‘hyperlocal’ — short stories about Cape Breton neighbourhoods

Posted on May 20, 2013 by

Screen Shot 2013-05-20 at 7.28.49 PM“Hyperlocal” is a CBC Canada Writes endeavour that asked listeners across the country to write in with short stories about changes in their neighbourhoods.

If you go to the website (using the link above), you use a Google-map-like interface to find the place you want. Then you see little hot pink markers that show stories (you can see it in the screen shot above there, too). Sue McKay Miller, of Little River, got a Gold Star for her story, “A Dying Neighbourhood.” From that story:

White spruce sprouted like weeds, surrounding old apple trees and concealing the stone root cellars that bear witness to a more domesticated past. Now the spruce trees are growing old, and are, like all the aged – be they tree or coyote, man or moose – more vulnerable to disease and death.

The other stories from Cape Breton are neat, too. And I think you can submit your own pretty easily, as well.

Just a neat thing I thought I’d share. :)

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Q+A: Bailey Chapman

Posted on May 19, 2013 by
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On a hike with my boyfriend and little sister. He took so many pictures of me that I ran out of faces so I stuck my tongue out!

1. How old are you?

I am 20 years old.

2. CB born and raised? Or recent transplant? (Plus whatever biographical details you feel like giving – age, education background, employment background, hobbies, family, etc).

I am born and raised in Cape Breton! My old high school was so close that I could get up at 8 and be there for 8:30. It was about a bus length away. I grew up in a family that really appreciates music so I have inherited that as well. I enjoy listening to music along with everything I am doing, although I haven’t yet mastered listening to music and reading. Another great interest of mine is movies… I’m just a movie junkie.

3. “What are you up to these days?” I.e. what do you do for a living, what are you working on, are you a student, in the workforce, etc?

These days I am on summer break from Cape Breton University where I am taking a Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies. I am planning to become a social worker. In the off seasons I work and work so I can concentrate on my studies later in the year.

4. What are your favourite CB eateries?

This is a hard one, I love to eat out! The Cedar House is a great place. You sometimes need to wait a while for a seat but the wait is always worth it because you are never let down. I also have a soft spot for the fish and chips from the McCurdy’s Dining Room at the Silver Dart Lodge, where I will actually be picking up some waitressing shifts this summer.

5. What are your favourite things to do outside?

Naturally, being from Cape Breton my favourite thing to do outside is swim.

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Reading and boating with my boyfriend, last summer.

6. This summer, what is a typical “day in the life” like for you?

Well I haven’t started work yet and I haven’t been there before so I can’t say much about that yet so let’s just look at a regular day.

I usually eat as soon as I get up because I always wake up hungry.  When I eat my breakfast I love to read whatever novel has caught my attention, or the month’s issue of Vanity Fair. Then I usually go for a walk or swim – not necessarily in the same order, but almost always part of my daily routine. Sometimes I do it with friends, other times I do it by myself or with family. When everyone gets home from work we’re most likely to have supper on the back patio – corn on the cob, salad, and burgers come to mind. The best end to the day is going for a swim to freshen up in a river, maybe watch a movie with my brother or boyfriend…or the whole family if we all can agree on one. My favourite part of the summer is going to bed and feeling my cold cotton sheets against my sunburn.

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Playing with my water proof camera at the pool last summer.

7. Are you planning on sticking around in CB? Why, or why not?

I haven’t yet decided if I will for school and work – universities in other provinces are calling my name! I’ve always liked the idea of ending back in Cape Breton, maybe when I retire or something.

8. What do you need more of, to truly live your dream here in Cape Breton? (this could be money, support, opportunities, whatever)

In Cape Breton, Baddeck specifically, there needs to be more to do – more bowling alleys and theaters or something. Maybe, to put it more simply, Cape Breton needs more accessible public transit so people living in more rural areas can get out more.

9. What is your favorite memory from childhood?

Waking up and walking up the stairs in my childhood home: I would walk up the stairs looking at the HUGE poster of Albert Einstein you Mum and Dad had pinned super high up on the wall. I remember asking Dad about it one day recently and apparently the poster was just normal sized, but back then I guess I was the size of a poster so you can understand why I thought it was so big. The sun would be shining in the windows and I would hear and smell coffee being made, as well as hear Neutral Milk Hotel being played on the stereo. Because of this memory, to this day I love the smell of coffee and the sound of it percolating; but, I still do not like the taste of coffee or know how to make it. Also, whenever I listen to Neutral Milk Hotel my heart still skips a beat and I feel so happy. I guess you could consider this memory as my happy place.

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Playing dress up, about 12 years ago.

10. Finish this sentence: Being from Cape Breton, to me, means…

Being from Cape Breton, to me, means living in the middle of such amazing scenery that sometimes I don’t even realize it; but, when I do my breath is taken away every time without fail.

This Q+A with Bailey is part of an ongoing series of interviews with people associated with Cape Breton in some way – mostly young people, but not necessarily. The complete list of interviews is here.

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what Patsy MacKinnon taught me

Posted on May 18, 2013 by

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Yesterday some of my classmates and I went to visit Patsy MacKinnon in her studio in New Waterford.

My instructor Heather Kennedy MacIsaac arranged it for us as part of the third semester, this little short bit on the end. (The week before we went to see Kenny Boone, and I’ll likely post photos of that at some point.)

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We spent about an hour in Patsy’s studio space, talking to her, and looking at illustrations that she has made. The windows and the skylight brought lots of natural light into the room. Although it’s a small room, Patsy uses it well, displaying her art on the walls, and using high bookshelves to store her art books. She was a gracious hostess, bringing out some chairs for us to sit on.

She shared with us her background: how she used to be a nurse, how she built a studio onto her house about twenty years ago, and took the leap of faith, to leave her career and start a new one, painting. (Her husband said, “You can always go back to nursing.”)

She told us about raising her kids and being there for them, while also carving out time for her work. (“I would set the alarm for 5 am, come and paint, then go get everyone up around 7:30, get them ready for school, them come in and paint more.” Me: “Weren’t you exhausted?!” Patsy: “Of course!”)

She showed us the illustration process, from roughs to finished pieces, and we learned how the process of creating illustrations for a children’s book, and dealing with an art director at a publisher to do so, takes about a year.

It was a fascinating visit with a very neat lady, and I came away from the afternoon with some great bits of wisdom to mull over:

  • Put the time in. Every day.
  • Take the leap of faith.
  • Lean on someone (who also leans on you), like your partner, if you’ve got one, or your dear friends. Trust that they’ll be there for you. But go into the studio, turn on the answering machine, and work.
  • Things change, in every industry. In the nineties she sold lots of reproductions, and now people want more original work. Change is a constant, so get over it. Keep on working.

It just so happens that Patsy has a show on right now at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design. It’s called “Character Reference”.

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back to my old job

Posted on May 15, 2013 by
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The super high-tech Accounts Receivable accordion folder where I keep charge account receipts.

It is both good, and strange, to be back at my previous job for the summer.

Good because… they are great people to work with. Good because I get to walk around a lot, or at least stand at the counter computer (and I’d gotten frighteningly stationary with design work). And good because hey, a paycheque is pretty sweet! You can’t beat money in the bank.

But it’s also strange because I feel like the last eight months that I was in school must have flown by, or something (even though at the time, sometimes, they felt like they crawled). Here I am, again, at the same desk, the same building, by the same lake. It’s that disorienting feeling you get whenever you return to a once-familiar place after being away for a time. Houses, trees, streets, people – all look the same, yet surreally, subtly, slightly different.

I’m also feeling my age. I know, I know, I’m not that old, but I did just turn twenty-nine last month, which in my mind is the waiting room to thirty, and I don’t care what people say, thirty is definitely a turning point. A change. No longer “young”.

(Again, I know, I know, when I’m sixty or even forty I’ll look back at myself at twenty-nine and think, ‘how young I was!’ But for now, I’m the age that I am, and this is how I feel about it.)

But I’m feeling my age because I feel rusty. Which is a feeling I never had before at the start of a term at the marina. I was always pretty able to just jump back in again. (Then again, I never had a break this long from it before. So I guess there’s that.) This time around, though, I’m having to stop, and think, “OK, how did I do this process before? How did I save this or that information, and where did those folders go? Where DO we keep the hose clamps? How DO I give a quote for an outboard motor?” My brain is having to switch gears and I never did learn how to drive a standard, haha.

Anyway, despite the busy-ness of being back to full time work, being still in school (independent projects until the end of the month, plus a neat group project), having a couple of design clients of my very own, aaaaand trying to get some me-time in there too… there are some neat pieces and Q+As in the works for the blog. I may not be posting as often as I used to, but I’m still here.

Posted in Leah's thoughts, Normal life, The Almighty Dollar, Work | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Q+A: Angelo Spinazzola

Posted on May 9, 2013 by
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Angelo on his way way to a retreat in Spain, in a village of 66 people.

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Angelo and Dave Burke at the Royal Cape Breton Yacht Club… a particularly poignant shot now.

 I’ve known Angelo for over ten years now, ever since I used to work for Deanie Cox when she ran her shop “Shape Shift” in North River. My best friends Will and Claire and my brother Mat worked for Angelo at his business, North River Kayak Tours. Will, Claire, Mat and I would bike around North River on its variety of dirt roads (the Oregon, the Murray and the Meadow), eat lobster and mussels, drink beer and live the good life. Those were idyllic summers, looking back!

Angelo has always struck me as being relaxed, yet an devoted entrepreneur who goes after his goals. And for as long as I’ve known him, he’s always shown his passion for the outdoors, as well as for gathering people together to sing, play instruments, and have a good time. These simple, yet truly good things are what drives him.

Angelo is not only a successful business owner, but a musician, a teacher and a traveller. I’m proud to call him my friend. Here is a little Q+A with him. He has lots more cool photos on his Facebook profile, so just hook up with him on there!

1. How old are you?

43 big ones!

2. CB born and raised? Or recent transplant? (Plus whatever biographical details you feel like giving).

Born and raised in Sydney, NS. A professional musician for 25 years, Sea Kayak tour operator/owner of North River Kayak Tours for 18 years. I travel extensively and with a backpack and guitar seeking another song and new relations with my road folk friends.

3. “What are you up to these days?” I.e. what do you do for a living, what are you working on, are you a student, in the workforce, writing songs, etc?

Still running tours. Freshly back from a month in Spain and Morocco. Recently won a NS Music Week award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year. Also won Destination Cape Breton‘s Product Development Award for 2012! I am teaching children songwriting on First Nations on Cape Breton Island. I am a board member on the St. Ann’s Bay Development Association. I am hoping to volunteer at Alderwood Rest Home to perform music for them. I am also figuring out where my next trip will be.

Aboriginal Recording of the Year goes to Angelo Spinazzola & The First Nations Songwriting Sessions.

Angelo accepting the Aboriginal Recording of the Year on behalf of himself and The First Nations Songwriting Sessions, White Point, NS.

4. Tell us about the songwriting project you did with Eskasoni students. What did you learn, about Cape Breton, from doing this project?

Well, about 4 years ago I taught kids at the Harbourview Montessori school and the tune we wrote and recorded got airplay on CBC radio. Someone heard this and approached me, asking if I can teach on the First Nations reserves. I agreed and have been doing so ever since. We were nominated for an ECMA last year with the compilation of tunes that we have recorded over the past 4 years. Imagine!

What I learned about Cape Breton doing this project was that the kids have a deep connection to the Island. You can hear it in the lyrics that they wrote with me. All the songs have a connection with Mother Earth. They know this and they feel it. That to me is encouraging and exciting.

5. What are your favourite things to do out of doors, in CB?

Ice climbing, kayaking, swimming, sleeping outdoors, living life and learning from nature.

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Mid-roll.

Angelo's shop in North River.

Angelo’s shop in North River.

6. Favourite CB music venues, past and present?


Well… there are not that many but let’s just say: Bunkers, Savoy and the Red Shoe in Mabou.

7. Tell us a bit about your creative process.

1) Don’t think just let it flow when it is flowing and hope you can write as fast as it comes to you.

2) Does anyone have a pen by chance?

8. Are you planning on staying in CB? Why, or why not?

I have no idea where I will be from day to day but I really hope I can continue to etch out a happy life here in the woods on this great island.

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Argentina, 2009: Session in the Natural Amphitheater.

9. “Dream big” for a minute: what are some innovations or events or just plain old “big ideas” you think Cape Breton could use?

A tapa bar
, a seafood bar with fresh seafood, 
an authentic grass-roots-y venue where artists can come and perform intimately. A small church maybe. There seems to be lots for sale right now!

10. Finish this sentence: Being from Cape Breton, to me, means… that I can walk outside and be within a 20 minute drive to clean, clear water. I can also keep my doors unlocked and not have to carry a weapon to protect myself. There is a kindness here that people from away think at first cannot be real. “What do they want from me,” they wonder. “Why are they so nice to me?” 
In reality all people here really want is to hear your story and wish you well on your travels. We all want to feel wanted and connected with others, it is in our nature. Here it can happen unpretensiously.

Have a nice day!

More Q+As on this blog can be found on the Interviews page. 

Posted in Active living, Art, Do It Yourself, Education, Mi'kmaq communities, Music, Outdoors, People, Q+A | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

on the new edge of springtime

Posted on May 8, 2013 by
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A pretty forsythia on Pleasant Street, North Sydney.

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Me at the St. Ann’s Bay look off, early May.

A paragraph from one of my favourite books, a paragraph about the glory of springtime that drives me mad with outdoor-fever:

“On the new edge of springtime when I stand on the front porch shading my eyes from the weak morning light, sniffing out a tinge of green on the hill and the scent of yawning earthworms, oh, boy, then! I roll like a bear out of hibernation. The maple buds glow pink, the forsythia breaks into its bright yellow aria. These are the days when we can’t keep ourselves indoors around here, any more than we believe what our eyes keep telling us about the surrounding land, i.e., that it is still a giant mud puddle, now lacking its protective covering of ice. So it comes to pass that one pair of boots after another run outdoors and come back mud-caked — more shoes than we even knew we had in the house, proliferating like wild portobellos in a composty heap by the front door. So what? Noah’s kids would have felt like this when the flood had almost dried up: muddy boots be hanged. Come the end of the dark days, I am more than joyful. I’m nuts.”

-Page 43, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life,” by Barbara Kingsolver.

Posted in Leah's thoughts, Outdoors | 1 Comment

hit the pavement!

Posted on May 5, 2013 by

photo-9It’s gonna be a good day for some of this, I think.

It feels so good to get outside for long hours again, doesn’t it?

What have you been up to out of doors?

 

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