Category: biographical sketch

Today, we experienced a change in weather. After several days of rain, we had a hot, humid day. We escaped from the Valley and took a drive along the Bay of Fundy shore from Hampton to Margaretsville.

In the Reader (July 7), I noticed that the County of Annapolis are seeking citizen interest in the new Climate Change Action Plan review committee. From my perspective, as retired Research Scientist attached to the Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS) and the Applied Geomatics Research Group (AGRG), we have excellent Resources in the region..

Here are a couple of examples.

1. David Colville has established a network of climate stations in the Valley region (Southwest Nova). Interestingly, in the latest issue of the Bras D’Or Lakes Biosphere Reserve, there is a template of the value of this type of network.It was only a couple of years ago that David and Sally O’Grady hosted a display on climate change at ArtsPlace in Annapolis Royal.
2. Tim Webster at AGRG has been applying numerical models to sea level rise across the Maritimes, including the Bay of Fundy and the South shore.

Hopefully, this citizen science perspective, in conjunction with COGS, will be available to the Municipal Review committee.

Finally, Edward Wedler, and his wife Anne have started their plein air trip exploring the eastern Canadian landscapes that inspired Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. As a result of the hot and humid weather in La Baie, Quebec they are awaiting access to their campsite. Yet, another example of climate change.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the contribution made by faculty and students at COGS and AGRG, monitoring the climate of Southwest Nova.

Reference

Bras D’Or Lakes Biosphere Reserve Newletter. Summer 2023.

Mid-week, we had to drop off books in Annapolis Royal. At the first stop, I left my collection of the writing of Ernest Buckler. At the second, it was the writing of Peter Wyman.

Beforehand, we went to the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens. We have season passes.

I had wanted to check out the Dyke Walk. We arrived at 9 am, opening time; not a soul there. After a leisurely walk on the dyke, we re-entered the gardens to check out the rich array of colourful rhododendron blossoms.

---

On the weekend, we visited New Glasgow. En route, we always enjoy the straight, open road through the Rawdon Hills. At the Saturday Farmer’s Market, I picked up the recent issues of Ah! At Home on the North Shore. In the Winter 2022-23 issue, there was a review of Whit Fraser’s book Cold Edge of Heaven. This led me to Coles at the Highland Mall. I was amazed at the number of empty storefronts. At the mall, I found True North Rising. Cold Edge of Heaven is on the agenda for the EBLES event at West Dalhousie in July.

Acknowledgments

Heather and I continue to enjoy our membership in the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens Society. We visit family in Pictou County, at least once per month. Thank you to Jay, Sandy, and Steve.

References

Whit Fraser, 2022, Cold Edge of Heaven, Boulder Books.

Whit Fraser, 2023, True North Rising, PenguinRandom House.

Earlier this week, we went for a walk at Valley View Park, above Bridgetown.

We followed the Tower Road with a side loop into the park. There were a large number of Spring ephemerals. The green of the beech trees was therapeutic. And no-one else around (see Trail Map Here).

After, Heather wanted to transfer the photographs from her cell phone to my iPad. Unfortunately there seemed to be a technical issue with Google. Today, after Heather’s Bridgetown Walk, we attempted to repeat the experience with my iPad.

We noticed that the Park was closed. Along the Tower Road, we were able to capture. Images of rhodora, lady slipper orchid, Bluebead lily, starflower and trillium.

---

This week, we enjoyed fresh bread from the Perky Loaf, Brickton, Saturday breakfast at Arch&Po in Annapolis Royal. We found sizeable fish burgers at the Ebb Tide Café in Lawrencetown.

Gradually, more grocery items are becoming available in the village.

Postscript

In the mailbox, I found the 2023 Community Events Guide for the County of Annapolis. Looks like a busy Summer, once we get beyond the wildfire season.

Acknowledgements

Heather shared in the search and identification of the Spring ephemerals. Edward added the graphics.

References

AE Roland and EC Smith, 1969, The Flora of Nova Scotia, NS Museum.

Edmund Redfield, 2016, Wildflowers of the Maritimes, Nimbus

Heather and I attended two venues in Annapolis Royal this week. On Tuesday, we went to Frances Anderson’s talk on Lichens. It was part of the Save Our Old Forests (SOOF) program. We were fortunate to pick up a copy of her field guide Common Lichens of Northeastern North America.

This brought back good memories from 1977. I was employed at the National Herbarium in Ottawa to work on the rare plants project with George Argus (willows). Other resident scientists were Irwin Brodo (Lichens), Robert Ireland (Mosses), James Soper, Jack Gillett and AE Porsild. Consequently, our basement is full of their publications (see also previous post “Enlightenment“).

---

On Wednesday, we went to watch the documentary The Quiet Epidemic, at the King’s Theatre, in partnership with the Nova Scotia Lyme Advocacy Group. This proved to be a somewhat distressing movie. By 9:30 pm we were ready to hit the road home.

Today, Thursday, we regained our perspective, following the Bridgetown Walks route from Jubilee Park, along the railway tracks to the High School.

Returning via Centennial Drive. Stopping downtown for a coffee, and drop in to Endless Shores Books. Heather could not resist The Garrett Bluenose Patterns. Celebrating Nova Scotia’s Rug Hooking Heritage. Garrett was a store by the river bridge in New Glasgow. Heather remembers it well from her daily walks to school.

Acknowledgements

SOOF and Kings Theatre for their interesting venues, Heather for her company and Edward for his graphics.

References

Troy McMullin and Frances Anderson, 2014, Common Lichens of Northeastern North America: A Field Guide, NY Botanical Gardens Vol 112.

The Teachers Branch, Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia, 2022, The Garrett Bluenose Patterns, Nimbus.

Documentary. The Quiet Epidemic: as close as your backyard, Plus Q and A with NS Lyme Advocacy Group, May 17, 2023, Kings Theatre.

In Toronto, we had to get the car serviced before leaving for Nova Scotia. We retraced our route. Enjoying the drive on Highway #7 from Peterborough to Madoc, down south to Belleville. It was a long day on the Highway 401, Route. 20 East through Montreal. Late evening, we again stayed at the Howard Johnson in Woodstock, New Brunswick.

Today, Sunday, we were up early, truckers breakfast at Murray’s and arrived home in Paradise, Nova Scotia, mid-afternoon.

While in Toronto, we visited Allan Gardens Conservatory.

Afterwards, we walked to the House on Parliament for lunch and a beer with my brother, Peter.

On another day, we wanted to find Just Be Woodsy (see my blog post Home Place). We were staying at Julia’s house at Kingston Road and Warden Avenue. It seemed like a simple walk North to 772 Warden Avenue. In fact it was a two hour Return walk.

Our rationale, our neighbours in Paradise, NS, who bought Andrew’s farm, across Highway #201, Rob Jarvis and Sinead Wills own this business. In fact, 772 was a few blocks too far.

Our objective for the road trip was to see if we could navigate the drive to central Canada. This we achieved. The second objective was to bring home our new canoe from Peterborough. Given the rainy conditions, we decided to leave the canoe for another day.

Lessons learned:

1. Peterbough is a very manageable southern Ontario town, well positioned to cottage country.
2. Greater Toronto is much more challenging — a stark contrast to rural Nova Scotia (Really?)

Acknowledgements.

Thanks to Julia, Jason, Carole and Peter in Toronto; Pat, Emily, Fraser and Logan in Peterbough for their hospitality. Heather shared the driving. Edward edited the graphics.

References

ExploringToronto Gardens, toronto.ca/gardens
Just Be Woodsy, justbewoodsy.com

We have been travelling for a week. Hence no blog. The purpose is to pick up our canoe from Patrick’s house in Peterborough. We left Paradise on Tuesday afternoon, after our latest doctor’s appointment and car service. We drove hard to reach Woodstock, New Brunswick, by late evening.

On the second day, we survived the traffic in Montreal and managed to travel Highway #401 to Belleville. This allowed us to cut North to Madoc and then Highway #7 into Peterborough — essentially, 2000 kilometres in twenty hours of driving.

Peterborough has changed significantly since the days we lived there in the 1990s. At that time, we worked for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

In contrast to the Annapolis Valley, Peterborough seemed to have maintained a dynamic economy in the face of COVID. Besides visiting family, we were able to enjoy the MindGame cafe, various second-hand bookstores, and Wild Rock Outfitters.

---

Our second adventure was to visit my brother and family in Toronto. This required us to head down to Highway #401 and negotiate the suburb of Scarborough. We arrived safely after several hours in Toronto traffic.

A few salient observations …

It was a shock to drive through Montreal on the TransCanada, especially as we did not have a Quebec map. Once we reached the Ontario border (and Highway #401), the biggest surprise was the volume of truck traffic. The goods that are being moved by truck through the industrial heartland of Canada and the expenditure of gasoline to fuel these trucks must be massive.

Of course, we endured changes in the weather: cold rain, ice pellets, and snow. And yet in Toronto, we saw flowering cherry trees, forsythia. In the gardens of Peterborough, were harbingers of Spring: cardinals and robins.

Visiting Patrick, Emily, and Peter, I have accumulated a long reading list. That, I will save for another day.

We plan to return to the Valley by May 1st.

Heather attended Jane White’s presentation at CORAH, NSCC Middleton campus, ‘Return of the Birds’.

This motivated us to drive down to Annapolis Royal to birdwatch along the French Basin trail. There was an amazing variety of ducks (see French Basin Trail video in my post Walking Paths).

Afterwards, we stopped at the Sissiboo coffee shop.

In 1967, I was a trainee Systems Analyst. My first assignment was with the Government Communication Head Quarters (GCHQ). IBM computer technology was used to monitor foreign communication.

Our second stop in Annapolis Royal was MareGold bookstore, an excellent addition to the town. It complements the Mad Hatter Books..

From GoGeomatics, I received the Canadian Spatial Times for April 12, 2023.

Earlier in the day, I stopped at COGS to catch up on the programs in Lawrencetown. I happened to meet Wayne Regier, Darren MacKinnon and Andrew Hannam. From the bookshelf, I picked up a copy of the Graduate Profiles 2021-2022. There have been many changes since I left in 2011. However, the parking lot remains full.

Acknowledgements

The CORAH talk set the tone for the day, giving us an excuse to walk the French Basin trail. It was also good to see old colleagues at COGS. Thank you Heather for the company. Edward, thanks for the graphics and links.

References

Puzzles for Spies, GCHQ, 2022, Puffin Books.

Steve Skafte, 2023, The Dead Die Twice: Abandoned Cemeteries of Nova Scotia, Nimbus Publishing.

GoGeomatics April 12, 2023, Canadian Spatial Times, AGRG profile.

Robert MacFarlane, 2012, The Old Ways: a journey on foot, Penguin Randon House.

Centre of Geographic Sciences, Graduate Profiles, 2021-2022.

In New Glasgow, Heather picked up the book, Woman, Watching, at Coles in the Highland Mall. I had the chance to start reading this biography of Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay by Merilyn Simonds.

---

In an e-mail, I received the Spring 2023 Bras D’Or Lake Biosphere Reserve newsletter.

I recall time spent in Cape Breton in 2011, transferring our knowledge of SNBRA (Southwest Nova Biosphere Region) to BLBRA. Checking with David Colville, I discovered that Nick Hill has been providing a newsletter for our biosphere reserve (see SNBRA newsletter) .

Sunday was a good excuse to visit to Hampton Beach at low tide. Afterwards, we followed the coastal road to Parker’s Cove, then back over the North Mountain to Annapolis Royal and home.

---

From Woman, Watching, the description of rural life in Northern Ontario rings true of the rural economy in Nova Scotia; the need for multiple short-term jobs that will allow sufficient income for a living.

Listening to the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) I realized the importance of local knowledge (geography) — the culture, the nature and the human infrastructure (road system). This cannot be acquired via an urban environment. There is also a need and value to travelling the backroads, walking, canoeing and other means of transport (bicycle, ATV, snowmobile).

---

Finally, a shout out to Junction Sixteen (formerly, End of the Line Pub) on our list for lunch this week. Thanks to John Montgomery for the link , and the reference to Ernest Buckler.

Acknowledgements

Heather researched the book, Woman, Watching. David Colville and John Montgomery provided email links. Edward added the graphics.

References

Merilyn Simonds, 2022, Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay, ECW Press.

BLBRA newsletter.

SNBRA newsletter.

Junction Sixteen web site

This is the third blog in a sequence: authors, programmers and now geographers. As Edward noted, you can divide the community into a wide range of professions or businesses. An analogous example would be the inventory of assets in creating the successful creative rural economy of Prince Edward County, Ontario (see also previous blog posts “Landscape and Food“, “Rural Curriculum“, and “Joining the Dots“.

To test out the concept, Heather and I visited Kings County. At Grand Pre, we checked out Marcel Morin at Lost Art Cartography (see blog post “Spring Forward“).

We had previously visited to see an exhibition of photography by Dick Groot. We went for the Art, but stayed for the excellent cuisine.

It occurs to me that we are fortunate to receive the Reader each week from Bridgetown. Imagine if we had maps each week showing us the location of different events, the Geographer (an excellent co-op project for a student at COGS to address a specific community member).

Returning to the concept of the creative rural economy, we can envisage maps ranging from historical geography (see, for example, “Historical GIS“, physical geography (climate, geomorphology, biogeography), economic geography, cultural geography. It could include canoe routes, hiking trails, bicycle rides. It would show land use: agriculture, forestry, mining.

COGS could help maintain a database of changes in the geography, as a set of layers. Indeed a geographic information system. This would enhance collaboration between this educational institution and the surrounding communities.

Acknowledgements

Edward was able to join the dots. Heather shared the road trip.