Hurricane Dorian

Lockeport, Nova Scotia, Saturday, Sept 7, 2019, 8AM

I woke up in the middle of the night listening for the heavy rain and wind. It was supposed to arrive by 3 AM.  But I didn't hear either rain or wind.

Now, as I write, it's raining hard and blowing hard.  So far the forest surrounding my house is holding up.  No trees have fallen yet. As far as I can see. They are bending with the wind.  A lesson.

I think I'm ready as the storm grows.  I filled my bathtub yesterday.  All my devices are fully charged:  My hot spot smartphone with which I connect with the Internet.  My computer, and my other phone for calling and texting.

Here in rural Nova Scotia, the power goes out pretty much every summer I'm here.  I figure the odds are it will go off in this storm.  Then it could be days before it comes back - worst case.

I charged up my Kindle.  I'll be able to access the Internet with my computer for about 8 hours if the power goes out.  But my Kindle will last longer and I've got some good books I'm reading on it so I can occupy myself even if I lose the Internet.

I have a quarter tank of gas in my car.  When I went to fill up yesterday I was too late.  All the fuel was taken.  Last night I called the corner store and they told me a truck was on the way but they didn't know when it would arrive.

I decided this morning it would be foolish to drive there even if they have gas.  A tree down on the road, even if it didn't hit me, could leave me stranded.  Best to hunker down.

The water from the bathtub is for the toilet and for washing.  I drink bottled water.  I have enough to last me a couple of days. That should be enough.

I have enough food to last.  They say you should have 3 days worth.  If the power goes out I won't be cooking but I have 3/4 loaf of bread, plenty of apples and oranges, an onion, mushrooms, some broccoli, blueberries, beets, carrots, bananas.  All the good stuff.  Fruits and veggies. No worries there

You think of things you should have done.  I should have filled up my gas tank and got more bottled water.  Still, I should have enough to survive.  And the quarter tank I have will get me to the gas station when they have gas again.

I underestimated this storm.  It was supposed to be a tropical storm showing in red on the Environment Canada website with the Hurricane warning showing just in orange meaning just a warning.  However, I see the orange indicator has changed to red.  So it's now a hurricane for sure. And I can see it in the increasing gusts of wind.

Whoops, the light just flickered.

The gusts cause the rain to lash against the windows.  I cleaned my gutters a couple of days ago so I can thoroughly enjoy the much-needed rain which has left some wells dry here and the grass a bit parched.

This is a great place to watch the storm.  From my glassed-in porch.  With windows facing the forest and the sea.  



I'll be watching to see how far up my back yard the storm surge brings the sea.  I don't think it will reach the house.

Right now it's low tide but sure doesn't look like it.  The tide is coming in now so the surge will bring it up the path to my back yard as the tide comes in and the storm's force increases. Maybe farther than I expect.

It's cozy here. I've got my electric heater on to heat the porch while the power lasts.

A delightful way to spend the day watching the trees swaying in the wind with the storm building.

And a little scary too.

Uh oh.  The light goes off as the power goes out.

I make a cold lunch.  Read my Kindle.  It's a captivating spy novel. And then I take a nap.

When I wake up the power is still off.  It could be off for days. No telling.  And it's getting chilly here. 

No power means no running water.  In rural Nova Scotia, the water comes from your well and it's supplied by an electric pump.  No electric means no running water.

I hear a thump.  Look out the window and see one of my storm windows from the second floor on the ground outside. Ripped off in the wind.

I look out the front windows and see a branch from the big maple tree in front of my house is scraping on my roof.  And then I notice one of my big Spruce trees has blown over.  It stood by the road.  Fortunately, it fell down into my yard not onto the road.

It's now late in the afternoon.  The fun is over.  I've had enough excitement.  I keep listening for signs of the wind dying down.  But it isn't. 

I turn on my computer and my smartphone which I'm using as a hotspot to access the Internet  At first, for a few minutes, I think I've lost the Internet.  But no.  I check the weather report.  Now there are three red bar warnings.  Rainfall, Storm Surge, and Hurricane.  This was supposed to be over at 3 PM.  It was supposed to head up the coast to Halifax.  Not so.  It's now close to 6 PM and still going strong. In fact, getting worse.

I read the weather report which says -

"Winds will continue to increase and will become severe by evening. Wind gusts up to 150 km/h are likely, especially along coastal areas.

Flooding is also possible along parts of the coast due to storm surge and rough pounding surf this evening.

These winds will topple many trees leading to downed utility lines and extended service outages."

It's going to get worse before it gets better.  It may be a long night.

A little after typing this the sun comes out.  And although it's blowing harder that cheers me up.

Janie texts to check up on me. I text her I've lost a tree.  The phone isn't working.  Just text intermittently.  You write a text and it says "pending".  Then if you're lucky it goes through in a few minutes. If not it says "failed" and you have to try again,''

As I check further in the front of my house I realize I've lost 5 trees.  And my driveway is now blocked.  These trees are all next to the road. Lined up in a row providing a privacy hedge.   One is resting on my house.  But appears to be doing so gently. Just the top of the tree.  Supported by a branch from my big apple tree.  Keeping it from causing damage to my roof.  I hope.  I'll see better in the daytime tomorrow.

It's growing dark now.  Mercifully the wind has died down.  The worst is over.

My largest trees, 2 sentinels, looking out over the sea have survived for another night, in all their majesty.  Under the watchful eye of bright shining Nova Scotian moon.

 

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Day 2. Sunday. The sun comes up. A beautiful day. I go outside to check on the damage.

I see the 5 trees that are down. On further inspection, it’s 8 to 10. All tall spruce trees by the road. They all fell onto my property. Not on the road. A good thing.

My driveway is blocked. I think I’ll have to stay calm. Not a good time for a heart attack or stroke without access or egress.

I text Willie. My neighbor from across the brook. He comes right over with a chain saw and cuts me a path through the limbs to the road. Later he brings Brian over. Brian will cut the trees up and Helen comes by and says she wants them for firewood and if Brian cuts them into 6 foot lengths her son or brother will come by to hall them away.

We discuss the plan to cut the trees at the base. If all goes well without the weight of the tree the base with all the roots will tip back into the hole it made when it fell over. Actually, it’s 6 trees that fell over together making one big gigantic hole.

On further inspection I see the tree I thought was resting on my roof is being supported by a limb from my maple tree keeping it a few inches off the roof.

It looks like the restoration plan is coming together really well.

In the afternoon I walk through the woods to the shore and all looks well. On my way back to the house I see Willie has come over to offer me a little butane stove so I can cook something and the chance to charge up my phone and computer at his house where he's running his gasoline generator for electricity.

What a great guy!

I cook some Campbell’s alphabet vegetable soup. Something I use to like as a kid. And a can of beef stew. All from the corner store.

Best of all, I brew a couple of cups of coffee. I really missed my coffee.

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Day 3. Monday. Power is still off.  So no running water.  I hear the fire hall is open. So I head over to see what’s happening.

On the way I see my 1/4 tank of gas is now just 1/8. I’m thinking I maybe should head back home but instead press on. I should have filled up before the storm. When I went to the gas station I was too late. long lines had already emptied the tanks. No telling when they’ll get refilled.  I'm thinking maybe the truck will get here earlier than I thought and I can fill up on the way to town and not run out.  Yea sure.

But just as I round the corner I see a huge truck is just pulling in. Can I be this lucky? Sure enough! I’m second in line and fill up. Now I have plenty of gas!.  Plus the ability to cook and make coffee. My sense of freedom and control is greatly increased.  And I now have a wonderfully enhanced quality of life.

The fire hall is almost empty when I arrive. Just one other guy there. The Internet isn't working.  But I can plug in and type offline. 

My smartphone cellular hot spot for Internet access is working only intermittently. I spend about 1/2 hour until I get a brief signal. Just a minute or two.   Long enough to access my blog draft which is online and copy it so I can work on it offline which I'm doing now.

Afterward, I decide to drive around town. This is Lockeport, Nova Scotia. A country village with 500 souls. Yet it has a Town Market grocery store and a bank and a restaurant and some years has two restaurants. It use to have a hardware store which the locals called “Next Tuesday” since what you wanted they never seemed to have but would order for you and have next Tuesday. 

In the 1800's Lockeport was a thriving shipbuilding centre.  And merchants owned fleets of fishing vessels and sent ships laden with dried salted fish to the West Indies from where they returned filled with sugar, molasses, spices, tea and rum. 

One day I was walking past the Locke home with a friend and the last descendant of the family invited us in and we had a house tour. Just the first floor. This is one of my favorite houses. I copied the colors green, yellow and red when I painted my house.

I go into the town market. It’s dark inside Peter says he’s lost his meat. He doesn’t have a generator. I buy a couple of cans of food to heat up. I haven’t eaten food out of a can since I don’t know when. Or any red meat. But this is a special occasion. Last night I had a beef stew. Tonite pork and beans. Yum.

As I circle around the town’s outskirts the road is blocked by a fallen tree. It will be a while until Nova Scotia’s road crews get to this one on this barely traveled road.

Then I drive to a lookout over the town's Crescent Beach, a long white beach. Usually just a handful of people on it like today. I like to go jogging here on nice days. There’s more seaweed on the beach than usual. This beach is famous for once being on the Canadian 50 dollar bill.

On my way home I pass the corner store again. There is still a long line of cars waiting to fill up. Tim is still pumping gas. This is self serve, but Tim, the owner, is pumping to move the line along as fast as he can. It’s several hours since I filled up. He must be getting tired.

With the Internet down and no cell phone communication except with intermittent text messaging. I’ve largely lost communication with the outside world.

But I’ve had more communication with my friends and neighbors and the new acquaintances I’ve met here in a couple of days than in the couple of months I've been here this summer. 

Todd from across the road who told me about the tree falling on his roof as I inspected mine yesterday, Lester who rode by on his bike and told Willie and me about how the water brought by the heavy rains is cascading over the dam and down the brook past my property. (I’ve never seen it so powerful). Brian and Helen as we discussed the tree removal, Timothy and Mary as they made their circuit inspecting the damage and told of their old shed that got knocked down in the storm. A great conversation with Dawn about Canadian and American politics when I went to pick up my computer and phones charging up on her and Willie’s generator, and Jim who I met the first time at the fire hall who turns out to own one of my favorite houses overlooking the town, the beach and the sea. Well you get the idea. If I didn’t already know it, this is a special place with special people a real feeling of community strengthened by the storm.

No electric power yet or running water. But as Scarlett O’hara would say: “Tomorrow is another day!”

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Day 4.  Tuesday. Another beautiful day.  It's warming up.  Now 60 degrees.  It started out yesterday at 45 degrees.  Still no electricity (with which I heat my house).  So i'm glad it's warming up.  And I have Internet access.

With plenty of gas, I decide to drive to Shelburne the nearest town to Lockeport with a population of around 1700.  I check up on Jane.  She suffered tree damage but was relieved that the storm surge didn't engulf her property which is on Shelburne's harbour.  

On the drive I listen to an interview with the CEO of Nova Scotia Power.  They started off with 400,000 customers without power.  Now it's down to 90,000.  They are focused on the numbers. That's why Shelburne has power and smaller Lockeport doesn't yet.  It will be an even longer wait until they get around to restoring the power in more remote rural areas away from town like where my house is.




When return to my house, I see Brian has been here.   The good news is the big gaping hole has been filled.  The plan to have the base and roots of the 6 trees tip back into hole they made when they tipped over, worked.  Good to see!

--------------------------------------------

Day 5.  Wednesday. It's overcast and dreary.  Still no electric power.  

I decide to go back to Shelburne.  To my favorite coffee shop for lunch - The Beandock.

Then I stop at the supermarket to recharge my computer, phones and Kindle.  
Whilst there I run into Mary.  I tell her about my good fortune, thanks to Willie, that I have a little butane stove.  Fortunately, I replenished the butane cartridge at the corner store right after I got it.  She checks there and here in the supermarket and elsewhere and they are all sold out everywhere.  Mary tells me of freezing a block of ice before the storm to turn the fridge into an icebox.  Cool idea! 😃 I'll add that to my list of things to do before the next storm.

I decide to check the Nova Scotia Power outage map.  They have a nice map showing the status of outages throughout the province and forecasts of when power will be restored in each area.  What isn't so nice is what the forecast says.  They are predicting power in my area won't be restored until Friday 7 PM.   That means power will have been down here for 7 days.  

Oh well.  I tell myself it's "only" two more days. Hopefully.

And it could have been a lot worse.
----------------------------

Day 6. Thursday. 8AM.

Still no power.  And this morning no Internet.  A dreary overcast day.

But, Brian and his brother Danny come back.  They do a great job bringing down the fallen trees and cutting them into lengths for Helen and her son and brother to haul away for firewood. 





It's tricky work. Using chain saws sometimes up on a ladder making sure the trees fall without damaging the house or the person with the chain saw on the ladder or the one down below. Or me taking pictures.  All goes well and it's looking like this somewhat daunting project is now well in hand.

.
I go down to the Beach Centre in Lockeport, where they now have power, to recharge my phones and computer.  My cellular connection to the Internet is working again.  I'll be able to watch the Democratic debate tonight.  They're having a national debate up here also tonight between the federal candidates, but the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, won't be participating in this one so I don't feel bad about missing it for the debate in the U.S.  

I return home around 6 PM.  As I drive into my driveway, I espy an extraordinary. sight.  A light on in my house!

Heart be still!  Hallelujah!

I have electric power.  I take a shower.  The power must have come on a while ago as there is plenty of warm water.  What a treat!

I make dinner turn on the electric heater in my sun porch and settle in to watch the Democratic debate.
--------------------------------

Day 7. Friday.

A bit chilly,  42 degrees. 

I run into Carmen while I'm walking over the bridge across my brook photoing the dam and the brook.  

He tells me some of the "old timers"  (in their 80's 😃) say this storm had the highest winds they've ever seen.  And the longest power outage.  And power is still out farther down the road from my house.  Lucky me. 

It's great to see the running water.  And have it.  This rain has given new life to the wells that had run dry. 





All and all, it's a glorious sunny day here in rural Nova Scotia. 

A time to be grateful. 

The Smith family and their Robbie

Lockeport, Nova Scotia 8/4/19 

I first met the Smith Family when I wandered down a dirt road looking for property in Nova Scotia. Towards the end of the road finding it impassable due to flooding, I headed down a long dirt driveway where I met Carl and Robert Smith.

At first, they tried to discourage me from proceeding further down the road but then as we talked they realized I was, like them, a lover of nature and so they warmed to the idea of me as a potential neighbor and urged me to explore further.

That was the beginning of a 15-year friendship in which, each summer, I would return to visit them in the house they lived in with their two sisters Leona and Annie. A big round house which the boys in their twenties had built from a kit setting it on top of a huge rock with large picture windows overlooking beautiful Jordan Bay. These “boys and girls” were actually now around my age. Carl my exact age, in years, Robert a bit younger and Leona and Annie a bit older.

They had managed to stay together into ripe old age except for Leona who briefly went off to sing in the more populated centers of Canada. She didn’t stray for long, however, but just long enough so that when she did return she brought a new member of the family, her new son Robbie. Robbie grew up and stayed with the family well into adulthood until he was finally able to escape their tight family bonds to freedom and independence in the nearby town of Shelburne.

Five or so years ago Leona passed on and then a few years ago so did Robert. That left Carl and Annie and of course Robbie. Then Annie perhaps the brains and matriarch of the group slipped into forgetfulness, that all too common scourge of the elderly.

Among my best memories of Nova Scotia are visiting the Smiths in their round house where we would sit in their living room with the view over Jordan Bay and watch the sunset. Talking of world events far away and of the time they lived for a while in Quebec before returning to Nova Scotia and also recounting their occasional but not many travels into civilization from their rural Shangri La.

 I especially loved to visit in November, just before returning to my winter home for American Thanksgiving.

Then, in the late afternoon chill I would walk with Carl out to his favorite lookout spot over the boulder-strewn rocky shore gazing up and down the bay as the wind rippled the moving tide while the sun grew an ever deeper orange. I savored the taste of the cold winter to come knowing that in just moments I would be in the warmth of the Smith home with its wood stove and in just days I would be back in the warmth of my own home and family in Baltimore.

A year or so after the passing of Leona the round house’s ongoing deterioration became critical. There were great holes in the roof over the living room exposing them to the elements. While Carl wanted to leave for survival, Annie and Robert resisted mightily, fighting the inevitable, until finally, reality overcame their heroic stubbornness.

Today I saw my friend Carl at a celebration of Robbie’s life. Sadly Robbie passed away early this year far before his time from a sudden unexpected bout with cancer.

Robbie was and is the wonderful product of this very unique and close-knit family. A tremendously talented and gifted musician, composer, player, singer and writer of songs. He was celebrated today with his music and the tribute of his many friends.

As I drove into the town of Shelburne to attend the celebration, I passed the fire hall with its auditorium in the back and noticed a great number of cars completely filling the very large parking lot wondering what it could be for. And, of course, it was for Robbie.

Hundreds attended, by far the largest assemblage I’ve ever seen in the town of Shelburne.

Robbie left way before any of us were ready to see him go, but unlike so much in this fast-changing world we can be grateful that Robbie will continue to live on with us with his wonderful music and spirit.

Launch Day!

Baltimore, 3/1/19 10:00 AM

I’m sitting at my computer ready to left click my mouse and send an email. An email that could change everything. And yet I hesitate.

I think my palms may be sweaty. I check and yes they are. I know that once I send this email I could be unleashing a lot of stress into my life.

A woman with whom I was once involved (an understatement) has an expression “you take that back”. She would say that when I said something she didn’t like. I always thought that amusing since you can’t ever really take anything back. And that’s especially true of an email to 28 people!

So I check the system I’ve set up. One more time. And then I press the key and my email goes out sending the link to the letter to the Nova Scotia Minister of Lands and Forestry that I’ve set up for signing online. 

So what's this all about?  I've written a letter and set up a system for online signing.  With this letter, I hope to deter the clear cutting that threatens the forest right across and down the road from my country summer home in Nova Scotia. 

So why the sweaty palms? Why the hesitation. What could possibly go wrong? Well if I knew what could go wrong I wouldn’t have pressed the key. I’ve checked the system and it’s working perfectly. But I’ve done that before and a then a bug crops up. An “insurmountable obstacle”. That’s what it seems like at the time. Yet each time I’ve encountered these "insurmountable" obstacles the solution crops up. Sometimes within hours, sometimes a day or more often waking up in the middle of the night with an idea.

I’ve learned it’s best to take a break and let the subconscious work on the problem. That’s not easy to do. It seems like shirking but in fact, it is the exact opposite of shirking the job. Making yourself back off.

It’s three minutes since I sent my email and the first signer shows up! I’m monitoring the system on my second computer monitor. On this monitor, I’ve got a window that shows the names of the signers as they sign. I check and yes the signers are showing up on the website I’ve set up as well. This way the signers can see their name and they and everyone else in the world can watch and see how the number of signers is growing.

Cool eh?  Well, I think so. Naturally.  And when you read the letter you see all the others who've signed it and a nice button right under "Sincerely" to push to sign your name. A friend suggested this which angered me because I didn't think I could do that.  And what I thought I had designed was "good enough". Yet within hours of this unappreciated suggestion, the way to do this popped into my mind.  Super cool.  Well, that's what I think. 

Twenty-one minutes more and another signer shows up on my computer monitor. Fourteen minutes later another. And seventeen minutes later yet another.

I knock on my wooden desk. All seems to be OK. Well so far.

At this rate a signer every 20 minutes, I should have, let’s see, more than all of the folks I’ve sent the email to as signers before tomorrow.

And I should have more since I’ve asked the signers to send the link to the letter for signing to their friends and neighbors so they can see and sign the letter as well.

And this is where it gets really interesting. Like the old chain letter, this could really multiply. If every signer asks 5 friends and neighbors to sign and then they each ask a similar number (or more) this thing could really take off.  It could go viral!

It’s now been 29 minutes and no new signers. Hmm.

Whew! One just showed up. OK relax!

What I find most scary is if the system breaks down and I miss or lose signers. Remember Murphy’s Law. “Whatever can go wrong will”. Just because I don’t know what can go wrong doesn’t mean it can’t happen.

I’m not really worried or I’m telling myself not to worry. A better word is "wary". That's what I am. Just trying to keep my guard up.

I could have launched this last night but I decided that I should get a good night’s sleep. If something goes wrong I’ll have to fix it in real time while the system is “live”. It’s easy to fix something offline. But a completely different thing when the system is live and people could be trying to sign the letter never to return if the system goes down. Or, worse yet, if I lose data including names of people who’ve already signed up.

Uh oh. The list of signers is not updating on the website. The first glitch. The list is supposed to update every 5 minutes and you have to refresh your browser to see the additions. The list of signers is updating on the bottom of the letter but not on the separate list for viewing on the website.

Oh, wait a minute. It is updating you just have to scroll down.  Whew! And then I fix it so more show up without having to scroll down which may not occur to people to do .. just as it didn’t to me.

-----------------------------------

It’s now 4 pm and things are slowing down. I had taken a break. Worked out in my home gym. Went to lunch at my favorite local coffee house and ran into Arthur my former partner in the effort to save the trees in our iconic Mt. Vernon park in Baltimore. The trees are still there 8 years later.

He proceeded to tell me what we should do to save the forests in Nova Scotia, playing the role of an American know-it-all. A role for which he’s a natural. I tell him it’s different there. We can’t call for a public hearing. There is no local jurisdiction. We have to appeal to the “remote” provincial government in Halifax over a 2-hour drive away. We don’t have a lot of votes in our rural community (where my summer home is and where they are threatening to clear cut). So it’s an uphill battle.

I check the list of signers. The system is working OK. We’re still adding signers. But we’ve gone from 1 every 20 minutes to 1 every hour to the latest 2 signers which came in an hour and a half apart. Yes, it has slowed down but that’s to be expected. We now have 20 signers out of the 28 I emailed. Not bad when you consider that many have probably not checked their email during the working day or not had time to deal with reading the letter and signing it.

But I think we’re approaching the upper limit from “Phase I”. Phase II and Phase III and beyond will tell the story. Phase II is where the signers from our group of 28 people email their friends (hopefully) with the link to the letter to sign. How many do that and the results they get will determine how many signers we get.  And then, hopefully, those, in turn, will email their friends etc., etc. And then, of course, there’s social media – facebook etc.

So the current slowdown is not unexpected. But what comes next? Will the signers follow through? Well, I can only guess and I can see it going either way.

Time will tell!

If you want to read the letter and see the latest listing of signers Click on these links -

https://www.stopclearcuts.com/letter     and       https://www.stopclearcuts.com/signers

Oh, we just got 2 more! Things may be picking up!

I’ll let you know what happens. Keep tuned.

Thanks for reading!

Anger and Despair

Baltimore, MD 12/24/18 9:30 PM

"Keep Writing! she says.  The last thing I heard. Words from the hostess as I left her wonderful Christmas Eve party.  Barely a block from my house in the city.  So different from the setting of my country cottage in Nova Scotia where my neighbors are far away and invisible due to the forests that surround our homes.

And so, unable to resist that dictate,  pure music to a writer's ears, here I am.

OK.  So what's happened since my last Euphoric post?

By email, I ran my "Killer App" idea past the Group of about 20 activists I'm working with to stop the Clear Cutting which threatens the pristine forest right across the road from "Seabrook" my country home in rural Nova Scotia as well as forests all over this beautiful Canadian Province.

What I believe is that no one, except the government and the Commercial Forestry Industry, wants this to happen yet it's destined to do so.

This Clear Cutting will be on "Crown Land".  In Canada, public land is called "Crown Land", a throwback to the British Empire.

Did you know that the Queen of England is also the Queen of Canada?  And the head of state in Canada is the Governor General who represents the Queen of England while the Prime Minister, where the real power lies, is the head of Government.  In fact, He/She (the PM) appoints the Governor General.  Well if you know that you can understand why they call public land Crown Land in Canada.

The point of this disquisition is that the vast majority of the citizens of Nova Scotia to whom this Crown land does, in fact, belong (since it's public), don't want Clear Cutting yet the Government with callous disregard for their wishes approves this destruction.  How can this be?

Well, you know the answer.  "Special Interests" .. in this case, the Commercial Forestry Industry is getting its way, not the citizens and voters. Money talks.

That's how Democracy works these days.  Governments do the bidding of the Special Interests unless the voters really make their wishes known in a way that the politicians can't ignore.

So I came up with the idea that the Group I'm working with should start a Petition and tell the Government to do their job and represent the citizens, not the Commercial Forestry Industry.

Much to my surprise, the first reaction from a member of the Group was to say she didn't think Petitions were effective.  But then another said she thought one might be.

So I wrote a draft petition for the Group's consideration. And I went  into some detail explaining  the nuisances of its design, how this could be launched on one of the online petition Internet sites and how using modern technology (making it into a "Killer App") this could go viral so the Government might get the idea they better start paying attention to the voters or they would be looking for other employment following the next election.

I emailed it to the Group and excited about all this I went to bed anticipating an outpouring of Kudos upon opening my email in the morning.

Alas instead, the reaction was, to describe it kindly. "underwhelming".  More accurately it was downright rude. With one of the Group saying we should think carefully before we do anything. As if I hadn't done just that?

Given the time I'd spent on this and my fear that any day the loggers could show up to rip up the forest I found this really discouraging.

But, I'd seen this movie before.  Working with a Group in Baltimore on saving the trees in a public park I knew how difficult working with a committee can be.

You know the definition of a Camel?   A Horse designed by a Committee.  Committees can be awfully difficult to work with getting an agreement and actually getting stuff done.

Fortunately,  I bit my tongue and didn't email the group and say what I thought of them for rejecting (or more accurately) ignoring my brilliant idea.  From my previous experience, I'd learned that my ego and frustration can sometimes (believe it or not) get the better of me.

Then, I thought, hey,.  I can do this all by myself.  I don't need anyone's approval I can just start this petition myself.

So I proceeded to the next step which was to review all the online petition sites to pick the best one for my petition.

But guess what.  None of the online Petition sites did anything close to what I envisioned.

So I thought I'm going to have to program this myself and this is not going to be easy. Good thing no one expects anything from me with my idea.  I feel pressured enough by the fear of the loggers showing up any day.  In fact, my neighbor in the forest across the road right next to the threatened acres tells me he has been told the Logger Group will give him only one day notice before they show up and start cutting.

Yet I have a vision.  With the marvels of modern technology, I see my Petition winging its way across the Province of Nova Scotia gathering speed and signers at an ever-increasing rate. Hundreds, then thousands then hundreds of thousands reaching a number so high that even the callous politicians will pay attention to the citizens' wishes.  Lest they fear they'll need to seek other employment after the next election.

So that's where I am.  My excitement turned to Anger and Despair at my Group's reaction or lack thereof .. then relief that I wouldn't be pressured to do what is looking a lot more complicated than I thought and now I have "only" the pressure from myself to get this done before the loggers arrive.

And with the thrill of creating a new platform for change.  One now not available. A new creation. Amazing that I have the opportunity to create this.  If I can.

I do have the skills and love of computer programing to do this. Can't imagine anything more fun than this.

And calming down and observing, I've grown to appreciate even more this group of Canadians I'm privileged to be working with. Who are dedicated and actively working and are plotting some pretty dramatic stuff which must not see the light of day here now but, God willing, will in the future.

Fortunately, It's the Holiday season so I don't think the loggers will show up before January and maybe one of those great Nova Scotia snow storms will come to give me extra time. I'll just have to go as fast as I can and see if I can do this in time to make a difference.

I Just checked the weather up there. It's below freezing with snow flurries.

Pray for bad weather!

I'll let you know what happens next, but I have to get back to work. The clock is ticking.

Happy Holidays and thanks for reading!

I'm so excited!

Baltimore, MD 12/18/18, 3PM

I'm so happy.  Totally energized.  Having so much fun!

I can't sleep much at night.  So I get up, When I wake up. At 3AM or 4AM when I can't go back to sleep.

I can't afford to waste time in bed if I'm not sleeping.  So I get up to work on my project.  Until my eyes get blurry from looking at the computer.  Then I know it's time to go back to bed and I'll be able to catch a few hours of sleep.  If I'm lucky.

Normally I get 9 or 10 hours of sleep.  Not now. I'm too excited.

"What?", you say, "is this all about"?

My lovely "neighborhood" in Nova Scotia is threatened with an ecological disaster:  "Clear-Cutting". That's what they do when they cut down all the trees in a forest which kills not only the trees, but also the wild animals, and ruins the soil.

It wreaks havoc on endangered species, including that noblest of creatures, the largest animal in Nova Scotia, the endangered Moose.

So why "am I so happy"?  Well, I wasn't when I first heard about this.  In fact, I didn't go to the meeting in town to learn more about it.  I didn't want to think about it.  There was nothing I could do. I was returning to the USA in a couple of days.

But, I'm happy, now, because I'm building a "Killer App" which I think may make a difference.  It could stop the Clear-Cutting.   OK, maybe that's a bit far fetched.  My three nearest neighbors think it's hopeless. "Nothing can stop it", they say.

Oh.  I should point out when I say "near" referring to neighbors it's all relative.  The third closest "neighbor" is over 2 miles away.  That's a lot of the charm of rural Nova Scotia where I have my country home:  "SeaBrook".  So-called because it is bounded by a Brook and the Sea.

This is a wonderful part of the natural world.

A beautiful forest surrounding a lake across the road which empties into the brook flowing past my property and then out to sea

And that's the way I want to keep it!

I know. It's a long shot.  But "nothing ventured ..."

Gotta run.  Don't have time to write.  Gotta get back to my "Killer App".  But I wanted to tell you about this and record what happens. In real time.

I'll try to take some time tomorrow to fill you in. A lot has happened. Just in the last few days.

Thanks for reading!

A Happy Thanksgiving

Little Harbour, Nova Scotia 10/9/18, 8:31 AM

Yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving Day.

I drove to Janie's house.  One and one-half hours away.  Up the country road from my house to the cross-provincial highway then back onto a country road and then finally down the dirt road that led to her house deep in the country.

It had rained the previous day and was to rain the next but not today. So we went for a walk before dinner.

Sierra lead us up the road as we feasted our eyes on the splendor of the autumn leaves.  All the colors, yellow, green, brown, red and gold.



While up above, the white puffy clouds drifted slowly across the bright blue sky and the English poet, Robert Browning. intoned:

"God's in his heaven, All's right with the world".

We walked over the wood bridge fording the brook that powers the Saw Mill.  The oldest in Nova Scotia.  In the same family for generations.

As Janie stood at the fence by the side of the road she remarked -----

on the reflections in the water in the pond created by the wooden dam built to back up the water to power the sawmill.

We looked at the cows in the field and they looked at us.

We stood on the bridge and watched and listened to water cascading in the brook below. Feeling the power and wonder of this force of nature that powers the Sawmill.


When we got back from our walk Janie decorated the table with flowers and leaves she had gathered by the road.

Since, as she said, I would be having Turkey or Ham when I celebrate Thanksgiving back in the States with my family in November,  both of us, vegetarians mostly, could eat meat just this one day without too much harm.

So we dined on Roast Beef, and Yorkshire Pudding, and Vegetables, and Cherry Pie!

And Conversation. We have known each other ever since I started coming up to Nova Scotia in the summer. More than 15 years ago.  So we had much to talk about.

Our children and grandchildren and our siblings and parents.  The current events of the day - but not too much of that to mar this peaceful day.  And our memories.  Holidays are a fine time for remembrance.

As Janie spoke, I was transported to the great Canadian capital city of Ottawa. The center of the world when and where her "Uncle Mike",  Canada's greatest Prime Minister, Lester Pearson, winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace strode the world's stage.

She recalled going to a reception where she met the nation's other most famous Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, the charismatic intellectual, who spoke five languages and who was attracted to young women as they were to him.  And how there was another beautiful young woman in attendance, Margaret, who was later to become the mother of the current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. And who, like Janie, this young woman was fully 30 years the Prime Minister's junior  And how he held Janie's hand as he lit her cigarette. And later asked to see and speak with her again as he was about to leave the reception.

Together we remembered her year in Paris when as a 21-year-old ingenue and "Au Pair" (nanny) she occupied a position at the very bottom rank of Parisian society when her Uncle Mike sent a car to pick her up to go to a grand reception.

Off she went, the only passenger in the government's grand limousine with flags flying.  Much to the delight of her employer who told her he dined out for months on that story.

As we talked into the late fall afternoon,  while our minds were off both long ago and far away, in those two great capitals of North America and Europe, I was especially glad to be both here and now in body and spirit in a more tranquil world as the sun flickered and sparkled through the leaves and gently descended behind the trees in the surrounding forest.

With the speed, ease, and comfort of thought, we then traveled back to Nova Scotia and recalled our days of sailing together.  And our "Last Sailing" so named at the time as it was the end of the season but prophetically turned out to be our very last day ever, sailing together

She said she would like to see again what I had written about that time and the pictures I had taken. So this morning I was delighted to find that experience forever memorialized on the Internet as so much can be today in a Blog post I then wrote.

All too soon, I noticed it had grown dark outside.  The day had ended.  It was time for the long drive back to my home in Southwestern Nova Scotia by the Brook and the Sea.

And so I told her, only half joking, I can't wait until next year when we get to repeat this day. To be our third time in a row here in this lovely home, she had acquired just last year.

And that's what I look forward to doing, as we say in the country -

"God willing and the creek don't rise."