Halifax in June
I visited a dear friend across the harbour in Dartmouth the other day. Like a good Haligonian, I took the ferry because it is one of the great reasons to live here – so you can spend 10 minutes on a ferry in an ocean harbour in the sunshine.
Tulip tree: bloom and bud. June 2011.
My friends tell me that for the last several weeks, it has been rainy, foggy or just grey in Halifax. That happens sometimes, and this spring was one of those times.
But now – we are looking at two weeks of perfect early summer weather, 22 degrees celcius every day. Sunny, sometimes a few clouds or the occasional shower. Right on time, the tulip tree has burst into bloom. Delicate, hopeful, a little out of the ordinary in a harbour town. Pure delight from my aerie studio/office window.
And somehow that makes me think of my brilliant and talented friend, Amy Stewart, who just released her first novel this past week.
The launch was a huge success – so great for Amy – and so much fun for me to see dozens of people I haven’t seen in the last two years.
Plus Amy read. And Lennie played a couple of songs – just before he took off for Trafalgar Square to play there on Canada Day – today!
Newfoundland soldiers in St. John’s Road support trench, July 1, 1916. Courtesy of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL NA-3105), St. John’s, Newfoundland
A tricky day for Newfoundlanders though. Not just Canada Day but also a day of mourning, in remembrance of a dark day in 1916 when the First Newfoundland Regiment was decimated at Beaumont Hamel, part of the Somme offensive of the First World War. Each year, Brian reminds me, the grief of the day still echoes in the heart of Newfoundland.
Joy and grief together. I am doubly lucky, happily surrounded by talented friends and family. Happy Canada Day.
