It was situated just perfectly to lie there and either look up at the canopy of leaves overhead, or out at the beauty of the lake with all it's changing views of water & trees & color. I took this next picture by mistake - pushed the button with the camera pointed down - but it actually is nice to have, and reminds me of the stillness of sitting on the porch and just watching the leaves dance their way to the earth:
The day that we left (Thanksgiving Sunday), it was cool and rainy, but we did stop at Digby for lunch and had some of the famous (world-renowned is how the waitress described them) Digby scallops! They were indeed delicious!
And our day ended with a delicious Thanksgiving meal with our friends Paul & Sarah:
Several people have been asking me about Hurricane Matthew. It did affect Halifax - we saw extremely strong wind and quite a lot of rain - although not as much as was originally predicted. But we were safe inside our condo watching the storm happening outside. It was much, much worse north of here, especially in Cape Breton by the sounds of it. We continue to be blessed with some really great fall weather.
One of our expeditions this week was to Point Pleasant Park. It is a civic historic park, criss-crossed with 39 km. of very good walking trails. We did not walk all of those trails! We did walk around the perimeter of the park - likely close to 4 km. This park used to be rented from the British Government for about 10 cents a year - there was apparently a huge ceremony for the handing over of the official dime every year! According to our tour guide yesterday (on our bike tour which I will write about another day!), it is now a Parks Canada site, so I am not sure if the British Government still receives their Canadian dime!
We arrived there by City bus, and just as we were to get off, our bus driver gave us a bit of information - he was wonderful! He told us that during the war, there was a huge net stretched between these two islands to stop submarine ships from coming through into the Halifax harbour:
According to the bus driver, his dad was still alive then and told the story that at least one submarine did manage to get through before the net was lowered. It toured around the Harbour, and then got back out again, but they never did actually see it. Our driver then strongly suggested we spend some time looking at the monuments just up ahead on the path. He was a very hospitable City bus driver!
The monuments were indeed very touching. They were erected and are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The furthest one has the traditional Cross of Sacrifice and the sides are inscribed with the names of 3257 Canadian men and women who were buried at sea as a result of the World Wars. It includes the names of the those who sailed on the merchant ships as well - the ones that would travel in a convoy to carry cargo to Britain and the USSR during war years. Many of those merchants, as well as members of the Navy and the Army, were buried at sea. It was very touching to walk around the monument - many, many names!!
This was the plaque beside the tall mast that you see next to the tree:
I love the inscription: Remember well to whom you owe your comfortable berth.
As we carried along the path, there were other reminders of the military presence that had been so important on this harbour for so many years:
And then I decided it was time to lighten things up - Art had no idea I was taking this picture, but it felt like it was an opportunity to good to miss!
From there we just enjoyed the sites along the walking trail. It was very peace-full. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:
As we were leaving the Park, we saw this beautiful red tree - I am standing beside it so that I could remember I was really here - and this tree was really red!
It was a great way to spend a couple of hours in sunny Nova Scotia - and finished off with a bowl of seafood chowder at Salty's by the Harbour!
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