The winds of November come calling

O.K., I admit it – we were a touch cocky about the mild autumn weather when we arrived here in Lunenburg. The green grass and blossoming flowers promised warmth and sunshine to us.

Our first winter storm came four days after we arrived. We watched with fascination as the wet, sloppy snow kept coming down – hour after hour. It “puked” snow for a day and a half – but not the fluffy Rocky Mountain snow we’re used to – this stuff is wet. From our window we watched a snowplough begin to clear the parking lot next door. With each pass of the blade, a wave of water ran out of the remaining snow and flooded down his tracks.

We had been so busy with our move, that the forced relaxation of that weekend was a gift for us. Not so for others. Over 100,000 people lost power – and for many here in Nova Scotia, losing power means losing water and heat. A lot of people were without for three or four days. I have never heard so many conversations about the merits of various generators. Here houses are often wired so when the power goes out, a built in generator automatically cuts in.

So, we have been here for a month. That was our only snowstorm – but wind and rainstorms come by every few days. These storms are like the ones I remember in tropical Australia (only colder) – slashing rain beating on our windows, rivers of water pouring down the streets – and the wind – oh my. This morning after a restless night we found our deck chairs overturned and at the other end of the balcony and our patio table lying on its side. From our balcony, it’s common to see the boats in the harbour toss and strain as they are tied against the docks. We see the boat-owners visiting late at night to check on them – even though they can do nothing to help.

This weather has delayed one of Nova Scotia’s favourite days – DUMP DAY. Dump day is when all the lobster fishermen along the south shore of get to drop their traps. Dump day was supposed to be on Monday but an official ‘storm warning’ had the season postponed for twenty-four hours. So early Tuesday, 1700 boats left their docks and motored to their fishing grounds - and dropped about 250 traps per boat. Fishermen check and re-bait their traps every day or two.

We were lying in bed on Tuesday night. Jim rolled over and said, “I wonder how many pissed off lobsters there are out there right now. They’ve had their snack and are trying to leave – but they just can’t get out of the trap.”

Apparently there were lots of pissed off lobsters. A local fisherman told us they got 19 lobsters out of his first three traps (that is very good – for the fishermen).

On a totally different subject, George W. Bush came to Halifax last Wednesday – supposedly to thank Canadians for their help dealing with stranded airline passengers after September 11. (He forgot to mention Canada in his ‘thanks to the world’ speech at the time). One of the girls at work is married to an RCMP officer. He was dressed in the red surge and was sitting in the front row while George gave his speech –we even saw him on T.V.

“I was a bit worried when he left home for this Presidential visit,” she said to us. “I told him – Don’t you take a bullet for George – he isn’t worth it.”