Great War Ghosts, Orchid Quests, a New Way to Do Lobster

I spent Friday morning prowling the NS Archives building in Halifax for 25th Battalion Great War ghosts. My best find: a 1915 W G MacLaughlan photograph of ‘C’ Company before its embarkation for England: 250 faces posing at the Armoury, all of them eager to face the Hun in Flanders. Some of them mere boys who would never see their native land again.

Friday afternoon we joined Kathleen and Jon for a search of the Hants gypsum hills for ram’s head ladyslipper. Jon spotted a clump hiding under a conifer, the blooms long past their best-before date but now the Nova Scotians will know where to look next May. We made do with admiring the carpets of gypsum ragwort –prettier than it sounds – flourishing in the carbonate.

Feast days follow one after the other. Saturday featured a novel way to dispatch lobsters. The execution weapon, a cleaver. That might seem cruel but would you prefer a cauldron of boiling water?

Environment Canada’s five-day forecast needs just one icon at the moment: the one with heavy rain pouring out of a dark cloud. Indoor activities are indicated but I need to wander in some creekside woods so we’ll don the raincoats and take our chances. I haven’t had a trip bird since we hit Halifax.

We’d planned on firing up the Cummins to head for Cape Breton Tuesday but opening up the cabin in a deluge has never seemed a lot of fun. Given the lousy forecast maybe we’ll emulate Captain Cook and overstay our welcome with the natives.

Alan