Jack O'Lantern, 2014

 

Another Hallowe'en, another jack o'lantern: this time, with a friend!

 

Happy Hallowe'en!

For This I Am Thankful, 2014

Thanksgiving weekend brought me back to Cape Breton for what would be the last time in a long, long while. Knowing this, I decided in advance that there were two places I wanted to shoot while I was there.

The first is known as "the trestle".

 

The trestle is an icon for locals in the Sydney area, but is barely known to anyone outside of the region. It marks the passage from Sydney River to Coxheath, but also marks passage for many of the residents of the area in a more sentimental way.

 

Via its location just a block from Riverview High School, the trestle has become a billboard of sorts for graffiti artists on which to battle it out for school pride, dating back at least as far as I can remember. Each year, the respective graduates make their way to the tracks, paint in hand, and mark their turf, much to the chagrin of local politicians and authorities. When I arrived, Riverview had covered the space in their token red and white, but within days, you could pretty much guarantee the competing schools would visit and mark the territory. Be it with Sydney Academy's blue and white, or Breton Education Centre's black and green, the trestle never holds the same colors for long.

 

A walk along the tracks that traverse the icon also brought me a few pleasant photographic surprises.

By the time I turned around to go back to the car, the sky had clouded over and my outstanding natural light was dulled to grey.

 

The next day, though, the sun was out again and I spent some time at Wentworth Park, watching people and collecting memories.

 

 

That evening, the clouds rolled back in, but this time, they would come in handy for destination number two: The Mira River.

 

I spent my teenage years living on the edge of the Mira. My family raised sheep, ran a campground, and essentially lived our summers like the ones described in the famous "Song for the Mira".

 

On this night, the clouds made for a dramatic sunset and I wasn't the only one who had a "STOP THE CAR!" moment right there on the bridge.

 

The other side? Just as glorious.

Absolutely breathtaking.

 

 The next morning, I made my way back to the Marion Bridge, hoping for an encore of the calmness of the water and splendor of the scene in the daytime. Calmness? Not so much. Splendor? Absolutely.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll admit it: I wasn't a huge fan of living so far out in the country as a teenager. As an adult looking back, though, I would not have traded a second of it, for 'ten of your cities' or for anything else at all.