It's a new dawn, and a new day, and a new year ... and I'm feeling good

Today found Dexter* and I heading to Lawrencetown for an invigorating beach walk.

Our goal was this wonderful hill just past the Lawrencetown Beach.

We had a choice of walking on the trails behind the beach,

or along the Trans Canada Trail.

We did a section of each and then slogged up the steep hill.

The reward is a terrific view and a stroll by a rapidly eroding cliff.  As you can see Dexter was wildly unimpressed by the cliff.

And I imagine the view didn't impress him much either.

I found both to be more than adequate and very much worth the hike.

Clearly it was stormy out on the ocean as the waves were big,

 and sheets of rain were visible on the horizon.

It seems to be a marvellous tradition in Nova Scotia to visit the beach on Christmas and New Year's Day as I was not alone in my explorations.  But it wasn't crowded.

We crossed back over one of several boardwalks and noticed something on the side of it

it was an unexpected sign.

"If you enjoy this beautiful place, please remember all those and their families that sacrificed so much !  Let us remember not only today but every day"   D.W.S.

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* BTW Sooki is getting over a wrist infection which is compounded by the fact that she has recently been diagnosed with Lyme disease.  She cannot go for walks until she stops limping.

A good lost and a bad lost.

Last week I met up with chums Ros (say "Roz") and her hubby Terry at the Noggins Corner Farm corn maze up in the valley.

This year's maze design was in honour of Canada 150.

Ros was wicked good at figuring out our route through the maze.

In fact she was so good that we didn't get lost.   So .... I felt obliged to take the map from her and just start making random turns in order to see if we could get lost and then still find our way out.

Along the way there were stations where one would read facts and perhaps do a rubbing to add to a sheet that you take through the maze.  These stations are to help educate children who come on school trips to visit the maze.  Being children at heart we joined in the learning experience.

Despite my best efforts to get us lost, Ros not only got us back on track but stopped to help a group of kids who were trying to find their way back out of the maze.

 What a fun way to pass a couple of hours with good friends.

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In contrast I had a very different "lost" experience Tuesday last.

The dogs and I went for a nice pre-lunch walk at 11 am at Sandy Lake Park.  It's a marvellous off leash park (from October - June) with some wide road trails and some woodsy clear trails.  I enjoy meandering through the woods.

It was a lovely day that steadily warmed as we walked.

We followed several trails that we'd walked before.  When the trail we were on crossed a wider trail, rather than turning right onto that wider trail as I had in the past I followed the trail onto the far side and kept following it.  It was well trod and clear.  

Would it be spoiling my tale if I told you that that was a pivotal mistake and lead to my subsequent state of "lostness" ?

There were even blue ribbons on trees marking the trail.  Sadly I had made an assumption that these trails would all loop back to my starting point ... 

as you have no doubt guessed that was a very wrong assumption.

Just because a tree has a ribbon on it doesn't mean jack shit in this case.

Blissfully unaware, I walked on ... and on.   When the trail finally met a power line with a clear ATV trail I thought it was the same power line that ran near the park entrance; sadly it wasn't, but I didn't realize that until I had walked another couple of kilometres.  

Upside down and lost.

It was now too late to turn back so I kept following the trail.  

Through the later part of what was no longer a fun hike, I texted my frustrated daughter to tell her I was a mite lost.  I say "frustrated" because I've done this before, and she's warned me about being more careful.  Luckily I had my phone external charger with me and my two loyal companions who apparently were just as lost as I.

When the trail curved and I saw this power station I knew where I was and it confirmed that I had been walking away from my starting point and was several kilometres and probably a couple of hours from my car.  

I recalled that there was a bit of a cross-country trail that might shorten my walk back.  So with blind determination enhanced by a dose of panic I illogically continued on.

 I knew that this trail should lead to a big open area that I'd visited before.  However at the top it petered out and I was faced with a wall of trees.  I actually blundered forward pushing my way through trees; committing the sin of getting even more lost.  At one point I just sat down but realized that no helicopter was coming to haul me outta there and set off again.  At last I saw some higher rocks and scrambled up them to see where the eff I was.  

I had been here a few years ago and knew there was a trail leading back down to the service road beside the 102.  The trouble was I had to follow three false leads and keep doubling back before I found the correct trail.

I was glad that finally I really knew where I was.

No this isn't my car.  I wasn't gone THAT long

I just wished that it wasn't still a couple of kilometres from my car.   

The dogs would find streams to refresh themselves in when they got hot.  I hadn't brought my water and for the first time all summer I forgot my hat.

I texted Kaitlyn to let her know I was finally on track and she reminded me yet again that I needed to STOP this random exploration.

The dogs and I reached the gravel service road and after a kilometre I scanned the slopes to my right for a path that would lead up into the woods and join up with the Jack Lake Trail which would hopefully lead me back to my car. 

Happily I found it easily but had mis-remembered how far that trail went.  Somehow I thought I was almost back to the car.  I still had a ways to go.

At some point I stopped taking photos or admiring the lovely scenery.

I have no clue how far I walked but I'm guessing 10-15 km.  What began as a one hour walk turned into four hours as I arrived back at my car at 3 pm.

Sooki immediately fell asleep.  

I think I've learned my lesson.

I suppose you're wondering ...

I suppose you're wondering why I'm sitting here in my undies in the middle of the day writing a blog.

Let me back up a bit.  

This morning I was going to take the dogs for a walk along the service road that runs off the Lucasville side road.  Been there lots of times.  It's one of our favourite spots.

You can imagine my surprise when my car decided to turn right at Beaverbank Road  two kilometres before my intended turning point.  Sometimes I just don't know WHAT my car is thinking; but since I was in the car and it was travelling at speed I felt it unsafe to jump out so decided to tag helplessly along to see where it was going.   

Apparently at some point in the past I had mentioned an abandoned radar station that was located 15 km up Beaverbank Road and my car had remembered that and felt that today's fabulous weather was a good reason to have an adventure.  Who am I to argue with a compact car with a mind of its own !

The radar station opened in 1950 to fill a pressing need to watch out for an imminent Soviet invasion.  By 1964 the technology was already out of date and the station was slowly shut down.  The only building remaining is the operations building in the top left corner of the image below and that was our destination on today's hike.

Roads and power poles that once serviced the people living there are the only other things that remain.  

 The long road that leads to the remaining ruins bears a warning.

Since "E.A." clearly wasn't deterred by the warning, neither were we.  

The remains of the operations building.

Some folk find graffiti bothersome but I like it.

Sometimes it raises some interesting questions: "Who is the wind?".   I guess that's as good a questions as "Who has seen the wind?".

"All Monsters are Human Cool"  could prompt a good discussion.

I wonder how they got up there to paint that flag ?

I usually try to get inside these buildings but in this case the "entrance" was fifteen feet off the ground and rather perilous to reach so sadly I had to settle for just seeing the outside.

And checking out some nearby ruined structures.

It was a very hot day and much of the walk revolved around finding ponds and puddles for the dogs to cool off in.  Turning to head back to the car I was struck by how far we had walked to reach our destination !

Yep.  Up over that hill and another kilometer past that.   Heading back we sometimes managed to find prettier side trails that took us off the blistering hot concrete.

And back to my car whose idea this whole outing had been, but who had opted to chill by the side of the road while the dogs and I went on our forced march.

And that brings us back to the present moment.

And me sitting in my underwear.

Do you wanna know why I am sitting here in my underwear ?

Tough luck -- I'm gonna tell you any way.

No wait.

I'll show you !

TICKS !    

I just took 14 Ticks off Sooki.  When I idly itched my belly button and found one gleefully hiding in there I pretty much stripped everything off and subjected myself to an inspection in my full length mirror.    My jeans are in the wash and the dogs have been checked again and again.

Stooopid car !

P.S.  I am a malicious person and press the ticks between pieces of Scotia tape.