Terra Firma Nova Scotia

   

The crossing from Channel Port Aux Basque to North Sydney, Nova Scotia is approximately 7 hours.  How different it felt this time around, there was a familiarity.  I could easily navigate to the observation deck, the inside views from the bow of the ship,  the way to and from our cabin.  We both had gotten a good amount of sleep when the announcement came that we would be docking in about thirty minutes.  We knew that our motel for the remainder of the night was only about 10 minutes away.  

We embarked and after some glitches with the GPS and Marcia's navigation we found ourselves in a kind of classic mid-century Canadian motel.  It had seen better days, but it was clean and quiet.  Overnight bags, oxygen and cpap machine all got carried in, we were on the first floor and close to an outdoor door.  

There were no outdoor chairs or tables that I could see in the dark, so I sat on the curb and phoned the hospital.  My brother was stable, still intubated and on a ventilator, but he was continuing to rest and they continued to test.  The nurse was kind, was easy to give information and she was feeling very positive that my brother's injuries were not life threatening and he would continue to recover.  

So much emotion.  Relief for my brother, memories flooding from this trip that we were close to ending, the months of planning and now on this very day (it was just early early) we would be spending our last night at a lovely Inn in Sackville New Brunswick.  

I sat on that curb, the lighting was so very bright that I could not even see the stars, but I knew they were there.  Marcia and I had made it back from "the rock" and we were were one province away from my home.  My brother was in good hands, and both he and I would need to be taking this day by day.  The evening was just right, it was very quiet and after awhile I could feel my body and mind's readiness to sleep.  Marcia was happily resting and soon I was too.  

I have no recollection of how early/late we started out from North Sydney, but we found a delightful place for a late breakfast/early lunch.  It was clear that we were in Cape Breton, a very bustling place of tourists in the summer.  We had taken a southern route to the port at the beginning of the trip, and we were now taking a northern route.  A route that man other cars were on, and were just like in the United States there was road construction, lots of road construction.  There were more and more signals that we had most definitely left Newfoundland, where there was hardly ever much traffic, and very little road construction, even though some was needed!

We took our time and then back in the car.  Next stop Sackville.  Sackville, established in 1762,  no longer has it's own town status, in 2023 it merged along with several other town to become the Town of Tantramar.  For me it was still Sackville as I have heard many stories about this place because it is the home of Mount Allison University, where my dear friend Stephen went to college.   We were headed to Marshlands Inn, where a wrap around porch, a claw foot tub, and a lovely meal would be made for us later that evening.

We each had a lovely spot for the night, Marcia in the cottage on the first floor, myself in the main house on the second floor.  It was a hot day and it was not cooling down as the afternoon waned.  We sat on the porch, comfortable chairs, a drink in hand. Visiting with other guests, talking with each other, being silent at times as we listened to the buzzing, and chirping and late day bird songs.  There was a lovely garden and we both we glad to have such a good respite for our last night on the road.  

It was impossible to try to integrate our trip, we both had our own set of feelings, our wonderful memories and a few harrowing and tense experiences that still loomed around the edges.  We both felt the pull of home, Marcia's going home was a little longer, but Marcia has spent almost every year that I have been in Maine with me in the summer, it was a home away from home.  We were both tired, happy and glad to be at the Marshlands Inn.   This was not a place where things happened fast, it was a slow pace, and worth the wait.  It was a place that invited you to slow down, be present, and enjoy the moment.  A pace that was very present in Newfoundland and here it was in such a different but welcome way for us again.

We each went off to our rooms early.  The reports about my brother continued to be good.  I was good and I was tired and I was beginning to let myself envisioning being on my own porch, the same porch that I am typing on at this very moment.  Home was calling.  Sleep was calling.  My bed would be ready for me the very next night.  What a trip, and not quite done!