Of Airports and People

As I wearily rolled my luggage out the front door of the airport in Halifax heading for the Park n fly pick-up, I breathed in the tang of fresh air with a hint of ocean. You don't get that at SFO or O'Hare or even Toronto or Montreal. It's that gentle scent of Nova Scotia that reminds me I'm home.

What really struck me though, was the older couple standing on the sidewalk, well, the fellow was in a wheel chair. They were talking animatedly. As I walked past the woman looks up at me with a big smile on her face and says "dear, how many loonies in a roll? Is it twenty?" I nodded and replied I think so, I wasn't sure.

She had no idea who I was or even if I was Canadian, let alone spoke English. But she asked. Just like that. I was drawn into a conversation, asked in that way to take part. There are precious few places in the world today where that happens. Certainly not in a major city in the U.S. or Canada. But then, Halifax is a major city on the Atlantic coast. Sure, less than a million people, but still not a small town.

It's just one of those things. People here will share something with you, a way of quickly connecting. And it seems that more often than talking about the weather, we like to share a little joke or amusing quip or settle a friendly debate. Human connections. That's Nova Scotia, that's Atlantic Canada.

Spring Carpets of Blossoming Green

Nova Scotia in spring, like all seasons, there is always something special. Living off the Atlantic coast, we get to see dramatic and swiftly shifting skies, raging tempests and a new patchwork of nature's art every day. Spring is no exception.

While the winter harbours many novel sites and the gentle fall of snow can be comforting, nothing renders an uptick to the heart like the blossoms of spring on the trees, bushes and lawns of the city and countryside. The ancient and heavy oaks of the city's south end drape across the street, seem to burst with glee as they open their leaves.

The Queen Anne's Lace and Lilac trees seemingly chuckle as their leaves unfurl and the blossoms push up. Tulips wink from flower beds and the willows on the bend sway as if singing the coming of summer. Standing on a hilltop looking down Halifax harbour or driving across the bridge, one sees the multitude shades of green around the basin. The alders and saplings blush red with the warming of their veins.

Yes, spring in Nova Scotia, it's a heady mix.

Halifax is Like Shuffle on your iPod

One of the reasons I like using shuffle on my iPod or iTunes is that you can set a bunch of music to the mood you're in, and let's face it, different weather invokes different moods. And different moods are a great break up in what would otherwise be a monotonous life.

Halifax is like having shuffle for weather. It changes often, and so you can shape your music to the mood that suits the weather. And isn't there some kind of pleasure in that? A rainy day might inspire some kind of cooler or chilled music, while a sunny day may inspire a good rock n roll tune. No matter your taste, I suspect we all associate different kinds of weather with different music.

Just one of those little things that makes Nova Scotia an interesting and inspiring place to live. A place where moods, weather and life can be as exciting and unsuspecting as hitting shuffle on your iPod.

Do you change your music with the weather?

The Sweet Treat of Spring

In the deep dark of February I'm like many Nova Scotians - take me down south for some green and beach time. And who doesn't deserve a little break from winter? Yet living in such tropical climates would mean sacrificing perhaps one of the best things about Nova Scotia - the ever changing seasons. Even perhaps, how you can have little morsels of other seasons in the middle of a season.

Like a day in mid-January when there is no snow and the sun shines warm and the day hints at the coming of spring. Our hearts leap a little and we bask in the warmth for a day or two. Or in high summer when a day cools down with an ocean breeze and you reach for a light sweater and suddenly your looking a little forward to autumn. To drives down to the Annapolis Valley along the Bay of Fundy as it blazes in colour.

As spring eases in we witness the splendour of new growth, flowers bursting with the little hiccups of crocus' winking of the summer to come. Tulips tease with their green tendrils before exploding in colour on front lawns as you whisk by houses in the city. Even for a brief week or two we smile at the dandelions - before we have to pluck them from our lawns.

But this is just another part of what makes Nova Scotia so special; the swiftly changing seasons, the atmospheric days and climatic synergies that roil across the year.

(Photo Credit: Baroing on Flickr)

The Sweet Ocean Embrace

I've been fortunate enough to visit just about every continent on this planet; over 90 countries in my life so far. Deep into the interior of Africa, across Asia and all over Europe...even climbing the heights of the mountain road from the airport near Caracas up and then down into Caracas in the wee hours of the morning...and being held at gun point in the jungle in Venezuela. All sights and sounds vivid in my mind.

But one of those most poignant elements of life in Nova Scotia is the intoxicating scent of the sea on a foggy or rainy day. As winter ebbs into spring and the rains commence, the snow fading from mind and eye, you can sometimes scent the salty sea on the air. Somehow it is comforting, a gentle yet ever present reminder that you are alive.

As beautiful as Canada is in the West, it is the siren call of the sea on a foggy day, the miasma of the mists carrying the oceans whispers. Standing on a dock on the harbour, one almost feels the presence of the old fishing fleets and ancient naval vessels that plied these waters centuries before. The history is rich and these scents of the sea are what tell us who live here that we are home and embraced by the ocean we live and play beside.

(Photo: Courtesy cmcsailor's photostream on Flickr)

Discovering Nova Scotia Gems

Yet another one of the great little things I love about living in Nova Scotia is the way you can stumble across talent in the real and virtual world here.

Tonight I was going through my Twitter "follows" of recent and came across a very talented Nova Scotia artist. She's active on Twitter and on the Web...because of Twitter, I was able to view, and admire, her work. Her name is Mary Ann Archibald (her painting picture left, and hope she doesn't mind me putting it there!) and she has quite an accomplished career behind her.

From spring through fall I drive all over this province with my camera and go hiking, ready to shoot a shot of a unique spot or a stunning seasonal moment..and sometimes just the bland moments in our lives. Yet as you drive the winding roads of Nova Scotia, and we have some great twisty roads, I like to rev my Jag down into low gear and howl it out onto the tight corners, you can also discover highly talented artisans.

In fact, Nova Scotia seems to have sprouted quite a few artisans judging from the Studio Map a good long-time friend and associated gave to me recently. This coming spring/summer I'm going to be sure to explore the artisans in our province more. The few times I've stopped into a gallery I've enjoyed some great chats and even ended up purchasing a few pieces here and there.

There are so many gifts this little province offers that we miss when we're not looking..online or off!

Ocean Jewels of Winter

The Atlantic is, as many a sailor over as many centuries will attest, an unforgiving mistress. A tempestuous and roiling body of water, rarely at rest and even then her waves crest and roll. When the Atlantic howls with a furied storm, the waves crash resoundingly onto the shoreline, frothing and rolling, tossing flotsam and driftwood about like leaves falling in the autumn winds.

As the ocean settles from a tempest and the seas fall away and ease off again, one notices a beautiful sight. For despite her anger and tantrum, the oceans swells leave what I have come to call the Jewels of Winter...rocks covered in thick ice. Sometimes sparkling, at other times a dull pearl awaiting the hand to polish.

These jewels are fleeting for the most part. Delicate lights, fragile, yet hopeful. They drape over the rocks or rest like a blanket of pearls...soon to be taken back by the ocean, claimed as if such jewels were a taunt of the mistress of the seas. But as they stand in the bright light of day winking and sparkling, one cannot help but catch a breath and take a picture.