Bridgetown but the demise of banking services encouraged us to consider, and finally choose, Middleton.

Middleton allows us to walk to the grocery store, bank and hospital.

Already, we are making discoveries in the Middleton geography. We celebrated on Wednesday, stopping at Spurr Brothers, Wilmot, for fresh vegetables, and a flight of cider. The setting was idyllic, looking up to the orchards on the north side of the Valley. There seemed to be no traffic noise from Highway #1.

We have lived for over twenty years on Highway #201, just beyond the boundary of Lawrencetown. It will be difficult to leave behind our garden, the woodlot that runs up to the Inglisville Road. We will miss the convenience of Lunn’s Mill, and walks down to the Annapolis River through the old Lawrencetown tree nursery.

We look forward to exploring the trails around Middleton; the opportunity to canoe on the Annapolis River, to bicycle along the Middle Road. We will have easy access to the CORAH workshops on the NSCC campus and events at the MacDonald Museum.

Acknowledgements

This is a huge step for Heather and myself. I am eternally grateful that Heather can share the journey.

Postscripts

As we discover the neighbourhood, I hope this will lead to more time for writing (read post Explore Local: a Micro-adventure Concept and its Implementation).

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Edward and Anne will tent and paint en plein air in Twillingate, Fogo Island and Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, this July. You can follow their journey on their interactive map, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube at Footsteps (Farther) East from their website wedlerfineart.com

Edward will return to our blog in August.

The day started early. Kyle from Bridgetown Computers arrived to assist Heather organize her photographs on the cell phone. She was running out of space. Generally, I do not use my cell phone, except in emergencies. However I do recognize the convenience of having both Internet and telephone connectivity on the same device. This seems to be a debate in the media today.

Afterwards, I headed to Bridgetown to meet with John W. I wanted to share my experiences of the CSRS conference in Halifax. John recalled being part of the organizing committee in the 1980’s for an earlier venue in Halifax.

As we discussed the ‘joys of Decluttering’ , John handed me a mint copy of the 1988-90 calendar for the College of Geographic Sciences. Of particular interest, to me, were pages 14-15. It gives a list of faculty: twenty one in total, plus emeritus James Doig and Walter Morrison.

Programs were grouped under three departments (p.9).

Survey Department

Surveying, Survey Office Technician, Survey Assistant

Mapping Department

Cartography and Planning

Computer Department

Scientific Computer Programming, Remote Sensing, Computer Graphics and Geographic Information Systems.

It would be interesting to compare the instructional staff and programs between 1988 and 2024.

The third meeting after lunch was in Annapolis Royal with Anne Crossman. Anne needed my signature as part of the process of closing down EBLES (Ernest Buckler Literary Event Society). The funds remaining will be divided between Centrelea Community Hall and West Dalhousie Community Hall. Both communities have been very supportive over the years. I wish to thank the other members of EBLES for their good work and camaraderie: Anne Crossman, Jane Borecki, John Montgomerie and Steve Raftery..

In the heat of the evening, we took a cooling drive up the Hampton Mountain Road to the Bay of Fundy, Port Lorne to Mount Hanley, before returning on the Clarence Road to Lawrencetown and home. In the setting Sun, the house on South Mountain had remained warm.

Acknowledgements

Edward and Anne Wedler are away in Parsboro for the International Plein Air Art festival. Perhaps, Edward will author a blog on his return. Meanwhile no graphics or links for a week or two.

Today, Heather and I visited Brian Arnott on the shore of Atuomkuk/ Wentzell Lake of the Pijnuiskaq/ LaHave River Watershed. Brian and Leslie Wright have been the Principals for Novita Interpares Management Consultants, since 1972 (read the post, Citizen Advisory).

We met when I was a Senior Research Scientist at the Applied Geomatics Research Group (AGRG) in Middleton.

From the ‘Future of Windhorse Farm, Ulnooweg Education Centre :

‘ through a combination of purchase and gift, Windhorse has been transferred to the Ulnooweg Education Centre, an indigenous-led registered charity serving all of Atlantic Canada.’

‘Asitu’lisk part of the Ulnooweg Education Centre, is a place for the indigenous people of Atlantic Canada to welcome all who wish to come and learn about culture, language, ecology, health, ceremony and science. Asitu’lisk is a place to connect the generations and a place to heal and grow for all people.’

Brian provided a guided tour of the buildings and grounds. We walked through Asitu’lisk ‘It contains a hemlock grove that is over four centuries old and at least one tree – Grandmother Maple that has been dated at 530 years old; older than the arrival of Europeans on these shores.’

For more information go to Asitu’lisk or reach out to Leslie Wright, Lead, Planning and Management (lwright@ulnooweg.ca).

PS
At the end of 2021, Jim and Margaret Drescher brought their long-standing dream to life by returning Windhorse Farm to the rightful caregivers, the Mi’kmaq, the original people of this land Mikma’ki.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Brian for his guided tour of Asitu’lisk ( a verb that means that which gives you balance). The word is pronounced (ah-see-dew-lisk)

Reference

Go to the Asitu’lisk web site online.

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