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  By 1964 the technology was already out of date and the station was slowly shut down.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.

Living every day ...

The other day a dear friend reminded me of the importance of living each day to its fullest, so yesterday I went on-line to check tide times for Hall's Harbour and once suitably reassured that they were safe for a long beach walk, I went for a drive across the province to the marvellous Bay of Fundy.

Driving across the province isn't as onerous as it sounds; the distance from my door to Hall's Harbour is about 110 km or about just over a one hour drive.

Cruising through Centreville I felt compelled to stop at Charles Macdonald House as for the first time the flag was out and it was open.

Built as a one-storey house in 1910 by Macdonald who own a concrete factory in nearby Kentville, the second storey was added around 1917.

Though I didn't get to see it on my tour, apparently the bathtub is made out of concrete too.

It's not just that Charles Macdonald's house was made of concrete; pretty much everything inside and out was made of concrete.  Even the birdhouse hanging in the tree is made of concrete !  The grounds once were littered with concrete  figurines.

             

The bather has just been refurbished.

At one point there was even a life-size Moose which sadly was destroyed when hit by a car many years ago.

I was happy to finally get to see inside this unusual house.  As you might imagine it had a very musty smell.   Not sure I'd want to live in a concrete house in our damp climate.

Yep.  A concrete table.

Painted concrete ornamentation.

The Living Room.  BTW the Deer head ?   It's concrete too.

Like many places in Nova Scotia, the Charles Macdonald House does not get the attention or assistance it deserves and exists only through the support of a dedicated group of volunteers. Should you wish to learn more just click here.

After my tour I hopped back in my car for the ten minute drive to Hall's Harbour.

Though it was only two hours after high tide when I arrived, the boats were already sitting on the bottom of the harbour.

The tides of up to 48 feet, translate to a the rise and fall rate of around  EIGHT feet an hour ! The tides are approximately every six hours; not exactly every six hours or they'd be at the same time each day.  Each day the tides vary by around 50 minutes so that if high tide yesterday was at noon then high tide tomorrow will be around 12:50.   'course I'm ignoring the fact there are two high and two low tides at day; I only pay attention to the timing of the daylight tides.  That's why it was so important that I checked the tide time before I even set out from home.

The tide table told me that high tide was at 11:15 am.   That meant the tide would be going OUT for six hours.  I could walk the shore till well past 5 pm without worry.   If however low tide had been at 11:15 am then I would have to keep an eye on the rising sea for my whole walk to make sure I didn't get trapped in a cove by the rising water.

The view down the shore.

In the above shot the rocks are covered with green algae; a good hint that they will be underwater when the tide comes in.

Donald Trump's "comb-over"?

Farther down the shore I came across this rock formation which loomed  several feet above my head. Notice that the rocks are covered with sea weed.  Another not-to-be-ignored sign that a few hours from now the water would be well over my head too.  In other words I was walking on the ocean floor.

Wendy and Sooki checking out the view.

It was a hot day but the  constant breeze off the bay made for a pleasant walk.
  

Looking back toward Hall's Harbour.  Gosh, did we really walk that far?

It was a long walk and the dogs got hot.  They cannot drink the water in the bay as it is salt water but they managed to find fresh water dripping off the cliff-face.  I had brought a thermos of water for me which I never walk without.

There had been a few people on the shore near Hall's Harbour but after half an hour of walking the dogs and I were alone.  It is amazing how even in mid-Summer you can have the shore all to yourself.  I guess that's because most folk just want to go to the classic "pretty" sandy beaches to sun bathe or swim while I avoid such beaches with the dogs in the summer.

There are some lovely rocks to be found here.  My book "The Last Billion Years: A Geological History of the Maritime Provinces of Canada" tells me that much of this rock is basaltic lava. The cavities in the basalt have been partially infilled with orange chabazite crystals.  Dunno what chabazite is but it's sparkly and that's enough for me.  ;-)

  I always come home with my backpack weighed down with rocks.

Dunno what it is but it looks kewl.

Crystals worn down by the tides.    

Love these bumps on the face of this rock.  Wish I knew what caused them.

Sometimes I have to remind myself to look up and not just down at the rocks below my feet.

Trees just barely hanging on to the cliff above me.  

At 4:30 I texted my daughter, Kaitlyn to tell her I was just walking back to the car and would be getting home just after six o'clock.

At six o'clock I texted her to say I had just gotten back to my car -- it was a longer walk than I'd realized !

Just as I was walking up to the parking lot I spied some writing on a rock ...

 I even love the graffiti here !

In the end I got home just before eight pm having left home at noon.  What a long wonderful day.  Not sure about the rest of them but I sure lived yesterday to its fullest !