On the Street Where I Live

One of the reasons I appreciate being able to walk to and from my (very) occasional job is the chance to admire the view...whenever I remember to stop and do so.

Actually, this is pretty much the view from the front of our house, zoomed in on.  That's the Peticodiac River, also known as the Chocolate River because of the fine silt that gets stirred up in it as the tides wash it in and out from the Bay of Fundy.

On the opposite side of the previous view we have the always fascinating car lot of Snider's Garage which is an endless source of photo ops for a rust & oddities-lover such as myself...but more on that another time.

Well, okay, here's a taste just to whet your appetite.

Covering the Cove

Beautiful sight, lousy picture...what's a girl to do...

Employ every means of subterfuge that she has in her digital make-up kit.

A swipe of mineral powder to soften the lines,

(with a little help from pixlr)

a dash of sparkle, a shift in lighting,  some vaseline on the camera lens (figuratively speaking) and maybe we've turned a sow's ear into a silk purse?

Here's another view.  

A good vantage point awaits those willing to climb.

 The colours and lines are reminiscent of an abstract Mondrian painting, I find. Do you see iit?

 This version reminds me of my art school days, spending hours in the lab developing and printing my black and white 8 x 10s.

I had a most enjoyable walk to Deep Cove yesterday and amused myself with taking pix.

The weather has dried up at last.

This was the view  (zoomed in) from my bedroom window yesterday

 when the sun made a brief appearance in the late afternoon. 

The light is coming back!

The days are growing longer.

And yet, the weeks are flying by, don't you find?

Just Do It

On a recent jaunt along the Bay of Fundy to the small seaside town of Alma NB, I noticed this little vessel tied up next to the greasy spoon where we'd chosen to appease our hunger for fatty foodstuffs and sugary beverages.

While waiting for our lucky number to be called for us to go and lay claim to our lunch, there was ample time to gaze out the window at the wee boat with the "can do" attitude and ponder such questions as:

What's on your "it" list?

What do you think is stopping you from "just doing it"?

Can "just do it" be broken down into categories of:

• should do it
• want to do it
• have to do it
• need to do it

If you had a boat, what would you name it? 

And where would you like to sail it to, if you could sail it anywhere, even over land?

Oh, excuse me, our order's ready.  Care for some fries?

Alma Matter

Today we are going to visit the little town of Alma, New Brunswick right on the coast of the Bay of Fundy. It's about an hour's drive from where I live, down river as the locals say. The Bay of Fundy receives and loses twice daily some of the highest tides in the world, rising to 30+ feet (10+ metres), especially at full moon times and in the autumn. I think most of what I say here is true, having worked a couple of seasons at a tourist site in the area and having had to spout off a bunch of facts in both official languages.

When the tide goes out the boats are left low and dry.

Alma is still a little bit quaint, or I guess rustic, or even rusty, so I added some old-time effects to the scene to give an idea of the atomosphere.

Oh look! There's the Canadian flag.  Wait a minute...that's not a maple leaf.  

Occasionally some visitor boats arrive at the dock. 

I think that red one is from Somalia.

Lots of exciting textures (rust, yes!) around the dock as well.

Of course there's a beach in Alma, though it's best for walking rather than swimming (cold!).  Not that I'd know, personally, about the swimming part but I have walked on the sand and collected all sorts of beach treasures, including lovely big scallop shells.

It's too bad we can't wait around for the moon to rise, but here's a rendition of what it could look like. 

What would you say to going for a lobster supper now?  We can buy them ready-cooked and Pierre will crack them for us (if you ply him sufficiently with wine) once we get home.   We always have lobster when visitors from away come to stay awhile.  So please, make  your reservations... 

Operators are standing by to take your calls.

Compare and Contrast

Apples and oranges?  The same but different?  No comparison?  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder?  It is what it is.

Seen recently in Deep Cove, N. Vancouver BC, near to where my mother lives.

Seen recently by the Peticodiac River, near Moncton NB, close to where I live.

Interlude

Sometimes on the national public broadcasting television network when there are no paid ads but there is time that needs to be filled between programs, short innocuous (not to say vacuous) "interludes" are played.  These involve a mix of muzak and relaxing nature scenes. 

I've supplied a local scene here that I photographed last autumn and I'll leave it to whomever passes by to supply their own tune.  Or just enjoy the silence.

Peace. 

Out.

You Can Go Cove Again

I took another walk to the Cove. Today the little shops and eateries were open, as this honey of a hound is pointing out. "Honey Goodies" is the purveyor of those amazing donuts I mentioned the other day.

Equally tempting are the sweet cold confections being enthusiastically advertised by Gelato Boy. It was a bit too close to supper time to indulge in such a treat, which means I'll have to return. I want the size he has!

Less tempting was the invitation to drink bubble tea. Have you ever tried it? My sister raved about it and treated me to a very large one on a previous visit. They come in an amazing (or appalling?) range of flavours and aren't anything like tea. They're cold and sweet and filled with something disturbingly like tapioca. And it's not consistent...you're sipping away and then suddenly a quantity of small, round, rubbery lumps swim into your mouth. Too weird!

I prefer real tea, and if it could be served in a remarkable Ping Kwong Wong teapot, such as any of those I saw exhibited at the local art gallery, it would be nothing short of delightful. As was my latest jaunt to the Cove.

(do click on any of the scenes to "embiggen" them, as my pal,

The Sagittarian, would say)

Marsh Mellow

While C was here last week we took a walk down the road to the marsh.

These are the muddy banks of the Peticodiac River where, twice a day, the Tidal Bore makes its way in from the Bay of Fundy, and twice a day the river flows to the sea.

The clouds float in and out on the river as well.

On one side of the marsh road is the river, on the other side are fields and cows, with the village in the distance. The moon hints at its presence.

Dusk begins to fall on the lush grasses and wildflowers as we make our way home. There is a certain mellowness in the air. We remember the times we used to walk this road daily with our dog; the days when C still lived here. It's sweet to return to old haunts with fresh eyes.

Some Maritime Flavour

What is the symbolism of calling one's boat "Rant & Rave" I wonder.


"Have ye ever been to sea, Billy?" I'd say not recently.


All settled in for the night.


Les cages aux folles?


A perfect opportunity to take a long walk off a short pier.

We went to visit friends in Alma (home of the highest tides in the world, apparently) two weekends ago. The lobster traps were still on the pier there. This weekend, we were forced to eat lobster as they were on sale for $6.99/lb. (live ones were $5.77!) We couldn't eat all we bought so have frozen leftovers to make seafood chowder in the near future. My Acadian friends tell me they used to try and trade their lobster sandwiches at school for the baloney ones the anglos had, and that lobsters were spread on the front lawns as fertilizer. I like lobster well enough, as long as someone cracks it for me and serves me the juicy parts. Don't touch that green stuff, though!