My Little Spot In Cyber Space To Kick Back And Comtemplate Life, Politics, Raising Kids while Raising Parents And What It Means To Be A Canadian In A Topsy Turvy World
For a girl raised on the prairies (with the exception of a few brief years in the foothills), the move to Cape Breton Nova Scotia was more than a bit of a culture shock.
I was barely 19 and enrolled in Cape Breton University UCCB for my first year of university. Knowing the grand total of one person in the entire Province and never having been past Tawanta before, I know that if I had really stopped and thought about what I was doing, I never would have did it. Fortunately, I wasn't so big into stopping and thinking in those days.
But, yeah, Cape Breton - definite culture shock. Albeit in a good kind of way.
I well recall walking down the street, people walking by and asking "How are you?" while I looked at them literally dumbstruck, wondering "Who are you?". It's not that we weren't friendly out West, it was just that we were a tad more ... reserved. But I soon got use to it and even came to enjoy being called "dear" at least two dozen times a day.
And although the people may have taken some getting use to, I fell in love with the island, itself, within the first few weeks.
I had moved in with a good friend and her parents and within the first few weeks we took a trip around the Trail. The Cabot Trail, that is. It was a long weekend (Labour Day, maybe?) and we took two days, stopping to camp in Cheticamp.
Prairie girl, remember?
One of my brother's favourite (bad) jokes is that he was raised on the Prairies. Where you could watch your dog run away for days. And days. And days.
Whatever. I warned you I thought it was a bad joke.
But with that trip around the Trail, probably around our first (certainly no later than our second) stop to get out of the car and look around, it happened.
I. Fell. In. Love. And fell hard.
The ocean absolutely mesmerized me. Climbing around on the rocks and carrying on was a lot of fun. But I soon discovered that I could easily sit on those rocks and just stare at the ocean. For hours.
And so, it was. I became (at least in my own mind) a Cape Bretoner. Or, at the very least, an honourary one.
I lived in Syndey for three years while I did my undergrad. It was during my last year at UCCB that I met my husband (to be). And although after that I lived in Halifax (another place I love) for three years while in law school and have lived in the Valley for the past 17 years, Cape Breton will always hold a special place in my heart.
And so when, a few years ago, I realized that my own girls have never been around the Cabot Trail (and have rarely been to the Island, for that matter - only once that they can now remember), I decided it was time to do something about that. That a Trip was long overdue - not a trip to Sydney to visit relatives but one where the girls could really experience the Cabot Trail.
And so it is that we leave tomorrow to spend a few weeks in Cape Breton. As it worked out, we will stay in 3 very different places - Dundee Resort (thanks to a very generous gift certificate from a friend) on the Bras D'Or Lakes, the Sea Parrot (on the Island's North Shore) and Inverness Beach Village - which, all in all, pretty well covers off a very large chunk of the Trail (and the Island, for that matter).
And so, it should be fun. We will visit family, lay on the beach, play in the waves, climb some rocks, have a few bonfires and enjoy our beverage(s) of choice.
After a few weeks of on-again/off-again 20 degree Celsius weather (that's close enough to 70 degrees Fahrenheit for my American friends), winter officially arrived last night.
I left home yesterday morning in a sweatshirt and jeans and by the afternoon was wondering why on earth I hadn't thought to bring a rain coat.
I had rectified that by late afternoon when I went to take the Blue Jay to her riding lessons and it was raining pretty good. But after my respite break which consisted of reading my current Tom Clancy novel in my favourite Just Us Cafe, I walked outside to snow.
I mean Snow. Did I mention The Snow?
That's about the time when I started to wonder why on earth I wasn't wearing a heavier jacket. And maybe some boots to go with. I was glad when we finally made it home because by that point there was a real little blizzard going.
And while I can't really understand how, in 2008, motorists could be stranded - some for upwards of 15 hours - along a 10 kilometre stretch of highway known as the Cobequid Pass, I think it is safe to officially state that 'Global Warming Has Left The Province'.
Welcome to the beautiful Annapolis Valley ... in particular, the area around the Town of Kentville.
We like to celebrate the season here, whatever the season may be. And we absolutely love .... Pumpkin People!
Of course, some people tend to be more competitive.
And back in 2006, with Halloween a'coming, Dalhousie University's English Department felt compelled to make their own Giant Pumpkin, not to be confused with Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin.
Came across something rather cool in yesterday's Chronicle Herald ... a pair of ospreys (Ethel and Oscar) and their lone offspring online with their own personal webcam. They make their home near a lake somewhere within the Halifax Regional Municipality. Apparently, despite the webcam, these little twitters would still like to maintain their privacy.
This is mom and dad's second season online. Last year they laid three eggs, but the smallest chick was killed five days later and an owl killed the remaining two weeks before they would have taken their first flight. Talk about reality programming - many watched the sad event happen online. We're all wishing the family better luck this year.
You might want to share it with your own young'uns. Let their imagination take flight, so to speak. But it can take a while to get the signal so just be patient.
Are you prepared? Do you have any idea what to do? I only thought I did.
I guess it's fairly obvious that I've never lived in Califlornia or any other earthquake-prone place. Seeing as how I only got 3 out of 10 questions correct.
But I do have lots of friends how live in Cal-i-for-nia. Hmmm, I wonder how they would do?
Post-tropical storm Noel struck Nova Scotia on the weekend.
We always seem to be really lucky in my part of the Province. We sure were with Hurricane Juan a few years ago. So although we lost our power here for about eight hours early Sunday morning, I will take that over those whose power may still be out!
