Prairie and Mountains and What Lies Underneath

I saw a random comment recently questioning why photos of Alberta always show "the only 3 mountains Alberta has like somehow that's supposed to accurately depict the other 99.99% of the landscape." 

First of all, random internet person, let's look at a map, shall we?

This is Alberta. (stolen directly from the interwebs, so it must be true, am I right?)

And that big ol' purple section on the western border there? That's the Canadian Rockies.

Mountains.

Big ones.

Lots of them.

So if you've only been to Fort Mac or Edmonton, then sure, Alberta might appear to have a total of three mountains. But, oh, dear random internet person, you really ought to drive west, because until you do, you are missing this in Okotoks, this in Kananaskis, and this...

in Rocky Mountain House.

And this... somewhere I got lost. :D

Also available in this area for your viewing pleasure...

aaaaaaaaaand, it wouldn't be Alberta if there wasn't these:

Now, I know that's not my most artistic photo ever. I just wanted to point out to all those who oppose pipelines strictly because someone on the internet convinced them that they are worse for the environment than, say, car upon car of fuel travelling overland on a train, that this is what they look like. Remember: someone on the internet is convinced there's only three mountains in Alberta too.

Walkways, fences, or beautiful endless unmarked landscape, dotted only with the occasional warning sign in case someone needs to dig. There it is:

Scandalous.

But don't take my word for it.

Please, come see for yourself. :)

She's Called Nova Scotia

Though I had sworn up and down that I wouldn't go back, there were some things going on that I absolutely did not want to miss, so at the end of August, 2016, I boarded a plane in Edmonton for my first trip back home since I had moved west. .

The first few days of my trip were spent on the mainland, in and around Halifax, where I discovered I really didn't miss the city itself at all. I did a bit of visiting with some people I had left behind, but spent most of my time close to my temporary home base in Herring Cove.

Seriously, when this is a five-minute walk from the front door, can you blame me??? 

 I spent one night at a cabin in Hubbards, about 45 minutes out of the city. As the sun was setting, I took my camera for a little walk across the quiet country road and out onto the nearby wharf for another view of quaint and peaceful Nova Scotia shoreline.

When I found myself alone for a day, I headed west: Fox Point Beach in St. Margaret's Bay.

 

Then I was on to Bayswater Beach, just another short way up Route 329, for a completely different feeling.

I spent 5 days on the mainland before bumming a drive from a friend and making the road trip I had made so many times in my life: four hours of highway driving to my beloved Cape Breton Island. I collected the last of my belongings from my mother's and shipped them to myself in Alberta. Then I collected my mother and we got into her car for a drive to our happy place: the world-famous Cabot Trail. It was overcast and a bit rainy on our trip, but it didn't matter to either of us.

Seventeen toes in the sand!

 

(She might be my mother)

A little further on in the day, on the Cheticamp side of the Island:

Breakfast with my sister the next day provided for this gorgeous morning on the Mira River...

...and the inspiration for one last glimpse of the ocean at Kennington Cove, near the Fortress of Louisbourg.

  

 

Lastly, one more filling of the lungs with my very favourite thing about being on the coast: that salty, fishy, tangy, comforting smell...

... of home.

 

 "It's hard to remember the places you've been
For once in her presence she's all that you've seen
And she cradles you softly like a warm gentle breeze
And wins your heart over with a feeling of peace
So walk through her green fields, Go down to the sea
The fortune in your eyes is more like a dream
She's called Nova Scotia and she so makes you feel
You discovered a treasure no other has seen"

~Rita McNeil
 'She's Called Nova Scotia'