Still standing, standing still; the MacKay barns were built in the community of The Falls, Nova Scotia near Spiddle Hill. Since 1834, these lands have been owned and occupied by seven generations of the MacKay family. The MacKay family were primarily dairy farmers, in 1938 the smaller barn was moved adjacent to the larger barn. This 214 acre farm is now home to Billy MacKay and his horses. These two silent sentinels are emblematic libraries - symbolic bearers of knowledge, memory, optimism and cooperation. They bear witness to skills now seldom practiced; to innovation, industriousness and self sufficiency; where form followed function and barns were built from timber and stone, the readily available materials. Look at the space between the barns and therein discover the why/“y” of farming.

Fables … a short moral story often with animal characters…a story about mythical/supernatural beings or events…a legend; the fables of gods and heroes…a story not founded on fact, an untruth; falsehood…the plot of an epic, a dramatic poem, or a play….idle talk; old wives’ fables.

In the small community of Balmoral Mills lived siblings who spent many summers on the Matheson Brook Road family homestead. In 2010, the lands were sold. Inside an outbuilding these worn, mouse chewed boots, belonging to their father and made by the Endicott Johnson company, were found.

In 1912, the Endicott Johnson company was the only shoe company in the world operating independent of the hide and leather trusts and were thus able to make affordable shoes.

A blueprint for spring, a green delicacy found on riverbanks needing only the sun’s warmth to expose a structure of immense complexity hidden in the fiddlehead, each compact spiral unfurls to become a fern of intricate design.

A love of swallows inspires the construction dozens of swallow boxes and a love of oak trees galvanizes the planting of hundreds of acorns.

On an increasingly fragile planet, the earth struggles to sustain all living things. We are entrusted with protecting the stability and longevity of a nurturing earth. In the grand scheme of things, our lives are no more or less important than those of lowly insects. The earth has cradled mayflies for 180 million years ~ may they guard the earth for millions more.

The Brule fossil site is less than 1/4 acre located in the inter-tidal zone on the beach at Brule on Nova Scotia’s north shore. In 1994, brothers Cory and Howard van Allen discovered the remains of Walchia tree stumps in rocks that were exposed by the retreating tidal waters of the Northumberland Strait. They found fossil stumps, branches, foliage, fallen trunks and astonishingly footprints preserved between the trunks.
The walchia, now extinct, was a conifer very similar in appearance to the Norfolk Island pine that flourished about 290 million years ago during the Permian period. The Brule find is the only known in situ stand of Walchia trees in the world.
The Brule fossil site contains a prolific record of tetrapod tracks. Five different animal prints have been identified. The fossilized tracks became exposed on the beach as erosion occurred downward through the surface layers. The trackways of the Seymouria is the earliest record of group behaviour among tetrapods in the world.

Class – insecta
Order – odonata
Family – aeschnidae
Genus & Species - anax imperator Dragonflies are ancient beings that have remained virtually unchanged for 230 million years. The fastest flying of all insects, the carnivorous dragonfly catches insects on the wing. Their territory is always over a freshwater pond or lake. Dragonflies are extremely susceptible to the effects of water pollution, their future and very survival depends on clean, uncontaminated water. This regal insect is lionized here in exuberant colour and exaggerated size.

Heather’s Wood celebrates a 25-year friendship and the rich and dynamic tapestry that is biodiversity in an early morning woodland. A snake slips among the ferns while dragonflies, swallowtail and red admiral butterflies flitter in the oaks.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
It’s always our self we find in the sea.
e.e. cummings
Water is the most abundant compound on the earth’s surface, covering 70% of the planet. Essential for all life on earth - it makes up 55% to 78% of the human body. A symbol of purity, rebirth and healing, water is honoured by ancient civilizations - Ganga river goddess - Neptune lord of the sea - Sabawalenu Mi’kmaq water spirit - Nammu goddess of the primordial sea.
The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears or the sea.
Isak Dinesen

For my daughters whose matrilineal lineage is connected to the cultures of France, Ireland, Scotland and England, and in Canada to the French, English and Acadian cultures of Quebec and Prince Edward Island. The eleven generations of women are named on the DNA bars, the beads beside each name denote the generation to which the women belong. The duality of my daughter’s identities is reflected in the double DNA strand. The strand is set against the definition of feminism and matrilineality in both of Canada’s official languages.

stink bug
a nuisance bug
mythologically, the stink bug is symbolic of the connections between seemingly unrelated events,
it represents intuition & sensitivity to what is hidden
and one’s ability to read between the lines

rauga/yeast/leaven - saccharomycotina fungus, ascomycota yeast and represented by the mycelium web; to permeate, modify or transform for the better…
bee - symbol of the soul; messenger to the divine, with its ability to fly between the worlds of heaven and earth; royal emblem signifying immortality and resurrection…
Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones - proverbs 16:24

Strix varia, most commonly known as barred owl (in Quebec, le chat-huant du Nord) is found in Canada, from British Columbia through to Nova Scotia. In silent flight, the elusive, haunting, nocturnal barred owl perches outside on a winter branch, at home in the night sky and in Amara’s dreams outside her window.

Calm follows the slow halcyon descent of the sun. A gentle and forgiving earth encourages introspection and appreciation as we end our day observing illuminated and scraggly field weeds.

Three bums enjoying a warm day at Fox River, Nova Scotia.

Morning glories entwine and climb anything on which they can take hold. When you look closely, you’ll spy a spider’s web spun in the most delicate of places. Imagine the night time reflections of the moon on a diaphanous cobweb and locate the spider living there.