The Summer Rush

Report: September, 2011

September means summer rushing to an end as fall color changes around the maritime area. As well as that overwhelming revelation that the chilly wind is coming back. Only seeing colors change on the West Coast never prepared me for the stunning and seemingly instant change from green to yellow to red.

Watching mother nature change the world around me made me long for a change in my immigration status. We filed almost 10 months ago and even though I'm excited to be here I would like the piece of mind knowing everything we turned in is acceptable. So I continue to stalk the mail carrier every day at 10:45 am.

We started the month off with a Keith's Brewery Tour! It's a 45 min tour of the oldest brewery in Nova Scotia. All employees are dress in time period appropriate attire. They have you follow them through time while seeing the inner workings of the original building downtown. The tour is around $16 but you do get entertained and drink beer throughout the whole tour so the cost seemed totally fair to us. Here's some pics for your amusement:

The timeline of events for the life of Alexander Keith.

Beautiful copper casks were buffed to a high shine all throughout the tour.

My favorite employee did a wonderful job staying in character while answering questions from the group like a pro.

Thank goodness we've evolved to using hoses and pipe to transport ingredients around. Although I must say, this copper pitcher sure has style.

The original name of the current Red Stag Tavern was Stag's Head. Every time I see the symbol I start to think about Game of Thrones.

A helpful barmaid.

There is something so cozy about a pub with a well worn floor and kegs full of beer just ready to be poured.

As we ended the tour through many twisting tunnels the employees and any guests who knew the song "Barrett's Privateers" joined in. That is the local folk song which is sung in every pub in town. Here's a link so you can check it out! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-PQbdmQRwc

University Lectures:

Saint Mary's University has a program with the local library system where they hold college level lectures that can be attended by the general public for free. Goose convinced me I should check them out. So every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon I have had the extreme pleasure of learning about the Tudor Dynasty and Archaeology. The instructors have rocked my world as far as specialized knowledge, presentation and interaction with the group. I've completed the assigned reading and look forward to every class. One of the greatest dynamics that I have seen is putting retired adults into a lecture/Q&A situation with college students. Half the time it's interesting just to watch the light bulb go on over a young adults head as an 80 year old woman schools them on history.


Frog Pond:

In our ongoing series of checking out the local parks we decided to keep close to home and headed up the hill to Frog Pond. We may have been breathing pretty hard by the time we walked there but the path around the lake was so serene it was worth the effort.

Crafty Time:

I have mentioned Inkwell Boutique in previous posts but I just have to say it's still such an awesome store downtown. They offered a letter press class where you could go into a converted truck that has been traveling through the US and Canada. A girl out of Oregon came up with the idea and called it Moveable Press. Since Inkwell Boutique helped sponsor her project she drove up to Halifax. We got to chose between creating a Victorian style calling card, event poster or gift tags. With the holidays coming up I figured gift tags would be perfect. There was something so fulfilling about performing an art that changed the way the world works. Pulling down on the lever, watching the moveable typeface that you aligned get smeared with ink then seeing the final product rest in your hands was something I'll never forget.

Italian anyone?

Our food adventure was to attend the Italian Canadian Cultural Association weekend where all things Italian are celebrated. It gave us echos of the Greek festival we had attended earlier this year. They did a good job making everyone feel welcome. They had everything from film presentations, language classes, raffles, live music, a new fiat on display and of course food. The coolest thing we found out was that they offered cooking classes after Thanksgiving. I promptly signed up and will go into more detail about that during the October post.


An Amazing Evening:


Goose has always adored a man by the title of The Amazing Randi. Most folks will know him as the man that continues to offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event. James Randi is a magician of renown skill and has no problem debunking charlatans that scam people for money. His speaking engagement we attended did not disappoint. It was a standing room only event held at Saint Mary's University. What really threw the event into perspective for me was watching this man who is 83 give the most engaging talk after finding out that he just recovered from colon cancer and a double heart bypass. His passionate presentation concerning critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas rocked our world. If he's in your area I highly recommend attending his lecture.


The art of the compass:

In our world of GPS in our cars, phones, iPads and all the cool other things that can track our whereabouts Goose and I decided to go old school and attend an Orienteering Class. We had a pretty revealing moment when we looked at each other and talked about how long ago we had actually held a compass to navigate anywhere. I believe you're officially old when you start timing things in decades :(

The Orienteering Association of Nova Scotia put on an hour long presentation on how to use their special maps, the differences between compass qualities and competitive vs. casual exploring. By the time we took the class they only had a few events left before they closed for the winter season but we know for sure once spring fever hits they will be out in the parks again setting up all kinds of events. I'm looking forward to tracking down control markers, using a unique hole punching device on my special score card and hitting the trail again to hunt down the next one.

I have one more HUGE post to make for September. But until I get to organizing the photos Goose and I will continue to wake up to the sound of the fog horn, the rustling of leaves and the knowledge that Winter is Coming...

Eagle Out