Ding! Ezra pulled this out of his toy microwave and handed it to me. “Here’s your lunch, dada.” Ah, that fine delicacy, poisson avec voiture.
“It’s banana ice cream.”
Kid may be a fine chef some day. Or a food stylist.
Rejection Collage, Work Update
To commemorate nine months of Nova Scotian unemployment, I collaged all my job application rejections over a scenic photo of the lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove. This only covers a fraction of total applications; many other employers never got back to me at all.
Hurricane Dorian Timelapse (Nova Scotia)
As Hurricane Dorian arrived in Nova Scotia on Saturday 7 Sep 2019, I set up my GoPro in the window to record a time lapse of its passage through the Halifax region, capturing 10 seconds per frame from morning till evening. Cloud motion was too fast to get a decent sense of motion for most of the day but around 1m 15s into the video, the eye of the hurricane reached us and the clouds suddenly slowed and reversed direction. (Also watch for a tree suddenly falling over at around 20s, damaging a neighbour’s house.)
We lost power from Saturday to Monday and had a major leak in the basement. Downtown a crane fell, but overall damage was of course nowhere near the destruction in the Bahamas.
Small photoset of our experience of the hurricane in Halifax.
First Trip to Lunenburg
Highlight of Labour* Day Weekend was a Saturday trip to Lunenburg, picturesque historic fishing town and home port of the Bluenose, on Nova Scotia’s South Shore just over an hour’s drive from Halifax.
We spent most of the day at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. Lots more to see and do there than I expected; aside from historical artifacts, interpretive displays, and Bluenose models, the museum had an aquarium with touch tank, two large historic fishing boats to explore out on the waterfront, Mi’kmaq fishing techniques, lovely views of the water, and a little playground with a whale and a sailboat.
Ezra had lots of fun. Tangential to the fishing industry he saw his first movie theatre and typewriter — and also enjoyed the museum elevator.
Lunenburg NS photo album here.
(* I have to spell it with an “ou” like a Canadian now.)
Passage View
Looking towards Halifax from the tip of McCormacks Beach in Eastern Passage. Purdy’s Wharf, Macdonald and Mackay Bridges, Tufts Cove Power Station, and the Imperial Oil Wharves are all visible.
The provincial park features a boardwalk to the small sandy beach, and sits right near Fisherman’s Cove, where Ezra got to meet a pirate.
This was outside a little cafe called Coffee, Tea, and Sea, which, interestingly, also featured Indonesian food on the menu. Definitely have to try lunch there some time.
Red Arrows and Rainbows
Busy sky over us on August 11th: first the Red Arrows (Canadian RAF Aerobatic team, kind of like the USA’s Blue Angels) flew over Halifax for an air show.
Later in the day storm clouds and sunset aligned to form a vivid rainbow in the eastern sky.
Friendly Neighbour Cat
While we were out for a walk by Settle Lake a neighbour’s cat came out to meet us, all affectionate and nose-bumpy.
I couldn’t help comparing her to Pandora, though this one lacked the blue and green heterochromia so distinct to our old cat, and Pandora never really went outdoors.
QE and QM2
Cunard cruise ships Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 did a formation cruise together out of Halifax Harbour, so we hustled down to the South End waterfront that evening to see both ships glide past, escorted by Theodore Too.
Grand Time in NS
Some shots from my parents-in-law’s visit, their first trip to Nova Scotia. It was great to have them over to see our new Canadian home, and heartwarming to see how happy Ezra was to see Grandma and Grandpa for two weeks. We took them out to see some sights: Discovery Centre, Rainbow Haven Beach, Cole Harbour Heritage Farm, Fisherman’s Cove, and Atlantic Splash Adventure.
I was especially looking forward to seeing Atlantic Splash Adventure (formerly Atlantic Playland), a classic amusement park with rides, water slides, a haunted castle, and a Go-Kart track — and soon, a roller coaster acquired from New Jersey. Here was the view from the top of their ferris wheel, Big Ellie:
More in the growing photo album of our new life in Nova Scotia, just photos from Atlantic Splash Adventure, and a video of our visit to Atlantic Splash Adventure.
Bus and Beer at YHZ
I finally rode a Halifax bus, going to the airport to fetch my parents-in-law from a flight. For some reason trying a bus system in a new city always gives me a bit more anxiety than with rail-based transit — possibly because a bus requires more human contact. In any case it was trivial to drop coins in the box and request a transfer ticket from the bus driver, then transfer to a 320 bus at Dartmouth Bridge Terminal. Extra payment is needed boarding the 320: it’s a higher fare than the regular bus.
Their flight was delayed a couple of hours, which I was actually thankful about, as I could while away the time with PokemonGO, and try my first pint of that famous Halifax beer, Alexander Keith’s, with a plate of airport-priced wings, followed by my usual Tim’s Medium Regular, for wakefulness.
