By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--January 20, 2024
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It's been snowing here in the Village since early this morning. Big, feathery flakes swirling down slowly with a reminder that each and every one of the Creator’s snowflakes is different in star-like design.
Last Winter, CFP’s first one in Nova Scotia, brought the Christmas Morning thrill of our first dusting of snow, followed later one other snowfall of several inches that had already melted by the end of the day.
I am one of those curious characters who carry from my childhood, a love of the snow.
My love of snow originates from my paternal Grandfather, Samuel Marshall, a talented artist, who, with his sketching pad, sat me on his knee at the first winter’s snowfall.
Drawing my attention to snow piling on garden posts seen through house windows, he would exclaim as he sketched, “Snow!” “Beautiful snow!”
Don’t remember how old I was when hearing the enthusiasm in my grandpa’s voice as he sketched the outside world in the snow. It had to be before my fifth year, when he passed away and well before my ninth year, when I was taken to the orphanage.
My grandfather, long gone, would still be saying, “Snow! Beautiful Snow” if he were still here, and would be happy in knowing his granddaughter still feels the way he did about the falling snow.
We will have been here, in this tiny Acadian Fishing Village two years the end of this May, and because of some our misadventures, friends we had to leave behind, continue to ask, how we’re doing.
Some are surprised that in our prayers we ask that we and CFP make it through this colder than usual Winter, one that puts available money for groceries well behind hydro and house heating bills.
So far we are managing to muddle through, while counting the days for the arrival of Spring, which, of course, follows every Winter, in which The Almighty, not politicized weather forecasters, politicians or the Global Warming hoax, remains in charge.
Depression, which sometimes falls on the heels of worrying about getting through winter, melts like the fallen snow, when we remember that all of those living in the north, are in the same boat.
Most of the friends we made during our time on the East Coast, were made at the Village Baseball Diamond, where many of our neighbors take their beloved pets for companionship and exercise.
There’s the delightful year-old scamp, ‘Cocoa’, who runs to the gate of the park from his nearby home, begging Brian to let him in, the minute he hears ‘Sir-Bark-A-Lot’ Yankee there.
Cocoa’s ‘parents’, Preston and Arlene are great cooks. Arlene gave us a great recipe for Cod Fishcakes and a jar of the best Zucchini Relish we ever tasted.
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There’s Heather and the gentle giant German Shepherd ‘Olivia’, who along with father, Ray and son, Pete, came to our house to while away last week’s blizzard with a game of Trivial Pursuit.
There’s Delores’ playful pup, ‘Sunny’, who runs to Brian every time she sees him, as a long lost friend.
There’s an energetic Beagle named Sky, who comes with Lori who hails from the beautiful State of Maine, the ever-bounding Olise, and French Bulldog, ‘Angus’ to mention just a few.
Brian seems to make new friends every time he takes Yankee out to the park.
The latest one, Darryl, owner of the adorable, Labradoodle, ’Marvelle’ blew our Winter Blues away, making us believe that Spring really is just around the proverbial corner.
Brian had been telling Darryl about Arlene’s yummy cod fish recipe and that it was time to make it again.
Darryl, who works down at the docks, told him “If you wait a few days, I will deliver fresh cod to your front door. And on Thursday, he brought 3 lbs. of fresh cod to our house. The fish cakes we made are already in the freezer.
So how are we liking it in ‘The House By The Sea’ in Nova Scotia.
With friends like Darryl and other dog owners, we know we have a good fighting chance to make it through this harsh Winter.
Where else could we ever have a neighbor who delivers fresh cod to our front door?
Meanwhile, it’s still snowing, and through the wind coming in off the Atlantic, I think I can hear my long gone Nova Scotian Grandfather, saying: ‘Snow!” BEAUTIFUL Snow!”
Related:
Wilson A. Bentley, Snowflake Man
By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--November 28, 2010
Down through the ages, children have held their tongues out to try to catch falling snowflakes. It is not only children who look forward to the first snow each year. Many adults join children in dreaming of a White Christmas.
Now that the snow is beginning to fly in northern regions, the story of Wilson A. Bentley is a good way to teach young children about God’s Creations and the great heights to American ingenuity has taken the world. -- More...
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