FAREWELL TO NOVA SCOTIA - AGAIN!

On the 29th of June Ann and I along with the two cats crossed the border from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia.  Since then we have seen almost every little nook and cranny of the province, including places most people don't get to see.

Today, as we rolled up the highway from Hilden and passed the turn off to some of those places, my thoughts again returned to my family roots.  In Truro and Stewiacke, there were the Johnsons. In Bass River, Economy, Portaupique and Londonderry, there were the Gambles, the Beatties, the Cookes and the Campbells.  In Pugwash, Wallace and Wentworth, there were the Swallows, the Teeds, the Peers, the Purdys and the Treens.  In Oxford and Collingwood, there were the Braggs, the Thompsons, the Rogers and the Carters.  During our trip, we explored all these places and found out so much more about our early kin.  Our roots are strong and solid thanks to their descendants who still live there and to those who wish they did.

Nova Scotia was a different experience for me this time.  Much richer and fuller and I quite frankly have run out of adjectives to describe it all.  It was a sensual experience with the soft smell of the salt air, fresh cut clover, pine woods; with the sight of a breaching whale, miraculous sunsets over the ocean, guardian lighthouses on wave lapped beaches, pretty and fragrant gardens and picturesque homes, the muddy red flats of the Bay of  Fundy when the tide is out, cattle peacefully grazing in kelly green fields.  It was the sound of a fog horn on a cool morning and Rita McNeil singing "She's called Nova Scotia" on the stereo.  It was a carriage ride through old Lunenburg and another type of ride in the Lexus convertible through the Cumberland countryside.  It was the food, the wonderful lobsters, clams, oysters and scallops,the chowders, cucumber sandwiches and a cold beer on a hot day.  It was sharing it with a best friend who enjoyed it just as much as I did.

To say I have partaken in a feast and enjoyed every morsel would be just about accurate. And I WILL be back!!!

Tonight we're in Sussex, New Brunswick and tomorrow, he head back to Maine for one last shopping trip to Target, a final lobster dinner and a chance to get rid of our American money.

To be continued.......