Monday Morning Musings
Posted on August 17, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet
Betty told me to take a hike… so I did!
Summer has arrived and it is great to see all the photos of people spending time at the beach, out on boats fishing for mackerel or sitting around bonfires. We have waited so long for a good stretch of weather that everyone is outdoors drinking it all in. We went for an early morning hike yesterday at Ballantyne’s Cove and it was awesome. Much of the walk was in the woods so we had a natural canopy to keep us cool. There were all kinds of luscious raspberries which we tested.
You know, we hear a lot these days about “economic action plans.” I’m not going to go political on you here. But as we walked through the woods , we realized the sweat equity of volunteers who make these trails a reality. I think we can all agree that small communities have their own action plan and it revolves about the notion of action. People just roll up their sleeves and get things done to make their communities great places to live.
I know I go on about this a lot, but we were also very conscious of our good fortune to be well enough to go for a hike. This is only a dream for people who are house bound, in wheelchairs or sick in the hospital. The next time you walk the beach or go pick berries, remember how lucky you are.
Most of us don’t think a whole lot about our “mini trail” but having been there a half a dozen times this week, I realize what a gem we have right in our back yard. I was particularly aware of this as I took some visitors for a “ride around the Cape.” We stopped by to see Joe at “Stone Carvations.” Just about everybody knows that Joe is a genius when it comes to bringing stone to life. He’s also a great entertainer and guitar player. Joe wasn’t around but that didn’t stop us from getting out of the car to look at his artistry. If you have security cameras, Joe, that was us wandering around your yard.
We drove out to Arisaig and spent a few minutes taking pictures at the lookout across from Steinhart’s Distillery. It was just too hot to think about drinking maple vodka, Tom! We drove to the wharf at Arisaig and then went into Livingstone’s Cove. We stopped at the top of the hill overlooking Ballantyne’s Cove so that our friends could get their picture taken. Our friends were originally from Newfoundland ( Norman’s Cove ) and have had more than a few feeds of fish and chips in their day. They claim that the ones they had at the canteen at the wharf at Ballantyne’s was “the best they ever had.”
As the evening waned, we deked into Cribbon’s for a few minutes and ended our travels coming by Jimtown, Mahoney’s and Antigonish Harbor. Seeing our own backyard through the eyes of visitors made us very conscious of the beauty that surrounds us.
You know that I am not a shopper and that I’d rather have a root canal than go to a yard sale so you might find it odd when I tell you that I went with Betty to a yard sale that covered over 50 kilometers. On Saturday, we drove from home and spent the morning travelling route 344 between Boylston and Mulgrave. I`ll spare you the details but it was a glorious morning for a drive. If you haven`t driven that road lately… go! And make sure you stop at the Provincial Park in Port Shoreham… a hidden gem.
I think that more and more of us are discovering that you don`t have to travel far from home ( i.e. outside our own province ) to have a great vacation.
Working on lots of stuff.
Have a great week.
