One room school

This little school house stands against the elements in Lower Bedeque, Prince Edward Island. On this cold winter day, with the wind attempting to freeze our brains, it is hard to imagine the time when this school opened in 1886. 

 

We think about the children walking to school from the area farms, or horse and cart pulling up to drop off neighbourhood children. The little one room school opened its doors to all ages as was common at the time. 

Lucy Maud Montgomery, an island author, taught in this school in 1897 for six months. She left to care for her grandmother after her grandfather died. Lucy Maud never taught again.

However, it was an interesting time in her life. Lucy Maud was engaged when she moved to Lower Bedeque. During her time there, she met a man described as "the love of her life." Herman Leard was one of two sons of the family where she boarded, near the school. Nothing came of the relationship; Lucy Maud left and Herman died the next year.

As my husband and I observed the little school this day, we talked of the school where he taught in 1975-76. His post was in Grand Bruit, Newfoundland, an isolated community on the island's south coast, only accessible by coastal boat. 

 

 Grand Bruit, Newfoundland.              School, center back.                           Photo by Don Bradshaw

He taught everything from Kindergarten to Grade 8 to nine children in the community. The children left home to do high school further along the coast, in a community connected by road to the rest of the island. Today Grand Bruit is abandoned and the people resettled elsewhere in Newfoundland.

We were engaged during that year as he worked in his sole charge school. The next year he was offered a job in the school where I worked and we were married. The rest is our family history.

On this cold winter day, a little school in Prince Edward Island stirred up warm memories of young love which has matured and grown with time. 

Happy Valentine's Day to you and your special one!

To the Point

The sky was low, gray and heavy, the kind of day when it feels like the ceiling is just above your head. It was -1C with a breeze making it colder as we parked the car and walked the old dirt road to MacCallum's Point. The area is in Lower Bedeque, across the harbour from Summerside, Prince Edward Island. It was quiet except for the sound of snow under our boots and the clicks of our cameras as we walked along. 

 

At road level, we couldn't feel the wind, thanks to the protection of the trees.

I have come to appreciate the wonder of deciduous trees in the winter. The bare branches reach to the sky 

 

and all the branchlets, covered with leaves in the summer, are visible this time of year in all their intricate glory. 

Overhead, a hawk circles and floats on the breeze. Further on, an owl crosses the road numerous times in pursuit of food. The birds are busy hunting.

 

The snow shows rabbit activity, with footprints in and out of the trees on either side of the road. No wonder the birds are so busy. 

 

 

However, raccoons are busy in this area as well. Fox tracks are common too. Predators like this area.

MacCallum's Point opens before us, red cliffs of sandstone on the edge of the ice-covered shoreline. 

 

Here, the full force of the wind hits us as we leave the shelter of the trees. 

 

Bedeque Bay and Northumberland Strait beyond have open water in spite of the bitter cold.

 

As we take pictures our hands become numb! Our visit is a short one. 

On the way back, the shelter of the woods is welcome as mitts warm frozen fingers. Looking off into the woods, Robert Frost comes to mind,

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

  But I have promises to keep,"

 

after a cup of hot chocolate.