Category: Article Review

At the Green Elephant Cafe in Kingston, I picked up the June issue of the Grapevine.

I was surprised to read that this will be the last issue by this team. In the Summer supplement, two articles caught my attention.

The story of Louis Coutinho and their family buying the Avondale Sky winery. On their website (avondalesky.com) there is a link to four podcast episodes on their experience. Each runs for half an hour. This takes me back to my meeting Louis when he was CAO for the town of Windsor. It was a time when we were part of the Valley REN.

The second article (on the same page 10) is by Gary Leeson, The Dome Chronicles: a Father’s gift.

’They were back-to-the-landers. Over the next forty years, through flood and fire, triumph and catastrophe, they persevered, unwittingly sowing the seeds for the modern small-farm movement.’

I picked up the Explorer 2022 Official Visitors Guide to Annapolis Royal and Area, at Lunn’s Mill I believe. Besides the details for tourists visiting the area, I was struck by the quality of the mapping.

One example would be Jim Todd’s rendition, Bird’s Eye View of Annapolis Royal and Lequille, 2005. Another would be Walk Annapolis, recreation and walking trails. The thirty-two-page free guide includes a wealth of historical information for both the visitor and Valley residents.

We capped off the week with a short walk to Peter Point, Kejimkujik National Park. It must have been at least three years, since the last time we were in the Park.

Acknowledgements

Heather shared a memorable lunch at the Green Elephant cafe. Edward made his artistic contribution.

References

The Grapevine, June 2022 and Summer supplement.

Explorer, 2022, Official Visitor Guide: Annapolis Royal and Area.

The Reader (January 28, 2022) was full of helpful community news.

It included a “Getting to Know” column on Moose House Publications; Planning your Garden, Think Local on seed catalogues; and, Spring courses and events at CORAH, NSCC Middleton. Their latest Word Search Puzzle introduced me to a number of heirloom tomato varieties.

It is time to give a ’shout out ’ to Louis and Julia Falls. The Reader gives us both a ’sense of place’ and ’community.’ The Falls were profiled in Dave and Paulette Whitman’s The Valley Chronicles, p 217-218.

At the Endless Shores (previously owned by the Falls) I found Resist Much, Obey Little. Some Notes on Edward Abbey. It contains contributions from Wendell Berry, Barry Lopez and Gary Snyder. Edward Abbey (1927-1989). Good reading for the next Winter storm.

Meanwhile, I am trying to book a romantic getaway package at the Flying Apron and Cookery in Summerville (see this past blog post).

Acknowledgements

Edward added the links and graphics. Heather plans to share the weekend in Summerville.

References

The Bridgetown Reader, Volume 14 Issue 3, January 28, 2022.

Dave and Paulette Whitman. 2016. The Valley Chronicles. Tales of the Annapolis Valley. Bailey Chase Books, Paradise, NS.

James Hepworth and Gregory McNamee (editors), 1985, Resist Much, Obey Little, Some Notes on Edward Abbey, Harbinger House.

The Flying Apron and Cookery, info@flyingaproncookery.ca

It was Thanksgiving weekend 2020, and I wrote a blog on Fall Magazines that I read in New Glasgow. Here we are one year later. I have found three new items.

1) Unravel. Telling Halifax Stories.
2) Canada’s History. Special:The Beaver returns.
3) Canadian Geographic. Know your Canada: Ultimate Quiz Notebook.

Unravel is a new magazine.

September/October Vol1/No1 includes Halifax articles on people fighting for change, the film-making industry and a conversation with Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack on the fishery in Nova Scotia.

Canada’s History is the equivalent to Canadian Geographic.

In the latest issue (October/November 2021) there is a special section commemorating The Beaver. It includes two articles. Agowigiiwinan Bezhig Minawaa Niizhin celebrating the 150th anniversary of Treaties One and Two. The second article describes the work of seven artists, who formed the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. to fight for professional respect and political self-determination.

Canadian Geographic September/October 2021. The Race to save Caribou includes a supplement, the Ultimate Geography Quiz. Map Edition by Nick Walker

“Geography makes sense of our world by describing locational patterns and relationships of the Earth’s natural and social systems – both past and present.”

It includes 42 questions designed to test your geo-IQ.

e.g. Question 1. True or False
Nova Scotia is made up of at least four ancient continents ?

Question 36.
Which Prime Minister famously said that Canada has “Too much Geography and not enough History”?

We stopped briefly at the New Glasgow library to laminate our vaccination records and found the book by Herman Hesse, My Belief: Essays on Life and Art. I look forward to reading ‘Description of a Landscape‘ p.230-240.

Reference

Herman Hesse, 1974, My Belief. Essays on Life and Art, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Acknowledgements

John Stewart continues to subscribe to the magazines. Edward added the graphics and links. Heather shared the drive.

Postscript

The weekend Chronicle Herald included “A Better Way Forward: 50 years in Nova Scotia”, published by Michelin Nova Scotia. It is time to re-evaluate a better way forward for all of us: our government, our industry and our communities.

In preparation for a presentation at the specialist workshop on AF Church Historical Maps in Truro on August 14, I checked with David Raymond on his current definition of ‘Historical GIS’. In return, he sent me a link to a product developed by Esri’s StoryMaps team ‘Mapping Irish Surnames ‘. Of course, I could not resist keying in my surname, Maher.

In 1890, the Maher clan inhabited three counties.

County Families
Tipperary 74
Kilkenny 21
Offaly 10

How does this relate to the AF Church historical maps?

The Church maps give us cartographic coverage for Nova Scotia. The maps show us the existing road infrastructure, schools, churches, stores, mills, post office etc.. ln addition, there is the location of houses with the owner’s name.

Put in GIS terms, we have a point coverage (house location) and attributes (owner name). We could create a point layer (owner name) and also a polygon layer (county). This would allow us point in polygon analysis, thereby replicating the functionality of the Irish Surname project.

There are a number of GIS/Cartographic challenges. We must ensure that the map layers in the GIS all adhere to the same reference system and projection. This would ensure that the buildings are in their correct position on the earth’s surface, and that they lie within the correct county boundary.

The challenge for the attendees of the workshop will be to consider other features/content of the AF Church maps which can be studied within a GIS context (e,g. other infrastructure – mills, stores, hotels churches etc., plus other historic sources which can be geo-referenced to a modern representation of the Church maps.

In a follow-up blog, I will consider other data sets which may help us understand the changes in landscape, as the result of changing settlement patterns and land use. This will reflect changes in cartography, GIS technology and other new technologies such as drones, LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to David Raymond for sharing his knowledge and links. Edward Wedler, John Wightman and others, reflected on the availability of historical satellite and aerial photography.

References

AF Church Historical Maps Specialist workshop, August 24, 2021, Truro, NS. Sponsored by Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia, Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, KITH Observatory Inc.

Esri StoryMaps Team, March 2020, Mapping Irish Surnames.

POSTSCRIPT
I challenge COGS to explore mapping development/research opportunities with ancestry.com
from Edward
Link: https://video.mainepublic.org/show/finding-your-roots/
from Bob

Julia, my daughter-in-law, sent me a link to an Esri Canada article on teaching GIS in Iqaluit. She makes a couple of excellent observations.

”I believe GIS and mapping can have a role in cultural reclamation and identity due to the power held by maps, as control over land and resources often begins with lines on a map … It would one day be my goal to integrate traditional Inuit knowledge (or IQ) into Esri mapping.”

From the South shore, Lunenburg Brian Arnott sent me to the latest issue of Harpers Magazine. It contains an essay by Leanne Shapton ‘Writ in Water’ on Roger Deakin’s indelible swims.

Afterwards, I had to go to the bookshelf and find Deakin’s books:

Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey through Britain.
Notes from Walnut Tree Farm.

Shapton does a great job capturing the spirit of Deakin.

It is not often that a new enterprise comes to town. This week, we stopped at Brickbean Coffee Roaster. It is in Brickton on Highway #1. Josue Duff has opened a coffee roaster. Located in a beautiful garden, full of lilies. From the web site, you can order coffee beans from Mexico, Peru and Bolivia.

References

Esri Canada article. https://resources.esri.ca/education-and-research/adaptation-is-the-theme-for-nunavut-arctic-college-instructor-julia-landry

Leanne Shapton, 2021, Writ in Water. Harper’s Magazine, August. p.76.

Roger Deakin, 2000, Waterlog: a Swimmer’s Journey through Britain, Vintage Books.

Roger Deakin, 2009, Notes from Walnut Tree Farm, Penguin Books.

Brickbean Coffee Roaster website www.brickbean.ca

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Julia Landry and Brian Arnott for providing me with the North and South. Heather joined me at Brickbean and other travels. Edward added the graphics.

Visiting Dick Groot’s exhibition last weekend made me realize that each of us sees the world through a particular lens (see his website). Whether it is photography, painting or writing, we capture a particular personal perspective.

This observation was confirmed for me, when I received a couple of emails from Europe. As someone born in England after the Second World War, I left the country in 1969 to undertake graduate work in Canada. This has shaped my lens.

From my old school friend, Andrew Ronay, I received a notice from the Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley. RHS Hilltop at Wisley calls itself the ‘Home of Gardening Science’. I was impressed by the opportunity to both read and listen for more information on this venture.

Later in the week, Peter, my brother sent me a link to Radio 4, Guide Books with Damian Barr, Episode 3 ‘On Nature with Helen MacDonald and Melissa Harrison’ broadcast in the UK on Tuesday, June 29th at 11:30 am. The series of three episodes is subtitled ‘Books to help us navigate everyday life’.

These two emails illustrated a couple of perspectives on my own lens. The RHS email reminded me of the gardening culture in the UK. The Radio 4 program was a fond reminder of some of the best of BBC programming.

Meanwhile home in Nova Scotia, we are busy gardening; harvesting rhubarb and red currants; producing jams for the Winter months.

Postscript

How are our youthful memories of the English or Dutch landscape translated into our perception of the Canadian landscape? Or the class Society of mid-Twentieth century Europe into present day Canada ? They have shaped the lens.

Acknowledgements

To Andrew and Peter for keeping in touch. Heather for the recipes and jam making. Edward brings his artistic lens to the blog.

References

Special Welcome to RHS Hilltop – the Home of Gardening Science.

Radio 4, Guide Books with Damian Barr, Episode 3 On Nature with Helen MacDonald and Melissa Harrison.