My eyes are wide open absorbing the uniqueness of Nova Scotia. Maybe not the uniqueness, maybe only the differences from southern Ontario and therefore unique to me.
Although I am aware there are deer in Ontario, I personally have rarely seen any. In the first two weeks I have seen 15 deer between peoples front lawns, crossing the road in front of me and on the mud flats at low tide.
Our first cottage is directly on the ocean so we have had the good fortune to see fisherman bringing in their haul. I thought at first the fisherman went out every morning, but as I now understand they go out with the tides, so a work day begins and ends with the tides, not the time.
One of our real estate agents told us the good news that there are no cockroaches in Nova Scotia. But there also are no longer any bats in Nova Scotia living out of captivity.
Although I am aware there are deer in Ontario, I personally have rarely seen any. In the first two weeks I have seen 15 deer between peoples front lawns, crossing the road in front of me and on the mud flats at low tide.Our first cottage is directly on the ocean so we have had the good fortune to see fisherman bringing in their haul. I thought at first the fisherman went out every morning, but as I now understand they go out with the tides, so a work day begins and ends with the tides, not the time.
One of our real estate agents told us the good news that there are no cockroaches in Nova Scotia. But there also are no longer any bats in Nova Scotia living out of captivity.
The weather is intriguing. We have had rain, sun, 18 degree days, 30 degree days, fog, mist, everyday seems like its own independent entity. It doesn’t matter what came before, today will do what today wants to do. It also varies so drastically from place to place. Inland Main Street Yarmouth was a humid, sticky 35 degrees. Fifteen minutes away at Cape Forchu lighthouse it was a chilly 21, foggy, windy and I wanted a sweater!
Like any other part of the country there is a fair share of road kill. However in Ontario I saw mostly racoons, in Nova Scotia 25% of all roadkill is porcupines. I have yet to discover how the vehicle's tires make out after hitting a porcupine!
Cyclists are everywhere! I am not sure but Nova Scotia must be on some cycling bucket list due the landscape being so hilly. Not my bucket list - it is much to challenging for me. But the uniqueness to this - is they ride on the highway! I was so startled the first time I encountered a cyclist ahead of me and thought they must have just gotten on by mistake, they must be looking for the first exit. But then I saw more and more and realized it is ?ok? to cycle on the highway!!
Speaking of highways...the highways are divided into accessed and restricted access areas. At an accessed portion you are travelling down Highway 101 going 100 kilometres an hour and there is a car at a stop sign perpendicular to you waiting to turn onto the highway! The laughable part is, there is so little traffic on the highway that this is totally reasonable that they can turn onto the highway from a dead stop and accelerate to highway speed without causing any interruption in traffic!
Bugs!! There is a lovely array of large, huge and bigger bugs to contend with on a daily basis. At times I felt like I was in a scene out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie with the bugs swarming and hitting the truck as we ran and ducked and dove in. Zoe is not so thrilled with this aspect of Nova Scotia. She has encountered a few monster spiders not to her liking but she has become quite good at an effective swatting technique that she employs with deadly accuracy.
Like any other part of the country there is a fair share of road kill. However in Ontario I saw mostly racoons, in Nova Scotia 25% of all roadkill is porcupines. I have yet to discover how the vehicle's tires make out after hitting a porcupine!
Cyclists are everywhere! I am not sure but Nova Scotia must be on some cycling bucket list due the landscape being so hilly. Not my bucket list - it is much to challenging for me. But the uniqueness to this - is they ride on the highway! I was so startled the first time I encountered a cyclist ahead of me and thought they must have just gotten on by mistake, they must be looking for the first exit. But then I saw more and more and realized it is ?ok? to cycle on the highway!!
Speaking of highways...the highways are divided into accessed and restricted access areas. At an accessed portion you are travelling down Highway 101 going 100 kilometres an hour and there is a car at a stop sign perpendicular to you waiting to turn onto the highway! The laughable part is, there is so little traffic on the highway that this is totally reasonable that they can turn onto the highway from a dead stop and accelerate to highway speed without causing any interruption in traffic!
Bugs!! There is a lovely array of large, huge and bigger bugs to contend with on a daily basis. At times I felt like I was in a scene out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie with the bugs swarming and hitting the truck as we ran and ducked and dove in. Zoe is not so thrilled with this aspect of Nova Scotia. She has encountered a few monster spiders not to her liking but she has become quite good at an effective swatting technique that she employs with deadly accuracy.
The one thing I noticed, in Halifax where I was, the pedestrians just walk across the street not paying attention to crosswalks or traffic. That was 10 years ago but one thing that stands out. Stay safe and enjoy the adventure!!
ReplyDeleteJennifer
Thanks Jennifer! I agree with pedestrians ignoring the crosswalks, but it really was the cars I took notice of. They would stop at a person's slightest movement. After 3 weeks, Zoe and I began testing the theory and would make movements to cross the street ranging from obvious to very subtle, and cars always stopped and waited for us. Courtesy, respect, and generally no one is in a rush. Such a lovely way to live!
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