Un Tres Petit Déjeuner Aujourd'hui

A little lite breakfast today anyone?

For an appetizer, we'll be serving shark. Here's a link to Carla's Shark Scramble Article and Photo Essay. I unfortunately missed it while I was working on a website, but it looked like a very interesting event. Yarmouth and the surrounding area hosts a lot of activities that makes life here more enjoyable. Check it out.

For our main course you're sure to enjoy some delicious scenery and a wonderful boat ride from Yarmouth to Pubnico. Steve and Joan brought their boat down for the Shark Scramble and we hitched a ride for the return to her home port. On the way we stopped at Deep Cove Island, one of the prettiest place I've ever been, and Harris Island, both are active lobstering villages. Bon Appetite!

And finally, for dessert, we're having Donair, a traditional Nova Scotia dish. Actually it's a SUPER DONAIR. We had these for dinner last night. Carla got take out from Jake's and when she got back to the house she handed me a sandwich the size of a small baby. Get in my belly! It was wrapped in foil and was some kinda delicious. Donairs are only available in Nova Scotia. In fact, as part of a campaign to promote the province, the Nova Scotia tourism folks have placed signs in Toronto that read simply "Donairs" and pointing east.

Uhmm, you've got some sauce on the corner of your mouth. Napkin? ~B

Act Three Opens...

The wheels have begun turning again; the one's in my head, that is, not the ones on my bike, but I suspect they too will begin spinning in earnest shortly.

My stay here in Yarmouth has been nothing short of magical. The people I've encountered and the insights into myself that I've gained will forever shape the remaining course of my life. The 64 thousand dollar question is what's next? My screenwriters ;-) may choose to write this differently, but as I see it, Act One begins with some unexpected life disappointments in a small town in Southern Vermont resulting in a long and wonderful bike ride up the coast of Maine - through New Brunswick - and on into Nova Scotia. At one point, midway through Act One, our lead character's journey is abruptly halted, his bicycle and belongings stolen leaving him effectively "homeless" in a strange land (cue the dramatic music). Next we see our lead, let's call him Bob, peering through the front window of a theatre in Amherst Nova Scotia where he meets the delightful and mysterious Bette (who later introduces him to retired Chief Librian Beverly - both will be very important in subsequent scenes), it continues with a brief appearance by Johnny Cash, a media circus and outpouring of generosity, and concludes with a wonderful series of vignettes in an old Victorian farm house.

Act Two opens with a difficult ride on a new bicycle through a beautiful valley, then a "coincidental" meeting on a bridge and a swift ride with a fellow traveller. It really gets rolling when our leading man meets Carla, the mythical siren of Yarmouth, a whimsical and captivating pixie with hair and a spirit like the tangled and untamed Sargasso Sea. Our play continues with more delightful vignettes in and around Carla's lovely historic home, then a very tender sequence of scenes with a love interest, more than a few additional colorful local and travelling characters, lots of phone calls and emails with friends and family, and then, wait for it...Bob's realization that the journey must continue! Act Two finally closes with a sad and tearful goodbye on a windswept dock. Brilliant!

After a brief intermission, where you should all help yourself to some refreshments (graciously provided by local Girl Scout troop number 377), we'll be starting Act Three.

Please be back in your seats when the curtain rises.

Again, thank you all for attending.

Cheers! ~B

Running Late!

Hey, just a quick post today. Carla and I have been riding our bicycles every morning. Actually she's been riding my fancy new Raleigh Mojave 8.0 and I've been riding her...ummm...bike...yeah that's it, her "bike". Actually it ends up being a much better workout because that bike has a mere 10 or 12 speeds compared the 27 that I'm used to on the Raleigh.

Today we did just shy of 30km at a really good clip, at one point getting lost on a rocky muddy dirt road way off course. Carla's getting really good. I need to start eating more Wheaties if I'm going to keep up. Today it's homemade blueberry muffing for breatkast! Yikes, I'm running late. Gotta go! ~B

Photo by Jacques Marcoux

A Call To Couches

This is an email that I've been sending out to friends. I thought it might be a good idea to cast a larger net, as it were. So...

Hey, I have something to ask you, actually it's more of a favor or proposition than it is just a question. Sabrina from Switzerland has been with us here in Yarmouth for nine days now and is scheduled to leave on the Cat to Portland tomorrow afternoon. She'll be staying there for two days, then into Boston for the weekend, and will then be heading to NYC on Monday. Because of her extreme care of screening prospective hosts, she's having trouble finding a place to stay, where she can experience both Boston and NYC on her way to Ohio. I was wondering if you can think of anyone who would be willing to host her for the weekend in Boston, or for a few days next week in NYC, and maybe show this lovely Swiss girl some of those cities. I know it sounds like an imposition, but I assure you Sabrina is a delight, she's very neat, is great with pets and kids, and is a fabulous cook. I feel that I know her extremely well and would frankly trust her with my life if needed. She's couchsurfing but is having trouble finding hosts in larger cities. She can always do hostels, but you can only stay there for a day or two and she's hoping to experience the cities a little more than that. She was in Chicago last month and really liked it there. Anyway, she's 24 and has limited funds. I know what that's like and would really like to help her. Thanks. ~B

I'm hoping that someone I know, that I forgot to email, will speak up and offer to participate in the adventure. You can email me directly at bobviens@gmail.com. I know it's a longshot, but you never know. Besides, it makes for an easy blog post, and since I'm either helping out at the market, or riding a lobster boat with Sabrina down from Pubnico to Yarmouth Harbour to get ready for the Shark Scramble, I'll be quite busy. Cheers! ~B

Once Upon a Rainstorm

A lot has happened in the last week that I could write about. I could mention helping out at the market, or the weekend at Brenda's where a soon-to-be-delivered baby was doing somersaults, or about getting to know someone special and sharing life experiences. I could tell you about the movie Once we watched Sunday night and how it always leaves a distinct hue on my world for days after, or of the wonderful Birchermuesli Sabrina made for lunch. I could even tell you about the comment I deleted from the blog last week suggesting I "stop clinging to other people and get a life of my own", but I won't. Instead I'll just talk about the weather. It's been raining steadily since around noon today. It started during the drive back from Pubnico and has been gaining momentum, along with the occasional boom of thunder, ever since. Today's the first day of significant rain for as long as I can remember, maybe even since the downpours up in Amherst.

I usually love rainy days. My rule is that in order for it to be a good day, there has to be something coming out of the sky, sunshine or rain, even fog qualifies. Overcast gray days need not apply. Rainy days are ideal for curling up on the couch and napping, or spending the day in bed with your sweetie. If you're fortunate enough to have an indoor fireplace, rainy days are ideal for building a good fire and chasing away the damp chill that often accompanies the rainfall. When it rains, I mean really rains, everything green seems to breathe a collective sigh of relief. The trees, the grass, the vegetables and flowers in the garden, all replenish in the rain, they relax away their stiff dry shells that have accumulated during hot dry days. They all take a deep breath and exhale the wonderful smell of fresh that we all enjoy after a good shower. Rain is cleansing, it washes away the accumulated grime on streets and houses and leaves everything glossy. The colors intensify along with the smells, and feel of the air. When it rains briefly however, we're left with a microscopic film of mud. Instead of a clean sheet we get grime. A good rain resets the game, gives us a fresh start, makes all things a little more possible. It refills our water barrels, and we in turn water our plants and fill our drinking glasses to water ourselves. When that other thing that comes out of the sky finally shines, the water from our gardens and from our pours and our breath evaporates and returns to the clouds, and the cycle begins again. The cycle of renewal, of cleansing, of fresh starts.

For now, I wish to just sit and watch, as the rain resets the game, for I want to play some more.

~B

Busy B(obby)

Sorry about the delay in posting a fresh, interesting, and exciting update of my trials and tribulations here in Yarmouth Nova Scotia. Yeah, yeah whatever!

I have been busy though. I spent most of my free time this weekend building a new website for a small company in New Hampshire. My friend Gigi hooked me up with the gig, we used to work together and she knew I would eat this assignment right up. So far, so good.

I do have some good stuff to post, maybe later tonight. I haven't had any sleepless nights in awhile, that's often when I've found inspiration to write. Maybe that's a sign of being contented. It's probably more on account of the late night cocktails, but I digress.

To be continued...

Update: Yarmouth

I guess it's time to clarify my thinking as to what I'm doing, and where I'm going, etc. I'm currently staying with Carla here in Yarmouth, helping with her many CouchSurfers and the dogs she gets from her dogsitting service, keeping the house and garden clean and in good repair, helping with meals, and being a friend. I'm also right in the middle of a project with another group of "new friends" helping them get their place in order. Leaving that project undone would be wrong. As a result, I feel like I'm needed here at this particular moment in time, and here I shall stay, until such time that I feel I've completed whatever it is I'm doing. When that time comes, I'll say my goodbye's and continue the travelling part of my journey. For me, the journey is continuing here in Yarmouth.

If anyone out there is reading my posts and hoping for more ongoing tidbits of "travel" info, this blog may, at least for now, be the wrong place to satisfy your travel tidbit appetite. A really good cycling travel site is Crazy Guy On A Bike. I know it's not as interesting reading about a cyclist sitting in one place for a long peroiod of time, but I started this blog as a journal that I could look back on, and also for a good way to keep my family and friends up to date. It's still very much that for me, but I am aware that my "audience" has grown a little since it began. At last count the blog was being read by around 400 people, roughly half in the States and half in Canada. Also, I had to use some of my "trash can" power on a couple of unfortunate comments yesterday. If you're one of "those people" inclined to post anonymous nastygrams, you might enjoy this one.

Here are some of the latest Couch Surfers...

Evan from Townshend Vermont, just outside of Brattleboro! He came off the Cat yesterday and is on his way to a WWOOFing farm outside of Annapolis Royal. He left here this morning with a big "EAST" sign on his backpack. He also has a "PREGNANT" sign if he gets desperate.



Kara from Australia who's on her way to Alaska. She's been travelling for a quite a while and has made her way across much of Canada, as well as a good chunk of the world. She flew out of Halifax the other day on her way to the west coast on the U.S. where she's getting in a car with some friends and driving up to see Alaska. Quite an adventurer!

Elyse, and her travelling companion Zac, both attend university in Amherst Massachusetts, only a half an hour from where I grew up. They were cycling down from, I think, Antigonish and were only here for a quick visit as they had reservations to ride to Portland on the Cat the day after their arrival in Yarmouth. We didn't get a photo of her and Zak so I had to swipe this one off of her facebook.

It's been such a treat being here and getting to know the area and so many wonderful people from Yarmouth and around the world. Here's a parting shot...

Cheers! ~B

Evan, Sabrina, Carla, et Moi

at the Pubnico Wind Farm.