By John Moore, Columnist
Do you remember those Hinter land vignettes on CBC years ago with the loon like music. Well, I recently discovered a place where it could have been filmed and it lies in Queen’s County on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. According to cottage dwellers Queens County is one of the three best places in Nova Scotia to own a cottage. The other two are Chetticamp and the Northumberland Straight. The nice part about Queen’s County is its proximity to our community.
On a beautiful Saturday on Labor Day weekend, my wife, cousin Patty, and myself, set off to visit her daughter, Alison, and her husband, Jason, at their off grid ‘bunky’ just outside of Bridgewater. We met Jason at Wiles Market and along with another couple visiting from Ontario we began the final leg of our journey. There were many twists and turns and then we arrived at our destination. To the surprise of Allison, who was only expecting her mother. Immediately you could feel the peace and tranquility as birds, grasshoppers and butterflies were everywhere. Being off grid, we were introduced to raw nature in a hurry. I had brought my paddle board, so I went for a paddle while my wife Elaine and Jason hopped in kayaks. Afterwards we went for a swim. You could hear the silence as it was so quiet. We had a barbeque where we shared our purchases from Wiles market and where upon we took in the surrounding beauty. The easy going manner of our hosts and their welcoming way left an indelible impression on all of us.
On the way back we stopped at Hubbard’s to view the world sailing championships. First, we decided to have supper, so we stopped at Sheila’s food wagon where we had a feast of hot dogs, hamburgers and fries followed by a round of coke to swish it all down. We then made our way to the Hubbard’s sailing club where we managed to catch the last races of the day. It was beautiful to watch, and I had to pinch myself at the incredible site of all the racing sail boats. It‘s hard to believe in the past month Nova Scotia hosted two world championships that being Canoe 22 at Lake Banook in August, and the world sailing championships at Hubbard’s in early September. We are truly blessed to be living here.
We made our way back to Halifax after a full day of adventure fully satisfied in all that occurred during our wonderful excursion. This is the time of year we need to count our blessings. It is important to appreciate all that we have and not what we do not have. Happy Thanksgiving!
Photo Credits to: Barney Moss/Flickr
