Spring Song It’s a world-wide hit Annie-Mae, Annie-Mae Hear the world hum along… RNA, DNA. Fill your strong lungs Flash your jaunty red tail Let’s hike in the woods And then check emails. Dad’s on the Dole The sap is still running There’s wood to be cut And summer is coming. The sun’s at the window The seeds are all sprouting See 100 ft rows Good earth and hoeing. -Bernard Irvin
The Dome Chronicles: MushGarry Leeson In 1972, a boxcar from Toronto containing a menagerie of farm animals and an eager young couple pulled into the station platform in Kingston, Nova Scotia. They were bound for a deserted hundred-acre farm on the South Mountain, determined to preserve the foundations of farmsteads past while constructing a geodesic dome. They were pioneers of the future, armed with respect for tradition and an irrepressible sense of humour. They didn’t call themselves farmers. They were back-to-the-landers. Farming was industry and their calling was sustainability. Over the next forty years, through flood and fire, triumph and…
Read more
Look! A New Book!By Hilary Drummond Summer FeetBy Sheree Fitch with illustrations by Carolyn FisherForthcoming in Spring 2020Poetry; picture book (ages 3-7)Nimbus Publishing, HalifaxHardcover: $22.95 Have you had enough of winter? Are you starting to dream of longer, warmer days? Is it time to put away the snow pants and woolly socks, and get ready to feel the sweet green grass or sun-warmed sand between your toes? Nimbus Publishing has the perfect antidote to the lingering winter blues: Summer Feet by beloved children’s book author Sheree Fitch, forthcoming in spring 2020. Many of you probably remember Fitch’s early books, like Toes in My…
Read more
Marie’s Occasional Report: A Love Letter to WolfvilleBy Marie Mossman Why do I love thee, Wolfville? Is it for your beauty, food, and inviting drinks? It could be, but no. I love you, my fair town, for another reason. Your Acadia students energize my step when I walk among them downtown. In groups or alone, they flash their youthful smiles. Sometimes, they hold a door for me, because they do that sort of thing. In the gym, they interact with all respectfully, young or old, muscled or not, stylish or dressed in faded cotton knits. The students’ fitness instructions, music…
Read more
In Memory of Samuel Dworkin It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Samuel (Sam) Hyman Dworkin, peacefully in his sleep, at the Kentville Valley Regional Hospital on Wednesday, January 22, 2020. Born September 15, 1933 in Montreal, he moved to Wolfville, NS, in 2002. When he was young, he bought and sold cattle with his father (Esser Dworkin), and later opened his own grocery store. He then went on to work for the London Life Insurance Company for several years and was a top salesman, earning many awards. Son of the late Esser and Ida (Mandelssige),…
Read more
All About IcewinesBy Kim Cyr The Nova Scotia Icewine Festival is about to happen over two consecutive weekends this February. The events will be held collaboratively at Lightfoot & Wolfville Vineyards, with many distillers and vintners participating. The events include a gala, fireworks, a multi-course dinner with three chefs from three of our wineries, and 4 days of tasting events (February 14-16 & 22-23, visit nsicewinefest.com for more information). The Definition of IcewineCanada is the largest icewine producer in the world. It is estimated the icewine crop is responsible for billions annually. In Canada, we have a federal legal definition…
Read more
What’s Growing at the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens: Earth, Sky, and PlantsBy Adrien Rawley, Horticulture Assistant and Educator The changing of the seasons is a powerful experience, especially when we choose to pay attention. We forget, amidst the busyness of our lives, that what is happening in the natural world around us is mirrored within us as well. Spring is an explosive celebration of new life, sometimes overwhelming in its displays and intensity. Summer is a time of growth, moving us upward and forward with great energy. Autumn finds us harvesting the literal and metaphorical fruits of our labours, knowing…
Read more
They Built a Dome: The Dome Chronicles Book Launches December 14Emily Leeson (with Zoe D’Amato) “Can you hear that?!” My mother was yelling into her phone. “Hear what?” I whispered back, lowering the volume on my receiver. I was in class, but I have a policy of always picking up when family calls…well, when my parents call, that is. They have a habit of getting into some sticky situations — like when Dad got stuck down the well, or when they crashed the wagon into the woodpile (everybody including the horses ended up upside — down, but ultimately fine). “I…
Read more
Art ActuallyBy Anna Horsnell Artists are different creatures. They communicate in a language that goes beyond words. They see possibilities and potential where others might not. Whether their chosen medium is photography, painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, video, or any other visual art, artists attempt to shine a light and draw attention. They point to the beautiful and the sublime, the unjust and the controversial. They hold up a mirror, and capture the moment. They inspire and they confound. Most of all, artists mark a universal wall to say humanity was here. In this time and in this place, we lived….
Read more
2019 Spring that year was late to the game,The smelt snow a blizzard and then freezing rain,The full moon in May was no day for planting,Wet fields in June and farmers were ranting.But through the good valley swam gaspereaux,The fiddleheads green, the fish fat with roe. Summer, that year, flew in fast and high,Hot as Jamaica, new moon in July,Hay fields checkered with great golden bales,Larks in the meadow, frogs in the swale.And down the good river tubes waltzed along,Sun-burnt bellies and bop-a-longs songs. September’s first shot was a Dorian blow,Hard day on willows, creeks overflowed,No hum in the wires,…
Read more