Category: Creative writing

In the Spring, Heather and I noticed a yellow-spotted salamander on the edge of our garden pond. Today, the pond is almost dry, full of weeds and bulrushes. The pond depends on the runoff from South Mountain.

The salamander is at risk, as the provincial government supports the use of sprays to manage the clear-cuts. Who will speak for the salamander?

Meanwhile, as we approach a municipal election, candidates focus on fiscal accountability. If we destroy our landscape and the species that call it home, then arguing about the costs of different projects is relatively insignificant.

This Thursday, there is a protest against spraying on North Mountain,
https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellionNovaScotia/posts/1114729368923750

My brother, Peter sent me a BBC4 interview with Robert MacFarlane. MacFarlane is well known for his books on the ‘language of place’. In the podcast, he makes a couple of interesting points.

MacFarlane quotes the poet, W.H.Auden:

“Culture is no better than its woods”

He also speaks to the need to collaborate with artists and musicians, especially when campaigning to save the trees and the landscape.

Acknowledgements

Peter Maher for his support from France. Edward and Heather for their support in Nova Scotia. Nina Newington for her campaigning.

References

BBC4 Front Row. Interview with Robert MacFarlane by Kristy Lang.
George Orwell. Some Thoughts on the Common Toad. Penguin Great Ideas. #99.

The title of this blog is a homage to George Orwell (1903-1950). His thoughts on the Common Toad was first published in 1946. He concludes the essay.

“The atom bombs are piling up in the factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun, and neither dictators nor the bureaucrats, deeply as they disapprove of the process, are able to prevent it”. p.6.

Post-postscript

From one of my boxes of books, I noticed, peaking out, David Knight and Alun Joseph (Ed) 1999. Restructuring Societies: Insights from the Social Sciences. It contains an essay by Bob Rae. ‘Two men against Revolution. Edmund Burke and George Orwell’. That is now over twenty years ago!

This week, we binge-watched Season 2 of Trapped. It is a dark, detective story, set and filmed in Iceland. Part of the attraction was landscape photography. This somewhat coincided with another Netflix offering Leave No Trace, a film set in the Pacific Coast rainforests of Oregon. Again, a unique landscape backdrop.

So here is the question: if you wanted to promote Nova Scotia, what type of movie might you make to depict the landscape, lifestyle and values of this province?

One idea came from a quick read of the first few chapters of the novel, “The Casual Vacancy” by JK Rowling. It is set in the small town of Pagford in England and describes the unfolding of events after the sudden death of one of the Town Councillors. Along the way, it unmasks the various values within society.

Other titles that come to mind, that could fit our geography: “The Constant Gardener” or “The Inconvenient Truth”.

Or we could talk about real events. For example, the Gordonstoun project and its Royal connection. Certainly, Annapolis Royal has a rich history that could provide a Pagford backdrop. We certainly have a large number of ‘constant gardeners’ and we are all fearful of the ‘inconvenient truth’.

Meanwhile, this Saturday, Centrelea Community Hall is the venue for ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’. The film was first released fifty years ago in 1969.

See you at the movies …

David Manners set a precedent, starting from Centrelea.

P.S. Whatever did happen to the Nova Scotia Film fund?
Should we undertake this project, before the forests have been completely ravaged?

(see Annapolis Spectator, June 12.2019. Turned down – Forestry minister Rankin rejects Annapolis County bid to preserve the older-growth forest.)

Acknowledgements

To Frank Fox for the suggestion to watch Trapped. To Heather Stewart who purchased The Casual Vacancy at the Thrift Store in Lawrencetown for seventy-five cents. To Nancy Godfrey for Saturday Night at the movies in Centrelea. Edward Wedler for his graphics talent, his artistic eye, and a link to his blog post, “What do the films “Outlander”, “Titanic” and “Dev-Con 4″ have in common?”

References

JK Rowling. 2012. The Casual Vacancy. Little Brown and Co.
Check online for the economic value of Rowling’s books.

Sanger in his essay, Groundmass, describes the tidal bore on the Shubenacadie River from the diaries of Charles Lyell and William Dawson (p.83). He also links the phenomena to the Elizabeth Bishop’s poem The Moose p.84.

Last week, we attended a meeting of the Paradise Historical Society. Aaron Taylor gave a presentation on ‘Where did the First People live before the Europeans came? What patterns can be found that might predict these locations in our area?” Aaron described the results of his archaeological research on Paradise riverside land. In particular on the properties of Jack Pearle and David Whitman.

Much of the discussion concerned the location of the tide head on the river. This brings fish species on the tide up into the river valley. Today, of course, we have the tidal power dam on the river at Annapolis Royal. Imagine if we had the same natural conditions today between the Annapolis Basin (Bay of Fundy) and the Annapolis River.

This week, I was able to pick up three books by William Inglis Morse from the Frank Morse library in Lawrencetown. In Acadian Lays and other verse, the poem The Call of the Marsh Hen (p.8)

In creaking flight the marsh-hen flies
Along the old French road, where the vale of Paradise
lies,
And gently down from the ancient hills a rippling stream
Doth wend its way to song and Acadian dream”.

There is a footnote. ‘The location of the old French road is near the confluence of the Annapolis River and the Paradise Brook, Nova Scotia,. The tides, freshets and the lapse of time have practically obliterated this way, leaving only a few traces across the interval of marshy land’.

in Genealogie (p.24) we find a photograph of Burn Brae. It is still recognizable as the house on the Morse Estate.

From his poem, ‘Acadia’ p9.

Land of the dark forest and mountain
And tides that surging flow,
Land of the murmuring pine tree
And the romance of long ago.

Evidence suggests that both the Mi’kmaq and the French Acadians were intimately familiar with the relationship between the Fundy tides and the river systems of Nova Scotia. They located their settlements, permanent or seasonal, to take advantage of the concentration of the fish stocks in the rivers.

Acknowledgements

To John Wightman for sharing his copy of William Inglis Morse Limited Edition book.

Thanks to Edward Wedler for finding the video of the tidal bore on the Shubenacadie River.

References

Peter Sanger.2002. Spar: Words in Place. Gaspereau Press.

Elizabeth Bishop. 1983. The Complete Poems. p 169

William Inglis Morse 1908.Acadian Lays and other verse. William Briggs, Toronto

William Inglis Morse (ed). 1925. Genealogiae or data concerning the families of Morse, Chipman, Phinney, Ensign and Whiting. Nathan Sawyer, Boston. Limited Edition 200 copies.

Last week, we held a board meeting of the Ernest Buckler Literary Event Society (EBLES) at Lunn’s Mill beer company in Lawrencetown. The society supports biennial events in celebration of local writers. Afterwards, the topic of the Morse Estate in Paradise came up, and whether it was the model for the ‘secluded country guesthouse’ described in Buckler’s book The Cruelest Month.

This set me on a quest.

The Morse Estate has been renamed Burnbrae Farm and Paradise Inn. Consequently, I dropped in, to meet the owners: Erik and Simone Wasiliew. They run it as a Bed and Breakfast. Recently, they have also purchased the adjacent Camp Hillis, a residential facility from the provincial government, and plan to integrate it back into the estate.

From my visit, I learned some of the histories of the Morse Estate, as well as an appreciation of the vision of the new owners.

In the book, one of the characters is Morse Halliday (perhaps a clue). The guesthouse is called ‘Endlaw’, an anagram of Thoreau’s Walden.

Clearly, Paradise is changing. Across the Annapolis River, we find the new Paradise Cafe. Jack Pearle, who farms on Paradise Lane, has a new produce stand on the Highway #201.

To learn more about the history of the houses in Paradise, stop at the Community Hall. For each house, there is a short history, photograph and ownership information. This year also sees the establishment of the Paradise Historical Society. Every August, the Hankinsons at Ellenhurst, stage the Moonlight concert.

My link to the village of Paradise is through Raymond Hunter. Raymond and Rona lived on the corner of Paradise Lane, opposite Jack Pearle. Later, they moved east along Highway #201 towards Lawrencetown, where Raymond planted an organic orchard. That is where we enter the story. We are picking the orchard and maintaining its organic status

It is awesome to imagine an event at Burnbrae Farm and Paradise Inn that looks at Buckler’s book The Cruelest Month in its modern context. Ideally, in April, which Buckler defined as the cruelest month. Now, its time to re-read the book.

Acknowledgements

Anne Crossman and Jane Borecky, both Board members of EBLES, for their conversation and support. To Erik and Simone Wasiliew, Burnbrae Farm for their hospitality. Sandra Barry for sending me the link to the Elizabeth Bishop poem, The Map. https://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/elizabeth-bishop/the-map/. And Edward Wedler for his illustration.

References

Ernest Buckler. 1963. The Cruelest Month. McClelland and Stewart Ltd.

Burnbrae Farm/Paradise Inn. go to http://www.burnbraeparadise.ca

Footnote

Through the Annapolis Valley Regional Library Interlibrary loan service, I have received a copy of Elizabeth Bishop’s book Geography III. It includes ten of her poems, published in 1976. The frontispiece makes reference to  ‘First Lessons in Geography’. Monteith’s Geographical Series. Published by A.S. Barnes & Co. 1884. Lesson VI: What is Geography ? Lesson X: What is a Map ? Bishop was familiar with this book in her childhood.

Answers. A description of the Earth’s surface. A picture of the whole or part of the Earth’s surface. Check the link above, to read Elizabeth Bishop’s poem The Map.

Summertime is a time for family.

Every couple of years, we bring everyone together from Vancouver, Iqaluit and Ontario; this year for a few days at Pictou Lodge. It is a time to shake up the ‘old routine’.

Here are a few examples.

There is the opportunity to share newly discovered places in the region: to enjoy the excellent seafood chowder and lobster rolls at the cafe in Hillsburn; or an excuse to go to the End of the Line pub to watch World Cup soccer, or to check out the new British fare at the Paradise Cafe on the weekend. Or to walk up the road to Lunn’s Mill for the beer, but stay for the food.

With children and grandchildren, we have to revisit the concept of the ‘electronic cottage’. Internet service is poor in rural Nova Scotia. Not that simple. “How come Grandad’s iPad cannot access Netflix but more recent devices can. Well, he bought it in 2011.” The solution: buy a new iPad with the latest operating system. Oh yes, and if you want to use the flat screen TV, why not purchase Google Chromecast. Of course, the biggest challenges are all the passwords for the Apple store, Google, Netflix etc.

For the ‘wanna-be’ farmer, it is wonderful to access the youthful confidence on the tractor. We can go down and bush-hog the lower field, move the rocks from the field boundary up to the side of the pond or lift the pallet of earthworm casts to the orchard. It still leaves me with a mowed cord-wood road to bring out next year’s Winter wood supply.

We watched, as there was a need to ‘mouse-proof’ the barn. Now we need new gutters for the barn. Let’s put gutters on the garage too. We can capture the rainwater for watering the garden.

It brings into your life, the task-driven urgency experienced in our cities every day. Yesterday, we were able to get a car window repaired in Middleton, pick up water-testing bottles at the hospital in Windsor, go to the Apple Store at Halifax Shopping Centre, and still have time to drop into the Source in Bridgetown for the Chromecast purchase.

Altogether, this has set me up for today’s blog. That is without mention of the dry soil, unpredictable rainfall, weeding, or need to pick green beans, peas and gooseberries.

Final message. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the arrival of the Internet is the panacea to all of our rural economic issues. The Internet is simply part of the Infrastructure. In addition, you need access to other devices; you need access to applications that are relevant to your lifestyle, and you need connections with others who have knowledge and solutions from other places. And you must be able to embrace ‘change’. That all together, can lead to ‘a sense of well-being’

In advance, I want to thank Edward Wedler, Heather Stewart and family for their encouragement, creativity and continued support.