For the Labour Day weekend, my daughter and her family came for a visit. The weather was gorgeous, so we spent most of our time outside walking sandbars, trails and beaches in the area.
I wish I could take credit for the photography, but these were among the pics my daughter took.
We had a fantastic weekend together,
but I’m greedily hoping for nice weather all month.
I’m not ready for summer to end! Are you?
Research has proven the brain is most actively creative immediately following sleep.
Your subconscious mind wanders and makes connections while you sleep. That is what creativity is – making connections between different parts of the brain.
This makes sense to me. I think my writing is better and more productive in the morning.
Yet I hear some writers and creatives say they are more attuned to creating in the afternoon, evening or night. Is it simply a matter of being a morning person or a night owl?
Still others say they have no choice but to write whenever they can find the time.
When do you do your best creative work?
“Photography is the art of frozen time …
the ability to store emotion and feelings within a frame.”
– Meshack Otieno
Photos were taken on the first of January while out for an afternoon walk.
Our faces felt frozen but our bodies stayed toasty warm.
Time to bundle up on those walks, my northern friends.
Happy New Year to all!
Yesterday, our local Lions Club sponsored and held Pearson Academy’s Speak Out Competition. We had 17 student participants and an excellent audience turnout.
Speak-outs are great opportunities for youth to practice and build skills through public speaking, and to encourage them to have a public voice in issues that concern them.
The winners:
Rhianna Bishop, 1st Place. Topic: Leadership in Rural Communities
Jessica Melindy, 2nd Place. Topic: Growing Up with Mental Illness – Anxiety and O.C.D
Deidre Hounsell, 3rd Place. Topic: Dangers of Driving Under the Influence
As the first place winner,
Rhianna will compete later at the regional level.
The judges for the speak-out were Joanne Wiley, Theodore O’Connor and myself.
It was a privilege to spend time with these young adults and to volunteer once more for this worthy event.
***
Have you or your child ever competed
or taken part in a public speaking competition?
Cold winter days are fast approaching, and for our feline friends and housemates Maisie and Viv, that means snowy paws and shorter trips outside.
Sometimes they cry to go out, but change their minds and make a quick backtrack when we open the door and the bitter wind hits their furry faces. Then they cry again as if we can magically change the weather for them!
“Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want.” – Joseph Wood Krutch, American writer, critic, and naturalist
This cool photo of Perry’s Point was snapped last week on Monday, November 5th by Paul’s cousin, Winston Perry. He took it from a small plane and gave me permission to share. Check out the sand and the seaweed around the coastline.
That’s my house in the foreground, closest to the end of the point, the blue one with the shed and a little blue outhouse to the far left. A large portion of Newtown is shown in the background.
The sunshine that day makes the house colour look lighter from that angle, but if you click on my Facebook link below, you’ll see its true colour. Laundry and all! That photo was taken by Winston’s brother and our neighbour, Wayne Perry.
Thanks for the great captures, guys!
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Places People Live
“There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky.”
– Percy Bysshe Shelley
Sometimes we sit lamenting as memory traces back
The old familiar landmarks that we miss from off our track.
They’ve built the railway stations where our feet were wont to skate,
They motor over footpaths where our lovers used to wait.
But there’s one left still – dear old Signal Hill.*
I’ve always loved Signal Hill. That’s probably why I incorporated into a couple of scenes in my debut novel, Calmer Girls.
Overlooking St. John’s Harbour and the Atlantic Ocean, it is the capital city’s most popular tourist attraction.
I take the time every summer to pay a visit, and this past July was no exception. Here are a few shots from that gorgeously sunny and breezy day – then again, as any tourist can attest, it’s always quite breezy atop this hill!
In the distant past, Signal Hill has been the setting for victorious battle, the location for Marconi’s monumental establishment of wireless telegraph communication, and a signalling station for approaching ships.
Today it is a National Historic Site under Parks Canada.
The best thing I like about Signal Hill?
The views, of course!
If you look closely at some of my pics, you can see the trail around the hill.
This is not a hiking trail for the faint of heart.
Thanks for taking a look at my throwback to July and one of the best-loved sites my province has to offer.
*Poem by Lydia Chancey, Book of Newfoundland, 1937
This past summer, Perry’s Point here in Newtown, Newfoundland & Labrador received a new addition. A project of the Cape Freels Development Association, this information display is a reminder and a history lesson to all about the first people who inhabited this area: the Beothuks.
I will let the display speak for itself.
Please read to learn more about this fascinating First Nation.
Thank you to the Cape Freels Association, Winston Perry, and to anyone else involved in this worthy initiative.
As it happened, earlier this year I read The Last Beothuk, the newest release by local author Gary Collins. I wholly recommend this historical novel to anyone interested in learning more about the way of life of these indigenous people and what ultimately became of them.
Inspired by True Events:
“Long after Demasduit’s skull has been stolen from her grave, and years after Shanawdithit has died, one Beothuk and his family survive.
Bursting out of the pages of Newfoundland history appears Kop, the last true Beothuk.
When all the other members of his tribe are exterminated by the Europeans, Kop seeks revenge against the Unwanted Ones.
Hidden among the Bear Clan of the Mi’kmaq, the Beothuk strikes back.
Follow Kop on his trail of defiance against the European marauders upon his Island. See what becomes of a man who has nothing to lose or live for.
Stay with him on a hundred trails and sit with him across the smoke of a hundred campfires. You will not only weep for the last Beothuk—you will cheer him on as he pushes back against the Unwanted Ones.”
It’s that time of year again, when hubs and I gear up to leave home for the required and much-anticipated summer getaway. I will be adding on an extra week myself, starting tomorrow, to stay with my grandchildren while their parents fly off on a vacation of their own.
After that, my days will pretty much belong to me, to indulge in the things I like besides writing and blogging. Time to explore, relax, and enjoy the summery season for a spell. Time to do lots of reading, visit friends and family both in and outside the capital city, and find new moments of inspiration through the lens of my camera. You might catch a glimpse of me on other social media, but I’m going to try my best to keep that to a minimum too.
Here are a few of my backyard snaps from past summer posts, as well as a new video from a few days ago.
***
Northern gannets employ an ingenious way to fish for food. They “corral” the fish by flying around together in a circle over the water where the fish can see them. The fish school tightly together for safety, but that’s when these birds plummet, diving deep into the waves to catch them. Sorry for the blurriness, but it was a quick capture with my iPhone. Short and sweet so don’t blink!
Please turn up your volume to hear the gannets in their glee.
Stay safe and have fun, everyone,
and I’ll catch up with you in August. 🙂
What are you doing this summer for a change of pace?
Jennifer's Journal 