As faithful readers of this blog will know, I consider lighthouses a sacred trust. They are important. Vitally important. And I am not the only one.

Even though it was a modest light on the harbour site, in Digby there was a dispute over a lighthouse which was resolved in typical Canadian style without war. Just like the Canadian dispute with Denmark over Hans Island. Since I am named after that island, I consider it sacred too, and it was also resolved amicably between Canada and Denmark

It took more than 30 years to resolve the argument over the Digby lighthouse.  (I could not call it a “fight” in good conscience). It had a been a fixture in Digby for 70 years until it was removed by the Canadian air force in one of its worst ever dereliction of duties. At the time, the Canadian Coast Guard brought the lighthouse to Saint John New Brunswick for “storage.”  Of course, like so many things governments do, such as income tax impositions which were also supposed to be temporary, this act too seemed to be permanent. For about 30 years it was a fixture in the New Brunswick harbour.

But fault also lay with the people of Nova Scotia who failed to honour and protect the Lighthouse as was their heavy duty. Many people of Digby actually forgot about it, as impossible as that sounds. Eventually, the Digby council sent a delegation to the Saint John Waterfront Development Corporation and urged them to give it back to Digby, where they said it belonged.

And guess what happened? In true Canadian fashion they gave it back! Can you imagine Donald Trump giving something back? Light the Eiffel Tower for example? Of course not. That is not how he sees Americans becoming great again. For the same reason he wants the Panama Canal back even though the United States gave it to Panama.

The Saint John Waterfront Development Corporation however was a good Canadian neighbour! A spokesman for that corporation, Kent Macintyre said, “We have three lighthouses on the waterfront, so handing back one to help invigorate the heritage development of another Bay of Fundy community is wonderful.”  On October 19, 2012 the lighthouse came home to Digby thanks to the honest Canadians of Saint John New Brunswick.

Only in Canada! That’s why I love Canada!  That’s why we don’t have to make Canada great again. It is already great! As Aristotle would have said, ‘Canada is great-souled.”  And that is greatness indeed.

But that was not the entire story. When the lighthouse returned it was badly in need of repairs and as it turned out the National Trust for Canada opened a campaign headed “this Lighthouse matters” to stimulate historical restoration or conservation of lighthouses, so the citizens of Digby got together and the Digby pier light got first place after receiving 219,000 votes from around the world and the funds were used to fix it up again. It looked pretty snazzy on the harbour, I must say. Some people know what’s important!

In 1604 the famous French explorer Samuel Champlain named the town Port-Royal. Now we call it Annapolis Royal on the Annapolis Basin.

The French had tried a few times to establish successful settlements until 1605 when they started one that worked at Port Royal Nova Scotia. This one was led by Pierre Dugua le Sieur de Mons and worked mainly because they were helped by the local Mi’kmaq.

The Mi’kmaq offered their valuable knowledge about the land and its inhabitants that proved immeasurably helpful to the new arrivals. They also became military allies. The alliance lasted for 150 years. And, of course, many of them joined the French in their religion as well. They became Christians.

Christiane and I visited the reconstructed Habitation on what is now a designated  historic site of Canada. It is located close to where the original one was believed to be. The reconstructed Habitation was completed in 1941 and was instrumental in providing an example of how such projects should be handled. The reconstruction was based on Champlain’s picture plan of the settlement.

Before Europeans arrived the people now called Mi’kmaq were called L’Nu’k which like names claimed by so many Indigenous Peoples means, “the people.” The Mi’kmaq lived here for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived. The traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq included all of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and part of New Brunswick including the land north of the St. John River and the Gaspe area of Quebec. In other words, it included pretty well all the land we travelled on for 3 weeks in the Maritimes. The Mi’kmaq called the southern part of Nova Scotia Kespukwitk which means “the end of the flow.”

The first two years of the French settlement were very hard and many of them died, even though they had help from the Mi’kmaq. As a result morale was understandably very low among those settlers. As a result, Champlain wisely started a social group in the winter of 1606 to 1607 called the Order of Good Cheer. What a great name! The group had regular nights of singing, feasting, and story-telling. Naturally, some beverages were also consumed. How could you have an Order of Good Cheer without that? The Mi’kmaq chiefs were often invited to sit at the head table with the “gentlemen.”

Bed & Roses B & B

Today the historic site is called Port Royal. A number of years ago we stayed for a number of days at a lovely B &B. It was elegant, but also comfortable.

It is also an artistic community. Now the community admits “Visitors are invited to delve into the rich Mi’kmaq history and heritage, witnessing its enduring impact on our vibrant culture.”

Annapolis Royal,, Nova Scotia, is a lovely town but we got there so late, because we chatted with the Langlais family too long, so we resolved to return later. We only had time for one stop.

This was the amazing Annapolis Royal Historic Garden.  This is one of my favorite gardens in Canada and we stop here every time we are in the area. I love garden, but hate gardening.  I guess that means I am either very lazy, or morally corrupt, or both.

The flowers, particularly the roses, were lovely, even though it was late September. Life is good, in a garden. As long as you don’t have to work in it.

The beautiful gardens are found on a lovely setting overlooking a tidal river valley.  The gardens proudly showcase hundreds of rose cultivars and thousands of fragrant and beautiful blossoms.  I managed to catch a pollinator leaving a flower in a photograph. I always like to photograph the pollinators, but rarely catch them in flight. This was a rare and unexpected treat.

A single rose can be my garden; a single friend, my world” – Leo Buscaglia 

I even photographed a fallen leaf on a green grass. I liked how the image showed the recently fallen and not so recently fallen in a mirror image.

A beautiful garden in autumn. Life doesn’t get much better than that.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said “The world laughs in Flowers.”  He as a wise man.

On the way home I stopped to photograph some trees starting to show the autumn colours. I love autumn. What’s not to like about it?

Albert Camus was another wise man. He said, “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

Ocean Hillside B & B Digby Nova Scotia

Today we had one of the strangest experiences ever at a B & B.  We met a young couple from Rimouski, Quebec, where stayed for the night on the way here. They are Samuel and Naomi.  They explained that they were sailors.  What did that mean, we asked?  Does it mean they sail around the world in sail boats? Not at all. They sail on cargo ships mainly in and around Hudson Bay, but also the Great Lakes. They deliver supplies to people in the High Arctic. In fact, a CBC Gem film was made about such people, called High Arctic Crawlers. Each year they spend about 5 months at sea and the rest of the time back home. They work on separate ships by choice to ensure it is not difficult for others having a married couple on a ship.

We had a fascinating talk with them.  Life on the sea is incredibly interesting and challenging. They are both well versed in the arcane maritime laws that officers are expected to know. Even though they are much younger than us, we had great discussions on a variety of topics.  We spent hours sitting around the breakfast table talking rather than exploring. We have never done that before. We have always like staying at B & B’s on account of the interesting people to talk to, but this was special. It was a most congenial morning that stretched into lunch. At the end of the trip, someone asked me what was the best part of the trip, and I said without hesitation, meeting this interesting couple.  We hope to see them again.

Monsieur Robert served us crepes Suzette. We dined in style with a French chef. We have landed on our feet in Digby Nova Scotia.

As if this visit was not enough, we had another one the next day.

After that strange experience, the next day was even stranger. We continued our conversation with our new young Quebec friends who like us were here for a few days and were joined by 2 interesting American women. We have a long and lovely chat with all 4 of them. It lasted even longer than the first day. We stayed and talked right through the morning until Monsieur Robert came to let the American women gently know that they had to leave as they had to clean the room before the new guests arrived.

We talked about everything under the sun, but particularly the fascinating laws of the sea. We even got into some politics, which is often difficult with Americans. Of course, these women were New Englanders, not Trumpsters.

We had never talked with anyone that long at a B & B before. And we have stayed at many B & B’s.  The American women wanted to stay longer but the rooms were all booked. That was a pity. For us all.