Point Pleasant Park

The city of Halifax proper is on a chubby peninsula that dips down into the world's second largest natural harbour.  Point Pleasant Park is located on 185 acres at the southern end of that peninsula facing the open mouth of the harbour, and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.  It is a marvellous treasure.

A map of PPP can be found on this Wikipedia page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Pleasant_Park ,
along with shocking images of the devastation wrought  in 2003 when the eye Hurricaine Juan, with winds of 157 kmp (105 mph)  made landfall directly over the park.  Look at the two images on the right of the "Wiki" page just below the map showing the park before, and after  60% of the trees fell.

Seven years later it is a different but still beautiful park.  Since I was not here for the "before" time, I enjoy it's beauty for what it is now: an open, sunny park,  full of new growth and young trees.

Dogs are very welcome in PPP.  They must be leashed on the main road (no cars are permitted in the park).  But all the side trails are marked as "off leash". 

After a long, cold, wet winter I feel positively giddy exploring those trails, sniffing the sweet-with-blooms air and squatting to look at tiny life near the ground. 

My camera is my constant companion (along with a dog or two) and I often think about showing you what I'm seeing.  I walk with an eye to sharing the wonderful things I'm seeing and feeling.  Sauntering along a park trail, soaking in the new growth all around and watching dogs meet dogs and goof around makes me so very happy.

Do you have a special place that makes you feel this way ? 

Where is it ?

Eschew obfuscation

I'm a bit of  a loon when it comes to bumper stickers.  The back of my car is plastered with several delightfully-opinionated bumper stickers.

Bumper stickers are common in Ontario but here in Nova Scotia I seem to be the only driver cruising the streets with a car covered with witty liberalisms.

In this area you do see small fish stickers coveying the message that you are driving behind a Christian and hence there is an implied warning that when the the Rapture occurs, the car ahead will careen out of control as it suddenly becomes driverless.  There.  You've been warned. 

Less often you'll see the same small stickers but with legs added to the fish.  This is affectionately referred to a the "Darwin Fish" and implies that the driver will be left behind during the Rapture and will need to drive skillfully to avoid all those driverless cars.  It also means that the driver (unlike Stephen Harper) believes the world is well over 6,000 years old and that humans and dinosaurs did not actually co-exist.

Because of our Naval base and the Shearwater Forces base, there is an obvious military presence here.  "Support our Troops" ribbons and signs are quite common.  However, there is a bumper sticker that I see from time to time that gets my goat.  Perhaps you've seen it.  It says: "If you don't stand behind our Troops -- Feel free to stand in front of them".  

The last time I looked we still had free speech here in Canada.  The implied (I seem to be using that word a lot today) threat is that if you don't support our troops, you should be shot.  Nice.  Thanks.  I don't appreciate the "agree with us or else" stance.  To me it is very un-Canadian. 

But you're wondering about the title of today's Blog.

Believe it or not, I read it on a bumper sticker the other day.  "Eschew obfuscation".  I had to run home and Google it to make sure I understood what it was saying.

From our good friends a Wikipedia I got:

Eschew obfuscation ..." is an example of a fumblerule.  Fumblerules are humorous rules for writing, collected from teachers of English grammar.  A fumblerule contains an example contrary to the advice it gives, such as "don't use no double negatives" ...

and

"Literally, the phrase means "avoid ambiguity, adopt clarity", but the use of relatively uncommon words causes confusion, making the phrase an example of irony, and more precisely a heterological or hypocritical phrase (it does not embody its own advice)."

And to think this little educational adventure and Bloggy rant was started by a two-word bumper sticker !

I wish ...

As I travel about the area in my day-to-day routines I'm often pulling out my camera and snapping quick pics for future Blog fodder.  There are shots of church signs,  odd signs, the auto port, the bridge, trees budding and of course, the critters.

Possible Blog topics percolate in my head for days and sometimes even weeks.

Sadly, I am jotting down these words with no fore thought. 

My neighbour came over this morning to tell me my car's interior light was on. 

"No worries", I said, "it'll be OK". 

"You better check it" she quickly added. "Several cars were broken into last night."

Thoughtfully I'd saved them the trouble of breaking into my car last night. 

I'd left it unlocked.

My treasured iPod, a retirement gift from my friends at Trent University, was gone. 

So today I'm sad.

I'll treat myself and the dogs with a walk at the beach and I'll putter in the garden.

But gosh -- I wish I'd locked my car last night.

Gardening in Eastern Passage

As you already know, the east coast of Canada is blanketed in snow for over10 months of the year.  The brief summer is heralded when the sun rises above the horizon for up to four hours a day.

Nova Scotians are a resourceful people and  have come up with a brilliant solution to gardening in a cold, dark climate. 

Car gardening !

It is important that the old soil be removed and a new,

carefully prepared soil mixture

be loaded into the car during the week-long spring season.

Cars are natural greenhouses and with the replacement of the normal interior light with a high-power, grow light, the adaptation is easily done.

An early spring Pansy peeks out of the car garden.

When the nights grow cold, an automatic heater kicks in and the car warms itself up for five minutes every two hours.

Due to the moist, warm, well-lit environment,  a crop of healthy, fresh vegetables can usually be harvested  a mere two to three weeks after planting, allowing for the production of several successive crops during the all-too-brief growing season.

There is nothing as refreshing as eating a drizzling, fresh, tomato just picked from the back seat while waiting at a stop light. 

Occassionally during traffice jams it is not uncommon to see different drivers rolling down their windows and trading fresh vegetables back and forth.

Be right back.  I have to run out and water my back seat and do a bit of weeding.

Dear sweet Sooki

Sooki is Kaitlyn's second dog.  She's a sweet 8 month old red-nose pitbull.  She's all wrinkles and soppy eyes.  While Trey, at just over a year old, is a sober thoughtful people-dog, Sookie is a high-energy goofball.

Sooki quickly blended into the existing group, pestering the other dogs to play and chewing whatever she could get her itchy puppy teeth into.  She is the reason I no longer have a telephone headset !

While Trey obsesses over ball chasing, Sooki's goal is to personally greet every dog or person she sees while we're out and about at the park or beach.

                                       

This is Sooki with her puppy buddy, Remi.  They're at the beach and Sooki has found a lovely piece of seaweed.

Sooki loves everyone and everything.

Actually that's not entirely true.

Poor Sooki is terrified of going in the car !  She was sick on her very first drive in the car.  It has continued on every subsequent trip.  We thought if we started with short trips we could get her used to being in the car.  She rarely throws up now, but she has developed such a fear that when she thinks she's going in the car she starts to trenble and drool.  She won't even walk toward the car.  We have to pick her up and carry her.  We are very patient and she is slowly getting better.  She now climbs into the car on her own and sits down mournfully waiting for it to be over. 

Kait is apprenticing with a groomer in Halifax and takes Sooki to work with her daily.  Sooki plays with another puppy and enjoys greeting every visitor both human and animal.

Aside from the car-thing she is darling happy dog. 

Choosing pictures of Sooki for today's Blog was very difficult. 

Too many pictures and all of them cute as heck !

See what I mean ?

A spring time walk

There is something intoxicating about a spring time walk in the woods.

 The air smells so fresh and green and earthy. 

It's even better right after a rain.

 ... 'cept for the blackflies that magically appear at this time of year. 

My walks are less like walks and more like rambles. 

I poke along, frequently stooping down to get a bug's eye view of  life closer to the ground.

 There is so much to see.  Little worlds at my feet. 

I take loads of photos, as if I could capture not just the image but the wonderous feeling. 

 

 There is such an amazing variety of species. 

When I look at trees I know maples from elms and birch and so on.  When I look at moss I can see all the varieties but ache to learn their names and a little bit about each one.

My chum, Amy-Lynn, has a marvellous Nova Scotia nature blog called Flandrum Hill.  http://flandrumhill.wordpress.com/ 

Amy-Lynn looks at things in nature and understands the why and how. 

I look at nature and go "Duh and WOW".

Trey sucks.

Kait has two dogs.  Trey, a one year old Staffordshire cross and Sooki, a 7 month-old, red-nose pitbull.

That brings the Eastern Passage Passage canine total to four.  Four dogs in one house !   And two of those dogs are slobbering, aggressive, diabolical "pit bulls". 

Oh wait.  Give me a minute.   I need to compose myself and stop laughing.

Even though he's only a year old, Trey is a sober, thoughtful dog.  He lives to chase the ball.  In fact he'll chase the ball past strange dogs without even glancing at them.  Apparently Trey never read the slobbering, vicious dog memo.

If he has a bone, Wendy might walk up and gently pull it from his mouth. If he doesn't care to give it up, he just grips it tighter and she walks away.  No growls.  No fight.  He loves Wendy.  She is his ball chasing buddy.  Besides, she's a girl and kinda cute.

So do you want to know why I said "Trey sucks" ?  

Well ...because HE DOES !  Trey loves to suck pillows or chunks of quilt or his doggy bed.  He just lies there with his eyes half closed sucking.  Sometimes he whines quietly.  Sometimes you can see his mouth going as if he was nursing.  We wonder if it was caused by him being taken from his mom at 6 weeks of age.

Trey loves to play tug 'o war.  He'll bring you toys and while they're clenched in his rather impessive jaws he'll bark and stare intently at you. 

                                 

Trey was still just a big pup himself when Kait adopted Sooki.  Like many small needle-toothed pups, Sooki pestered the heck outta Trey.  He was amazingly patient and gentle with her.  He seemed to understand that when she was very small she didn't understand about bad behaviour. As Sooki grew, Trey's reaction to her hyperactive bites and rough play became firmer as slowly he taught her what was and wasn't acceptable. 

He's a marvellous part of wonderful, blended group of cats and dogs.

He's just the suckiest member of the group.