And the birds sang

The day started out as they usually do. We were headed to the boardwalk but as we passed a house two streets from ours, I noticed a young man bent over someone on a front lawn. An elderly woman was stood over them. We stopped and asked if they needed help and she shouted, “Yes.”

I ran from the car as my husband called 911. The young man was a carpenter working on a house across the street. We learned from him later he had heard the woman’s cries for help when she came out of the house and found her husband fallen by a tree on the lawn.

The young man was on the phone talking to 911 at this point, getting instructions as he did chest compressions. Within two minutes two police vehicles arrived. The officers didn’t have a defibrillator but one took over the chest compressions. Within two minutes, the paramedics arrived with a defibrillator and started to work on the man.

As we watched helplessly, I spoke with the woman, asked her name, told her mine and learned they had no family on the island. She shared information about her husband as we both cried and looked on. Sometimes words weren’t possible. Then an officer and a paramedic needed to speak with her and I told her I would check back with her as she thanked me and went with them.

We left not knowing what happened, though the defibrillator hadn’t revived the man.

My husband and I were quiet as we drove away. We continued on to the boardwalk and as we left the car and took the familiar trail, the Blue Jays were their usual chatty selves, the squirrels approached tentatively looking for peanuts, and the shorebirds du jour looked for food along the beach. A Great Blue Heron fished in the marsh. We passed many familiar faces we see and speak with regularly and noticed some tourists enjoying the area too. And the birds still sang.

Life went on…though a man was gone and his wife’s life changed forever. So were we. We were glad to have stopped and offered assistance. We couldn’t imagine doing otherwise. However, we will not soon forget the scene or the faces of either of the two people, one whose life ended and the other whose life was so dramatically changed that day. 

P.S. We have since spoken with the young man who arrived on the scene so quickly. He is to be admired for helping as he did. Not everyone would. 

I have been in touch with the woman whose husband died that day and she is doing as well as can be expected. She and her husband had just returned from grocery shopping that morning. 

You never know…

Winter and nature

We have stayed close to home this winter and the occasional day when we’ve ventured forth are days without much wind, a rarity to be sure. Dressing for the cold is easy, the wind is another issue entirely. However, the days we are out and about, we have enjoyed the time immensely. The glory of nature is evident everywhere we look and we take in as much as we can every time.

On an 8 degree Celsius day, the ice in the harbour looked like spring break-up had started. 

There was a delicate line between sea and sky, just visible on the horizon as white and blue co-mingled. Closer to shore, the sun highlighted the lighthouse almost enough to create a reflection amid the blue glow. 

The animals along the boardwalk enjoy the hint of spring as well. We heard a small flock of American Black Ducks as we exited the car. More than a dozen hang out around the flowing water of the salt marsh. I tried unsuccessfully to take video of this orange-legged beauty which was quacking up a storm. 

She looks quite pleased with herself and the day.

Another spring-like day we drove north to Cavendish. We were the only people in the area as we walked to the beach. The sea ice had moved off-shore and was barely visible on the horizon. Looking west along the coast, one can almost conjure memories of this beach in the other seasons.  

As we move away from the shore, a hardy evergreen, looking more black than green this time of year, reveals the direction of the prevailing wind. In its effort to survive, the tree leans rather than breaks.

Further along the coast, at MacKenzies Brook, the sea continues to carve the coastline as the sea arch is closer to collapse with each season. 

                                                                                      November 2021

Sandstone is no match for the reach of salty hands from stormy waves. We are witnesses to the beauty of her work however. 

                                                                                    February 2022

We enjoy every minute.

P. S.

Time in nature provides respite from the news these days. We appreciate the peacefulness around us when the images of war and people fleeing their homeland fill the screens. We support the Red Cross and our country’s effort to accept refugees. 

I can better understand how our parents and grandparents felt in 1939 in a world on the brink of war.

Animal antics

The animal residents of the boardwalk provide lots of entertainment as we walk there every day. On a recent windy day a bird feeder containing sunflower seeds hung from a branch swaying in the breeze.

The squirrel stretched down from a nearby branch and grasped the feeder as it swayed in the wind.

It held onto the upper branch with its hind paws as it scooped up as many seeds as it could handle. 

Drawing itself back onto the the upper branch, it sat and nibbled the seeds, then repeated the acrobatics for more. 

In spite of tremendous, the little animal persevered. I admire its determination.

P.S.

I live on the east coast of Canada, on Prince Edward Island. Prior to my life here, I lived on the eastern most island of Canada, an island in the North Atlantic called Newfoundland. I am an islander in every sense.

Discovery

One of my favourite Christmas experiences is to sit by the fire reading, 

 

or to sit peacefully in the evening, with the Christmas tree lights, the fire and a few candles lighting the room. 

The evening is a great time for reflection, to consider the past year and whether to make changes for the year ahead. In the last year, it surprised me to discover things about myself I did not realize. It is as if my conscious mind caught a glimpse of the self my spirit always knew.

My husband and I spent time this year exploring places new to us on our island home of Prince Edward. After the tourists left, the trails, beaches, and heritage roads were empty. We didn't meet another person during our explorations, as if we were alone on the planet on these occasions.

 

At such times, the stillness of nature will envelope you if you permit it. Allow it to enter and you become one with the breath of the earth, the rhythm of the living world. 

 

The cycle of life from new to old unfolds all around you. A river or stream babbles so as to report its delight in its condition and by its motion reaffirms the cycle.

We have walked busy streets in various cities around the world, such as New York, London, Sydney, and Paris. We enjoyed the hustle and bustle on the streets, the opportunities to explore and experience new things. We may do it again.

However, I have learned that for me, nothing compares to the feeling which comes with time in nature, walking a trail or beach and sharing a beverage, often a thermos of tea, with a loved one. The tea is almost a sacrament, a symbol of the serenity which bathes the body and inspires the soul. The air is fresh, and the sounds of the water, the birds, the wind in the trees all soothe the mind and body. 

 

Self discovery is an important part of aging. Better late than never.