In our last blog, we published excursion notes by two team members, side by side, creating an experimental duet of ideas and impressions. This week, we’re taking a similar approach, only the subject is lichens. Two authors, two points of view, side by side. The Super-organism by Doug Pope To appreciate the strangeness of lichens, […]
Author: Doug Pope
Flowering Trees
Lessons from a Wasp
Could a small wasp expand my vocabulary? Reveal secrets of biology? I woke particularly early one day and found this beauty buzzing around my kitchen. I caught the wasp, photographed and released her–all in a matter of minutes. Then I began to investigate. What I learned is: the Ichneumonid is a common reddish-brown wasp, with […]
Regenerative Tourism
Celes Davar looks like a middle-aged biology professor who’s spent a lot of time outdoors. His hair is thin on top, offset by a neatly trimmed beard, big glasses and an even bigger smile. Though busy with clients from across the country, when he zoom chats with me, there’s no rush, no sense of impatience, […]
Painting the province
Congratulations to Joy Laking on the publication of her new book, The Painted Province, Nova Scotia through an Artist’s Eyes. This attractive paperback features over 200 paintings of Nova Scotia. Accompanying the pictures are stories of people, places, travel and adventure. Joy describes her first memories of landscape painting, growing up in a family of […]
The River
My sister is upset. She owns property along the contentious Avon River in Mount Denson. Why is this river contentious? The nearby town of Windsor built a causeway across the water 50 years ago, causing this extraordinary tidal system to fill with silt. A river that once boasted the highest tides in the world and […]
Wholeness, Healing and Joy Session
Friends gather at the Centre. There’s a peace here surrounded by the quiet beauty of nature. The group sit outside, buoyed by the hillside view. Linda Longmire opens the session by introducing the concept of mindfulness. The aim is to access depths that lead to wholeness, healing and joy. The means to this wholeness and joy is through the […]
Goldenrod misunderstood
A wild flower misunderstood? Reviled for no reason? Such seems to be the case with goldenrod, incorrectly blamed for causing seasonal allergies. It is a bright golden, conspicuous flower that blooms in late summer and early fall. Take a minute to observe and you’ll see the flower attracts bees, butterflies and moths. It’s pollinated by […]
Big Tancook Island
The ferry ride to Big Tancook was free of charge. We’d tried to go the day before, but the operation was experiencing difficulties so we called off the six riders who’d signed on for the adventure and went elsewhere. Now things looked different. Driving to Chester in the early morning, we found the ferry up […]
Building with Style
Curved walls and clover-leafed awnings, shaped windows, cedar-shingled exteriors, skylights, and wider-than-expected halls–not the look of your usual school. These visionary touches lead a visitor irresistibly from the sunny entrance to a double classroom/ auditorium where the hand-built windows reach to the floor, allowing small children at their desks a view of the woods outside. […]