Goodbye to Blue Rocks

Pema Chodron is a Buddhist monk
who resides in a monastery on Cape Breton Island,
Nova Scotia.  During this past year she has been
my teacher via her books.  I just finished
When Things Fall Apart.  Pema talks about
the present moment as our best teacher:  whatever
is before you, simply breathe it in and be aware.

The day before leaving Blue Rocks, Jeff pushed
our borrowed sea kayak into our Subaru:  its long
nose broke our windshield.

Then, on the way from Blue Rocks to Vermont, our car's engine
blew in Augusta, Maine, four hours from home.
We are still waiting for a replacement engine to be
popped into the Subara, hopefully by next Monday.

Yesterday, the g and h and the enter key stopped working
on my laptop:  a wee bit difficult to edit the book I finished
while in Canada.

Breathe.  Be aware.  Borrow Jeff's laptop.  Breathe.

I didn't think leaving Canada would be so difficult.  

But it was.  As beautiful as this area of Nova Scotia is,
it is not as beautiful as our new friends.  We will miss Kerry and David,
Erik, Faye and Katrina.

Friendship is the gift that makes any  land breathtaking.

We will slowly wind our way back to Virginia, 

after walking the trails in Vermont, 

kayaking on the pond,

tending our garden,

catching crawdads and salamanders and painted turtles,

and sleeping under a star studded sky.

The adventure continues.

Dedicated to Ann Schaffner

 The sun has finally arrived

in Blue Rocks.  And with the

sun, two borrowed kayaks

found their way to our home.

Blue Rocks Kayak Routes

After a short drive down to the end of  The Point,

we slip our kayaks into the sea;  the rest is bliss.

slipping under the bridge in Stonehurst

Making Waves

Village of Stonehurst

Lunch With a View

I dedicated my paddling to Ann Schaffner,

a friend from Vermont, who recently

died after a short struggle with cancer. 

Ann,

You are a part of my Vermont,

 of snow shoeing through sun kissed woods,

 x-country skiing back in the winter meadow,

 walking the trails through hemlock laden woods,

 canoeing on the Green River Reservoir,

 talking chickens and bees and beavers and apple trees,

 munching from picnic baskets by the pond,

 and sharing your love of our world through many meals. 

You truly stepped through the door full of curiosity.

Thank you for sharing 

this wild and wonderful life. 

When Death Comes by Mary Oliver (1935 - ) Timeline Original Language English When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn; when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse to buy me, and snaps the purse shut; when death comes like the measle-pox; when death comes like an iceberg between the shoulder blades, I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering: what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness? And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood, and I look upon time as no more than an idea, and I consider eternity as another possibility, and I think of each life as a flower, as common as a field daisy, and as singular, and each name a comfortable music in the mouth, tending, as all music does, toward silence, and each body a lion of courage, and something precious to the earth. When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom; taking the world into my arms. When it's over, I don't want to wonder if I have made my life something particular, and real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

Bonnie and Clyde in Blue Rocks

Kerry and I were walking by
the fishing shacks in Blue Rocks
when we spotted two goats on
the island.  Pete Tanner waved
to us and asked if we wanted to
come on over to meet them.
When in doubt say YES!!!

Pete and Shirley's Cabin on the Island in Blue Rocks

We motored the short distance
in the gut and landed on Pete's island:
the new home to  Bonnie and Clyde.
Pete bought the two at an auction
in Lewistown, NS.

Bonnie and Clyde

"Pete, did you know one of them
was pregnant when you bought
her?"

"Nope, but she's now called Clydie."
(the tri-coloured goat)

In the early days around here,
sheep lived on the islands, foraging
for food and providing food for the
locals.

Shirley and Pete, Clydie and Bonnie

Pete is definitely a local.  The oldest

house in Blue Rocks was Pete's

great-grandfather's house.  

Bonnie looking for lunch

Feeling right at home.

Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia

Little Red Shed

Shacks at the end of our lane.

Bonnie taking a stroll

Kerry and Clyde

This gate won't stop me!

I need to stay put (somewhere) long enough 

to get me a couple of milking goats....

and chickens, and honey bees, and....

The Gut in Blue Rocks

Thank You Mom for My Cape Breton Family

To celebrate Mother's day,
I took a wee trip up to Mabou, Cape Breton Island,
home of the Beaton clan,
my mom's people.  It was an
"in-between meals" trip, as my
brother Rick likes to say:  4 1/2 hours.

In 1809, my great-great- great grandfather,

Alexander Beaton, sailed from the Highlands of Scotland, 

and landed on Prince Edward Island.  After only a few years,

 he jumped on a boat with his brother Finlay,

and sailed (maybe even rowed) over to Cape Breton Island:

settling in the area called Finlay's Point or Mabou Mines.

His grandson, and my great-grandfather,

 Alexander Beaton married Catherine Cameron.

Catherine (Cameron) Beaton
Great Grandmother

Alexander Beaton
Great Grandfather

I first visited Cape Breton when I was

sixteen.  A lot has changed since then, eh?

Gertie Beaton (mom) Pati, Jon, Jude and Richard Prashaw (dad)

Claire Beaton, my

 first cousin once-removed

welcomed me into her convent
of the Congregation of Sisters of Notre Dame.

This "once-removed" bit is a
hierarchical technicality.
I don't feel removed at all from Claire,
except in distance:  I live in Virginia (not during the last two years)
and Claire lives in Mabou, with a small group
of amazing and gracious women.

Sisters Bertholde, Catherine and Claire

Sisters Bertholde, Catherine and Elanor

Sister Catherine

View of Mabou Harbour from my bedroom

  I barely kept up with
 a couple of septuagenarians, a few
octogenarians and one nonagenarian:  by day
two I needed a nap.  It's a good thing I only stayed with the sisters a couple of days:
homemade cinnamon buns, cookies and cakes,
and fresh, Cape Breton biscuits with
homemade marmalade.  How could I refuse?

Even though it was a school night, 

Bernard Cameron, my cousin, and his family,

Nancy, Maili and Alisdair, joined Claire,

Catherine, her sister (and Bernard's mom), and myself for dinner.

Bernard,Nancy,Sr. Claire, Maili, Catherine, and Alisdair
Camerons and Beatons
and Maggie (the dog)

Alisdair and Maili Cameron

Bernard teaches Gaelic and speaks Gaelic to

his children and also to Maggie, the dog. The 

children are fluent but it is apparent that the dog

 doesn't understand a word!

After a short, but oh so lovely visit with the clan,

I returned home to Blue Rocks, in time

to attend an Ashley MacIsaac concert

in Lunenburg.  This fabulous Cape Breton fiddler

packed the Zion Lutheran Church on a 

drizzly, Saturday evening.  With strings

shredding off his bow, Ashley fiddled,

and danced, and sang his way through

the evening.  True to Cape Breton style,

and with a slight lilt of the tongue,

he peppered his playing with hilarious stories.

All in all, a great way to celebrate

mother's day weekend.

On this mother's day,

I thank you, Gertie Beaton,

for giving me 

my Cape Breton roots.

And to Alec Beaton, my son:

 I love being your mom.

Mòran taing.  (MAW-run TAH-eeng) "Many thanks."

painting of Gertie Beaton

Alec Beaton and his mom, Jude Prashaw

sky over Cape Breton

  

Spring needs a GPS

Spring came and she left,
then she came again,
and left.
She's confused.
Just when I think Spring
needs a GPS to locate
Blue Rocks,
she shows up with
eye-blinking beauty:
today, at least.

 Spring may come and go but I think these two
are here to stay.

She's Called Nova Scotia

Rita MacNeil, singer, song writer,

daughter of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia,

was laid to rest in her hometown 

in Big Pond, Cape Breton this week.

"Upon my death, I want to be cremated immediately. 

My ashes to be place in my tearoom teapot – two if necessary.”

And so she was.

Rita MacNeil:

Cape Breton,

Nova Scotia,

Canada and the world says,

May you rest in peace.

Happy Birthday Alec

 Alec Beaton Connor,
today, and every day,
I celebrate you, my son,
my one and only.

You are kind, considerate,
loving, affectionate, smart,
 observant,wickedly funny,
determined and curious.

You are a joy to behold
and to hold.

I love sharing this life with you.
I love being your mom.
I love you more than you know.
 
Happy Birthday,
Mom (or, as you say, mum)