Autumn Jottings

The tourists have all gone home, and both the Birds and "Snowbirds" have migrated to the sunny south. Only a few hardy souls are stuck here in Canada's Ocean Playground (!). It's not really a hardship, but it is true that Nova Scotia becomes a quieter place after Thanksgiving. The traffic is gone, motels, B&B's and restaurants out in the country have closed their doors, and most locals breathe a sigh of relief. It's now possible to park anywhere in Annapolis, even in the middle of the street if you want, and nobody is in any particular hurry to get anywhere.

As for me, the boat is laid up, the winter's wood is neatly stacked in the basement, the flagpole is stowed in the barn, the garden and garden equipment are put to bed, the pump in the outside well is removed and the hose is drained, and I am all ready for November. Well, not completely ready - I cannot bring myself to decommission the MG until I actually see snowflakes!

It would be wrong to imagine that we are hibernating though. The round of events in Annapolis actually picks up in winter. Our theater continues to schedule plays and musical performances by local and touring companies. The Film Society is back in operation with a series of interesting offerings (actually Sheila sees more of these than I do), and the gentlemen's dining club has resumed. Soon the round of pre-Christmas bazaars, craft sales and art shows will begin, and a major new exhibition is open at the Arts center. And for those who take part in the community in one way or another, the endless committees - in my case, mostly related to the Anglican Church.

The Saga of the Sea Monster That Wasn't

Further chapters from Gullible's Travels department.

On September 18, Katie phoned me from the paper to report that the skeleton of a "sea monster" had washed up on the beach at Parker's Cove (see area map; mistakenly labelled as "Hillsburn" on the map due to MapQuest database error).

As I had a car repair appointment in Parker's Cove anyway, I immediately set off. The words "sea monster" immediately aroused the suspicion that this was going to turn out to be a Basking Shark carcass, but it might also have been a Right Whale which would have been very tragic. In fact, one glance confirmed that it was a Basking Shark in a very advanced stage of decomposition.

Now is the time, if you have a strong stomach, to view a photo of the carcass. You will immediately note from the man in the background that this was a large animal (about 8 meters in length). Before going further, we should also note that such carcasses are responsible for all the mediaeval drawings of sea monsters, and hence for all the subsequent myths about plesiosaurs, cadmosaurus, the Loch Ness monster and so on.

While I was examining the carcass, I was interviewed by a reporter from the Halifax Chronicle Herald, and a team from ATV television news. I told them what it was and why. That night, the Herald printed a photo and an accurate article, quoting me and confirming my identification by checking with biologists at Acadia university and Fisheries Canada. Good journalism! The television station chose to show an interview with a local yokel who was baffled by the discovery ("I sure ain't never seen nothin like this before") and claimed that it was "a mystery". Hmmmm.

Well guess what? Within a few hours of the discovery, a local crackpot turned up and identified the carcass as "a 4000 year old prehistoric sea monster", which had been swimming around 12 hours before". It received a name, "Parky", and a society of "Parky" enthusiasts formed. Within 48 hours of the discovery, a whole body of biological "facts" had been created (such as "Parky could stay underwater for more than 12 hours because of his specialised lungs") including an artist's conception of what it looked like in life (bearing a remarkable resemblance to Barney the Dinosaur).

Your editor does not suffer fools and crackpots gladly, and was moved to write a fairly acid letter to the local paper. Click Here for the letter. But if you'd like to see what Basking Sharks really look like, go to This Page. To learn more about sharks in general, go to:

< http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/sharks/>
and
< http://www.mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/shark/english/index.htm>

Travelling About

Sheila and I were able to take a short trip to the "North Shore" of the province during the week after Thanksgiving (see maps). We drove to Tatamagouche at a time when the autumn colours were at their peak. I can tell you that Vermont and Quebec are in no way more gorgeous than Nova Scotia in the fall. The road from Truro to Tatamagouche runs through the Colchester Hills, and after reaching the height of land just north of Truro, the route follows a deep river valley cut between high wooded hills. We took a detour to visit the Balmoral Mill, a provincial museum and the only operating Grist Mill in the province. It was built in 1874 and is pretty much as it was originally. The setting in a limestone gorge is spectacular. It was the last day they were open for visitors, and we were the only tourists, so we got a special tour and they ran all the various machinery. Most of the working parts are made of wood, and all are driven by leather belts hooked up in a crazy arrangement of wheels and pulleys to the main drive shaft, a massive tree trunk driven by the turbine. (There is a water wheel on the mill, but it's only for show - the mill switched to a turbine in the race in the 1880's, mainly because the water wheel was useless after freeze up). The mill grinds wheat and oats on three different kinds of millstones, so we bought some whole wheat flour and oatmeal cookies (by the way, real oatmeal does not look like the rolled oats we buy nowadays). This is a highly recommended stop for anyone touring the province. They have a website at < http://museum.gov.ns.ca/bgm/index.htm>.

The North Shore reminds me intensely of the Chesapeake Bay country, quite flat or gently rolling, with lots of dairy cows, orchards, tilled fields and vineyards in the interior, and a coastline which is a series of sheltered bays and wide rivers leading to networks of creeks and marshes. It would be a gunkholer's delight. There are no large towns east of Pictou, just small villages, each of which is a little architectural gem. Among the stops worthy of mention, we visited Jost Vineyards, the largest winemaking concern in Nova Scotia, and bought some of their products, which Tobias doesn't think much of, but are quite palatable day-to-day nonetheless. Actually some of their vintages have collected international medals, though we don't usually drink in that league. The vineyards are pleasing to see, and it's good to know this is still a family operation. Not far from the vineyard is the Wallace Wildlife Refuge, near the village of Wallace, which includes a very large freshwater marsh. An ancient Acadian dyke runs through the marsh, now a pathway fringed with trees and bushes, which makes an excellent viewing platform for spotting waterfowl. Alas, most ducks and shorebirds were gone, we only spotted some Green-Winged Teal, Common Mergansers and Greater Yellowlegs. In the saltwater bays though were some thousands of Canada Geese stopping over on the way south, and at one point we came across a group of about a hundred Bonaparte's Gulls on a mudflat, most sleeping with heads under wings. They were probably exhausted after a flight from the Arctic. This is an important stopover are on the Atlantic flyway, and I should get there more often. East of Tatamagouche on the way to River John, one can look offshore and see tiny Amet Island out in the Northumberland Strait, where Tim Tinker 'cut his teeth' as a field marine mammal biologist. It does not look inviting.

For a website on Nova Scotia Birds Click here. You can find pictures there of all the birds I have mentioned.

The main focus of the trip was a visit to the "Ship Hector" in Pictou. Pictou is just north of New Glasgow on the map, it's name obscured by the "Highway 106" symbol.

The Hector was a Dutch-built three masted ship that transported the first wave of settlers from the Scottish Highlands to Pictou, Nova Scotia, in 1773. It was a major event in the development of the province. The town of Pictou has undertaken a reconstruction of the ship, which is now about 80% complete. It's in the water at the town wharf, the hull obviously complete, the three lower masts and the foretopmast and topgallantmast in place, and three of the yards installed. Lots of rigging to do, but lots in place. The ship and wharf are part of the Hector Heritage Quay Museum, including a working woodshop, blacksmith shop and riggers' loft, and the quay where the work on the ship is in progress. The museum is one of the best interpretive centers I have seen on any subject, anywhere, anytime. Curious? Visit their website at <http://www.townofpictou.com>.

One of the main events of the summer in Annapolis is the annual Arts Festival. This year the theme of the festival was "Cycles", in literature, art and poetry. A clever part of the whole happening was the construction by a local artist and blacksmith (Brad Hall) of numerous imaginative sculptures made by cutting up and welding together old bicycles. At one time there seemed to be hundreds of these around the town, some small, some huge. They have mostly all been sold, except for a giant "bicycle tree" retained by the Arts Council. This has to be seen to be comprehended. Here though is an imaginative photo by Katie taken in the middle of the "tree", looking up. Click on the image for a full size view.

I have often remarked on the view from my study window, which is always beautiful and interesting. Here it is in a dramatic mood reminiscent of the Scottish highlands. Click on the image for a full size view.

This is another of Katie's beautiful photos, this one of Granville Ferry on a quiet foggy morning. Click on the image for a full size view. (Pardon the copyright notices on these images, they are there to prevent commercial exploitation).

The latest addition to our household is a kitten named Aoife, an Irish name roughly translated as "Midget Rocket Demon". Here she is in a winsome pose. Click on the image for a full size view.