Nova Scotia - week 1

Hello Everyone, 

We’ve been in Nova Scotia for a little over a week. A few observations: 1. Outdoor showers are the goods. There’s one here at the side of the house, and I use it everyday. I look out over rolling hills and placid sheep, I smell fresh clean air, I feel a gentle breeze. It’s definitely superior to being cooped up in a plastic cocoon in a bathroom.

2. Growing up next to the shores of mighty Bass Lake, the ocean can seem a little pedestrian. But living next to it has been great. Both let you listen to soothing sounds as you fall asleep. At the lake, it’s the loons. Here, it’s listening to the waves crash. Love ‘em both.

3. You know an area is something special if rich people are buying up all the available properties and putting ugly modernist buildings on them. I'm not sure why the "Bond Villain" esthetic is popular when you have the resources to do literally anything else.

4. Working remotely has been going well. The internet here works, which is basically the only thing I need. A reliable source of power as well, I suppose, but that hasn't been an issue. 

5. Arthur is having a great time, which is to say that he's only mildly anxious. He's got room to run, and no other dogs to annoy him. Emilie and I are home all day, and there are deer that wander through the yard and squirrels in the trees. 

6. Competition will make me do anything. Emilie and I have been trying to learn the names of local plants, both here and at home. She has an app where you can take a picture of a plant, and it will tell you what it is. We were several weeks into this before I realized that the app hands out badges for identifying more and more species. And not just plants, any living thing. I’ve since become obsseesed with getting electronic badges and levelling up. Did I take a picture of Arthur and had the app identify him as “Domestic Dog”, just so that I could juice my numbers? Yes, yes I did. No shame. Wes

Photos

1. The cottage where we are staying.

2. A butterfly I found in the yard.

3. A different view of the cottage on a foggy morning.

4. The app I mentioned with a slight misidentification. I took the picture shown in the left circle.

5. Our nearest neighbor/bad guy in a spy movie.