Saturday, 31 October 2009

Hallowe'en party

Back home from the firehall Hallowe'en party. We all - adults and children - had a lovely time. The red brew was not as popular as last year's brown brew. The children played games, decorated cookies, coloured pictures, and went home with a sack of goodies. The older children did all that plus we played a spooky story in which we told about finding a body in the yard, and the children felt the 'body bits' (which were things like pickles or macaroni). That was a great success. The Smith's Cove fire department women's auxiliary organised the evening. And, best of all, I ate sweets before supper tonight (as though that is different from any other night). Nigel and I have been steadily working our way through the shopping bag of treats that I was given for my duties as witch at the party.

Sunday, 18 October 2009

Phiri in Keji

Phiri enjoyed splashing in the marshy fields at Jake's Landing, Kejimikujik Park. We preferred to stay on the boardwalk.

Kejimikujik

Nigel, Phiri and I spent a couple of hours in Keji Park, a national park about 45 minutes drive from our home. It was good for our souls, I think, to see the final glories of the autumn colours still brightly beaconing us to wander further along the paths. A chilly breeze was the harbinger of the pending winter barreness, but for today, we revelled in the richness of the seasons, and the glory of nature that surrounds us.

Wednesday, 14 October 2009

GLOOSCAP TRAIL

On the Thanksgiving weekend, Nigel and I took a road trip along the Glooscap Trail, through Hants, Colchester and Cumberland counties in Nova Scotia. We took the shore roads as much as possible, for the views, and also for the sites that are associated with Glooscap.
Glooscap stories are told in the Mi’kmaq culture. They explain how the Bay of Fundy came to have tides, and tell how the many interesting and strange rock formations were created by the giant Glooscap. He was a bit tempestuous, and the result was a set of islands (Five Islands) created when he threw rocks and mud at a beaver that was annoying him because it flooded his garden. He broke the beaver dam, and the result was the creation of the high tides of the Bay of Fundy, and Cape Split, which is where the first crack in the dam was made. He fed moose entrails to his dog at Cap D'Or, and the rocks there were created out of the leftovers of that meal.
We did not see Glooscap during our trip, but we did see the rocky evidence of his handiwork. It was quite awesome, and we could imagine a giant shaping the earth to satisfy his whims.