Chapter Five of Un Périple au Canada

22 July 2015 Rainy, windy, foggy and gray. Last evening’s guest at dinner was one of G.’s Cousins whose house we visited in Chester for drinks earlier in the late afternoon. The house sits on a knoll overlooking Chester harbor, Meisners Island and the Chester Golf Club. Of course none of this glorious view was available to us: rainy, windy, foggy, and gray… This cousin visited Lenox when S. & G. were residents of Trinity Church Rectory. In the winter she resides in Halifax. That’s where S. took me yesterday morning (gray, foggy and rainy - just good for indoor venues). Halifax has always been a strategic vantage point since its establishment in the XVIII C. Citadel Hill is the highest point at the foot of which is the iconic Town Clock. The fog and mist made it impossible to see the extent of the panorama. What we could see were elements of a very active port - commercial as well as military, its docks, cargo ships and naval vessels. Down on the waterfront we went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic which holds a vast collection of items witnessing to the many activities of the city’s and the region’s histories, not the least of which are exhibits recounting the Halifax Explosion, the sinking of the Titanic, Samuel Cunard and the Cunard Line, and the Battle of the Atlantic where Halifax served as the starting point of convoys from North America which sailed to the United Kingdom and Soviet Union. According to Wikipedia’s article on the Battle of the Atlantic, “The battle of the Atlantic pitted U-boats and other warships of the German Kriegsmarine and the German Luftwaffe against Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Navy, and Allied merchant shipping.” It was the longest military campaign running from 1939 all the way to the defeat of Germany in 1945. The Halifax Explosion, also known as the Great Explosion occurred in December 1917 when “SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship fully loaded with wartime explosives, collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo, chartered by the Commission for Relief in Belgium to pick up a cargo of relief supplies in New York”. The result of the collision caused 1,500 deaths, 3,000 wounded and 6,000 homeless. The photographs and newspaper accounts exhibited show a dramatic devastation of lives and property in the Richmond District. Samuel Cunard was born in Halifax to a family of Loyalists who’d fled from the terrors of the American Revolution. He was an entrepreneur in the true sense of the word, having tried his hand at many different investments and projects. His development of steamships and regular passenger and cargo service from North America to The United Kingdom established the family’s fortunes for many generations. From the waterfront, we drove up the hill to visit St. George’s Round Church a wooden round church in the Palladian style. It was built at the instigation of Prince Edward of the British Royal Family. This Royal support has continued into the XXIst Century. Of note is the fact that there is no free-standing altar, testimony to the continuing debates between Conservatives and Moderns. S. made the point that this form of theological conservatism does not imply disdain for social activism. Indeed it has an inner-city youth mentoring and life-skills education organization, known as St. George’s YouthNet. On our way out of the City S. showed me other points of interest. My capacity for taking in new material has eroded. But I keep up a good face, grateful for all the trouble my hosts engage in for my enlightenment. We return to home base for lunch. S. & G. decide the weather is good enough for a drive to Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, “the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. Established in 1753, it has retained its original layout and overall appearance, based on a rectangular grid pattern drawn up in the home country.” (For more information, consult the whc.unesco.org/en/list/741 website). On our walk through town we came upon St. John’s Anglican Church, built in 1753. It is a fine example of Carpenter Gothic, a particular architectural style favored in North America with its abundance of timber. It is a landmark in the history of this region, whose narratives recount periods of great tension and violence between the British and the First Nation Peoples as well as Acadian communities. We made our way down to the docks. The fog over the water prevented us from any appreciation of the much touted beauty beyond the confines of the harbor. On the way home our passage through Mahone Bay Town was sadly nothing but perfunctory - the afternoon light was dimmed considerably by the fog, mist and rain, obstructing the view of the famous three church grouping which is the iconic picture of this fishing community. Today’s expedition included a drive to Hall’s Harbour on the Bay of Fundy - where we saw foundered boats waiting for the high tide - to Kentville, Wolfville and lunch on the terrasse of Luckett Vineyards (est. 2010), where, with quite a number of people we enjoyed a very nice meal looking out on what could be - on a clear day - quite a landscape: vineyards, fields, woodlands, shorelines, the Minas Basin and the Cumberland shores. After Lunch we went to Grande Pré, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Through the exhibits and visit of the grounds one comes away with a snapshot of this landmark’s rich history spanning four centuries. H.W. Longfellow’s poem “Evangeline”, a tale of Acadie is a famous literary work based on the plight of Acadians in the face of British political and military policies. Back in Chester, I start to pack - tomorrow I drive, God willing to Rivière du Loup. One more small note: as we approach home, the clouds lift, sunlight shines on all those waters, hills and far shores to let us know what I missed all these days… My hosts’ devotion and dedication to my enjoyment of this visit are without peer. I am very much blessed by their friendship.