Ernest Blair Experiment

We managed to get to Kentville this week and were able to stop at Gaspereau Press on Church Street. We found three books of interest.

Sue Goyette’s, Monoculture: a commentary of monologues.
Ray Cronin’s, A Gaspereau Field Guide to Canadian Artists, No. 1: Mary Pratt, Still Light.
Ian McLaren’s, All the Birds of Nova Scotia: Status and Critical Identification.

I picked out the first book. I was interested in the commentary on the Forest industry in Nova Scotia.
(image of Sue Goyette via Gaspereau Press)

This remains a contentious issue, regarding saving old growth forest and the practice of sustainable forestry.

Ray Cronin is the author of the series ‘Gaspereau Field Guide to Canadian Artists’. I selected #1, Mary Pratt: Still Light. On a previous visit I purchased #7, Alan Syliboy: Culture is our Medicine. Other artists in the series include Gerald Ferguson, Alex Colville, John Greer, Maud Lewis and Colleen Wolstenholme.

Heather made the third choice. Given the number of birds coming to our feeder. She was interested in Professor Ian McLaren’s All the Birds of Nova Scotia: Status and Critical Identification, published in 2012.

Acknowledgements

We enjoyed brunch at the Half Acre Cafe before crossing the road to Gaspereau Press.

Edward added the graphics and links.

References (all published by Gaspereau Press)
Sue Goyette, 2022, Monoculture: a commentary of monologues.
Ray Cronin, 2018, Mary Pratt: Still Light, Field Guide to Canadian Artists #1
Ray Cronin, 2022, Alan Syliboy: Culture is our Medicine Field Guide to Canadian Artists #7
Ian McLaren, 2012, All the Birds of Nova Scotia: Status and Critical Identification.

December 1st: a wonderful warm day.

Time to put the garden to bed. Fill the green bin. Add Biochar to the soil. Turn over the compost.

(cartoon by Edward)

Late afternoon, went to Bridgetown. I had read in the Reader that Peter Wyman had published a new book, The Last Whale in Nova Scotia. Luck was on my side, I picked up a copy at the Endless Shores book store. Perhaps on Saturday I will get him to sign the copy at the Mad Hatter bookstore.

Previously, Wyman had published a number of separate ‘small books’. This time, he had gathered seven short stories. Before falling asleep, I had digested the first six, saving the longer, The Last Whale in Nova Scotia, for another day.

The stories took me to Delaps Cove, canoeing on the Annapolis River, Blandings turtles and Kejimkujik National Park.

Perhaps in a good way, it offers a partial explanation to the grandchildren ‘Why are Granny and Grandad living in the country, down in rural Nova Scotia? ‘

From the beginning, the book references the work of Carl Jung. I am hopeful that by the end I will have a better understanding of the ‘curious animal spirits’.

Meanwhile today, I am presented with a choice — either heading out to Annapolis Royal (book signing) or Kentville (browsing the Christmas offerings at Gaspereau Press). We went to AR; stopped at the Mad Hatter and Mare Gold.

Acknowledgements

From the Centre page of the Reader:
“Reading: reduces stress, enhances knowledge, feeds your imagination.”
Thanks to Endless Shores Books and MareGold Bookstore.

Thanks to Heather and Edward for their support and contributions.

References

Peter B. Wyman, 2023, The Last Whale in Nova Scotia: stories nurtured by curious animal spirits, Cardigan, Little and Crow Publishing, Annapolis Royal.

Postscript

I read the final story, The Last Whale in Nova Scotia, early Saturday morning. This deserves to be in its own separate book. Simply excellent. Thank you, Peter B.

This week we went to Kings Theatre to purchase tickets for Laila Biali Wintersongs.

While in Annapolis Royal, we could not resist the temptation of stopping at the Mad Hatter bookstore. We were in luck, they seemed to have added to their stock for Christmas.

With little thought, we picked up Arthur Bull’s, New and Selected Poetry, Skidmark Calligraphy. I remember Arthur from his work with rural development agencies and recall that he lives in Lake Medway on Digby Neck.

Naomi Klein’s Doppelgänger: a trip into the mirror world was Heather’s choice.

My real objective was to find a copy of Alan Syliboy’s Where the Owl Calls Your Name. I had this in mind for one of the grandchildren. Fortunately, we made a stop at Endless Shores in Bridgetown. It is a beautifully illustrated Mi’kmaq legend. It did not disappoint.

So far, I am part way through Skidmark Calligraphy. I will wait for Heather to work her way through Naomi Klein. Thursday (30th) we look forward to live music at Kings Theatre. It was an excellent show. Well worth, the night drive !

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the booksellers in both Annapolis Royal and Bridgetown. Next stop will be Gaspereau Press in Kentville. Edward added the graphics.

References

Arthur Bull,2023, Skidmark Calligraphy, Moose House Publications.
Naomi Klein, 2023, Doppelgänger, Knopf Canada.
Alan Syliboy, 2023, When the Owl Calls Your Name, Nimbus Publishing.

This weekend we went up to New Glasgow. By chance, late Saturday evening, we watched Doc Martin on PBS Maine. Besides the regular episode, there was a documentary on the final season of the show: number ten.

The show is set in the picturesque Cornish village of Portwenn.

The shows real life setting is Port Isaac, Cornwall, England.

As I watched the documentary it was apparent that the series, on the air for eighteen years, has had a significant impact on tourism in rural Cornwall.

Would it be possible to take this model, and apply it to rural Nova Scotia? We have the geography. We have numerous writers who have set their stories in rural Nova Scotia . Could this form part of the ‘creative rural economy’ (see Edward’s blog post “What do the films Outlander, Titanic and DevCon-4 Have in Common?“)? Or can a model be a continuation of Celes Davar’s ‘Fundy Riches and Valley Traditions’, Experiential Tourism workshop (November 2007).

Or follow the work of Greg Baeker’s ‘Building a Creative Rural Economy (Municipal World, September 2008).

Another dimension would be to build upon the writing of Ernest Buckler, The Mountain and the Valley, and more recently the work of EBLES ( Ernest Buckler Literary Event Society).

From my bookcase, I pulled down seven volumes of blogs. Volume 1 GoGeomatics, Volume 2 2017 – Volume 7 2022.

In a few weeks, I shall go to Integrity Printing in Bridgetown and request Volume 8 2023. This blog will be #538

This week, I was invited to give a keynote talk at the upcoming Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing, Halifax, June 2024. I accepted the invitation.

Fifty years of Remote Sensing and GIS at COGS (1974-2024) is my working title.

Initial research has led me to two sources.

1. Making Government Science work for Canada and around the World{ A legacy of excellence at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) June 2019.
2. Bob Ryerson and Stan Aronoff, 2010, Why ‘where’ matters: understanding and profiting from GPS, GIS and Remote Sensing, Kim Geomatics Corp. (see book review by Jeff Thurston).

Acknowledgements

John Wightman provided the reference to CCRS. Heather stayed up late to watch the Doc Martin documentary. Edward added his contribution to the blog.

Doc Bob

This weekend, we found ourselves in Kentville. I picked up a card giving directions to the new location of Tides Art Gallery between Brad’s Decor and the Half Acre Cafe.

At this art cooperative, I found Ron MacInnis’s book, Note in a Bottle.

This was an uplifting memoir, describing life in Nova Scotia leading to the Oceanstone Seaside Resort on the South Shore. Part of the pleasure was the scattering of quotations throughout the book; each in a sense being ‘a note in a bottle’.

Given the state of the world, it was refreshing to read a personal journey, with an emphasis on joy, love and beauty.

Sunday morning, after checking out Cottage Cove on the Bay of Fundy, we arrived at the Clarence Country Christmas Market. We were pleased to bump into a number of old friends and colleagues. Again, I was attracted to a book stand. I picked up a free copy of Trap Street (Issue #1, November 2023). It included a short story, Making Believe by Bob Bent. He is the local author of Spy on Ice and Ida Red.

On the stand, I picked up Daniel Lillford, Ghost Breezes, a series of short stories. From the foreword by G.B Ween

”Both in my personal world and in my professional life, do I think about small places, often with long histories, that are unique but also recognizably and often painfully entangled in large world phenomena. Some of these places appear similar in Norway, England, Canada, Australia.” G.B.Ween, University of Oslo.

Both of these books by local authors take me away from the relentless news of the times.

Acknowledgements

Heather and I appreciate the sterling efforts by local authors. I was happy to see Trap Street #1.

”In cartography, a trap street is a fictitious entry in the form of a misrepresented street on a map, often outside the area the map nominally covers, for the purpose of ‘trapping’ potential plagiarists of the map”.

References

Daniel Lillford, 2022, Ghost Breezes, Short stories, Illustrations by Jesse Lillford-Brighton, Moose House Publications.

Ron MacInnis, 2014, Note in a Bottle, Balboa Press.