Holy Moly - OCTOBER And I Got The Hitch-Itch

 When I looked into my blog today, I had to laugh. During the month of September I just managed to put one post into the blog. And all-of-a-sudden it is October. Holy moly! 

September was a great month though, We enjoyed summer-warm days, spending lots of time outside taking great hikes with Dixie and even more tourists came to see the island. Mind you not too many Americans showed up. There were just too many hoops to pass through for day-visitors. The vaccination wasn't the main obstacle, (of course we have to ask for that at the border) but obtaining the negative Covid test within 72hrs of crossing into Canada turned out to be the bigger problem. The labs got overwhelmed and results could not be delivered within the set time frame. 

Let's hope that this recent Covid disaster with the Delta variant is gonna be the last one of this pandemic. Everybody wants to return to their normal life.

Speaking of normal, we sure hope that the US government will finally open the border for Canadians. Because I have gotten the hitch-itch. I have even had one night in the trailer already - if so for a special reason. One day I had a sore throat followed by a developing cough and slight headaches. Needless to say, I got worried. Did I got a break-through Covid infection? Should I get tested? 

I decided that a Covid test would be good, so I called the medical center in Lubec and got in the same day. A PCR-test might not be the experience you want to have, as they stick that pin into the upper portion of your nose, but it was over within seconds.

About 35hrs later I got a call. The result of the test was negative. Thank God it was negative. I had gotten a regular old-fashioned cold, which I actually haven't had for years. Another couple of days later I was my usual self again. 

But having spent a night in the trailer, I got really hitch-itchy. And I pulled out the big McNally map book to ponder over a route to the south-west. I would like to avoid Texas as the state recently has lost all of my goodwill. So we will see what route we will be ending up with.

Of course, we are wondering who of our old RV-friends will be going south this winter and who we will meet. We already know that many have given up traveling south, and the reasons can be many, from health concerns to financial worries. We will not be using regular RV-Parks but generally try to stay far away from the crowds. And we hope that the current Covid wave will subside towards the winter, but the most important thing is that the border will open up to Canadian snowbirds. It has never made any sense that we could fly to the US but not drive. This senseless rule has made people to invent some strange ways of traveling. 

As I am the harbour master here on Campobello I recently met a fellow from Nova Scotia who wanted to dock his boat in my harbour only to get it transported over to Eastport/Maine. He himself was headed to the next airport in St.John to catch a flight to Montreal, from where he would continue to Chicago, from where he would fly to Bangor, Maine. From there he would travel by rental car to Bangor,ME to get back on his boat which he had plans to sail down the US coast. Eastport,ME is exactly 1(one)mile from Campobello Island. But he was not allowed to enter the US in Eastport, so he had to fly all around to the US to continue his journey. While he wouldn't have gotten into contact with any people. had he been able to stay on his sailboat, he now has met hundreds of people during his various flights and by crossing through busy airports. I would just love to hear a reasonable explanation of this truly crazy US border crossing restriction. When Canada closed its borders, it was for land crossings and shortly after for air passengers as well, while the US kept borders open for airtravel during the entire pandemic.

Well, let's not end this on a bad note. I have some pretty nice photo shots from around Campobello, which I have added below.

             The Head Harbour Lightstation

       Below: At the Roosevelt floating dock

       Below: View from "Raccoon Beach" 

        Visiting yachts at Welshpool Landing

                   Evening on the wharf

          The big Root at Herring Cove

                     Apple Harvest

           Lonely house on Indian Island

                  Sunset from the harbour

Thanks for stopping by again and there will be more shortly.

Uih --- September Already, But Is Summer over?

 It's the Labour Day weekend already and I can't but wonder where did the summer go? Well, no it's not snowing or anything yet, but by golly, the temps have been creeping downwards with this morning showing 10C and a cold northerly wind blowing down the beach, making me don a sweater and a warm jacket. Beautiful sunny day and clear views across the Bay of Fundy over to Grand Manan. 

Yellow flowers growing along the edge of the beach. The fresh fallish air feels invigorating and I notices the same also with Dixie. 

September and Labour Day has been marking the end of summer for so many people every year. Cabins are being closed up, campers are going to be parked for the winter. The good thing here on Campobello is that it'll still be another month until we see the beginning of a change of colours in the woods.

For me this is the time to reflect about what we have done and achieved over the last 3 months.

The first big project was the insulating of 2 walls of our house. It was a project that kept me busy much longer than first expected. Strangely, I got a lasting memory of it as I noticed a pronounced pain in my left hip. Did I labour too hard? Did I sprain a muscle? I don't know, but I am still bothered with it from time to time, and it reminds me daily of my age going onto the 7th decade. Geez.......

But we did take a break from work when we hitched on the trailer and went over to Grand Manan. It proved to be a very delightful camping trip.

Being back to the island, our tour and rental business came back to life. The first guests arrived in late June and from there it has just been picking up. 

July and August were hot and often humid, but the weather was good for our garden where Bea had tomato plants growing. Also cucumbers, squash and peppers have been doing great in our greenhouse. 

Most recently we have been harvesting tomatoes a pound daily. Eventually we gave away to friends and neighbours. Bea even made an attempt with a farm stand in the local saturday market. 

Most delightful were my morning walks with Dixie along the beach. We listened to the singing of the grey seals who had chosen to use the area for the many rocks sticking up from the water under low tide. Some were always lounging in the morning sun, while others were busy prowling the waters for something edible.

Some days it was extremely foggy, others were full of delightful sunshine.

Identical views from clear weather to extreme fog

One day a guest had the most memorable experience while visiting Raccoon Beach. He was the only tour guest that day and had paid for two, which is our minimum. We had walked down the stairs to the beach when he asked me for 15 extra minutes on that beach. He told me he was up for a swim!!! From the van he fetched water shoes, and a towel and went into the cold water (14C) While I was watching from the top of the stairs he was plunging and splashing in the water like any kid. But then suddenly he got out and was standing on the shore staring out into the water. After a minute or two he went back in and by the time he was done, he had been out there 10 minutes flat. When he came up the stairs again I asked him why he had been out of the water briefly. His explanation made me smile. He had seen a black head stick up from the water looking at him with interest. The grey seal who had looked at him must have scared him, as he had heard stories of great white sharks prowling the bay. 

I love my job! 

From one of the island gardens Bea brought a load of plums home. And what she made of it was a heavenly delicious German-style plum cake. A feast not only for the eyes but especially for the taste buds. Man, I had a hard time to stop eating.

So, when summer and autumn comes to an end and Christmas will be only a month away, we have plans to travel to see the old stomping grounds of the south-western deserts. There will be only a few of our friends we once have been hanging out with, but we will make new friends and enjoy the warmer days, while snow showers will come down on our home up north. 

A broken Adirondeck plastic chair sitting in the beach grass

The Truth Is The Truth

 The below given opinion was given in a "ground-zero" political discussion, and I find it quite truthful, what the author is saying:

LIBERAL/DEMOCRATIC STATES HAVE BEEN "CARRYING MANY OF THE RURAL REPUBLICAN STATES" AND THEY'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR A LONG TIME NOW.
And yet the Conservatives/Republicans have long been demonizing socially responsible government involvement in American lives. If rural voters really looked critically at the ACTUAL ECONOMICS and realized just HOW DEPENDENT THEY ARE ON LIBERAL/DEMOCRATIC STATES and those more socially responsible Liberal/Democratic governments they'd probably suffer from a 'broken belief system' and have a schizophrenic 'identity crisis'. Their (delusional) belief in their proud American individualist independence would be shattered.
9 of America's 10 poorest states are Republican bastions and they BEG for more FEDERAL AID (tax payer $'s) than any of the other states. The infamous and forever SLEAZY Republican senate majority leader, Mitch McConnel's state, Kentucky, is ranked the second most federally dependent state in the nation and Kentucky contributes a measly 1% to America's gross domestic product according to the 2019 year-end stats from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
More than one economically distressed and displaced family from these poorer Republican states has become another homeless statistic on the streets of the more Liberal and progressive states like California and New York and ONCE AGAIN, THE MORE PROGRESSIVE AND "SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE" STATES ARE PICKING UP THE TAB for the REPUBLICAN CHEATS who, rather than take care of the citizens/constituents they're supposed to represent, KEEP PUSHING THE COUNTRY'S WEALTH UPWARDS TO THE TOP 10% OF THE SO-CALLED
"DEMOCRACY FOR ALL" American COMMUNITY.
The sooner Kentucky (and all the other rural Republican states) goes progressively BLUE, the faster they will stop being LAST IN EDUCATION, LAST IN HEALTH CARE, and FIRST IN BLEEDING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DRY.
You would think they would eventually learn that REPUBLICANS WILL LET THEM STARVE, but given that they are at the bottom in education, they probably can't read well enough (or think critically and rationally) to learn that they have been CONVINCED TO VOTE AGAINST THEIR OWN INTERESTS.
Liberal/Democrats have been okay with helping out those states that are less well off. They are more responsive to the needs of EVERY AMERICAN. Liberals have no problem with the federal government subsidizing telephone and mail service to rural areas — services that would NOT be justified by the CAPITALISTIC MATH of Republicans and the corporate elite. They're okay subsidizing rural health care. They're okay with subsidizing rural education, or opioid treatments, or transportation networks (e.g. roads).
The problem isn't Liberal willingness to help disproportionately rural Conservative brothers and sisters. The problem is twofold: 1) the bullshit pretense that these same Republican people are “anti-government” and that urban Liberals are somehow feeding off the government trough, and 2) the refusal of these same Republican cheats to help when blue states get hit with catastrophe. Instead, Mitch McConnell, Humpty Trumpty and all the Republicans suddenly discover the evils of the huge budget deficit that "THEY CREATED" with their 'tax breaks for the rich' and often wasteful MILITARY BUDGETS — and also a deficit that wouldn’t be nearly so large if Kentucky and the other poor republican state cheats weren't bleeding the country dry, bleeding the COMMUNITY dry.
In FACT, Republican voters are completely impervious to ALL the Republican LIES and CORRUPTION: Since 1969, Republican presidential administrations have had 121 criminal indictments and 89 convictions, while Democrats have had 3 and 1 respectively. And, heaven forbid, let's not forget that a majority of these Republican sympathizers claim to be righteous CHRISTIANS dutifully devoted to law and order despite FACTS that suggest Republican CORRUPTION is UNPRECEDENTED.
Trump lovers completely FAIL to differentiate between Republican socio/economic policies and the more "SOCIALLY PROGRESSIVE and "RESPONSIBLE" policies of the Liberal/Democrats.
Still, once upon a time, Liberals/Democrats and Blue states were like “whatever, we’ve got it good, we’re the United States of America. We’ll help.”
But the sleazy Republican CHEATS and McConnell’s toxic brew of greed, gluttony and cruelty has shattered that pretense.
CONSERVATIVES AND RURAL REPUBLICAN AMERICANS HAVE PRETENDED FOR FAR TOO LONG THAT IT IS THEY, THE "HEARTLAND", THE "REAL AMERICA," THAT SUPPOSEDLY MAKES AMERICA AND THAT LIBERALS ARE JUST DRAGGING IT DOWN. (my god, that's hilarious)
It is Liberals/Democrats paying for the largely Republican rural infrastructure, for their health care, for their Medicare and Medicaid and food stamps and aircraft carriers and all the things that make America func
THOSE RURAL REPUBLICAN STATES WOULDN'T LAST A WEEK WITHOUT LIBERAL/DEMOCRATIC ASSISTANCE.
But not only is there zero appreciation, these brainwashed Republican voters act like they’re the ones being screwed over. Where does Mitch McConnell and these sleazy Republican Bullies get off with their arrogant LIES and HYPOCRACY?
Why are Republicans NOT HONEST and why don't they just refer to themselves as a CORPORATE FEUDALISM? Why don't they be honest and have the dumb and 'poor serfs and uneducated peasants' refer to them as 'Lords and Barons'? (They could even start a church and call it THE PROPHITS OF BAAL.)
Oh wait, that might SHINE A LIGHT on THE ILLUSION/DELUSION OF FREEDOM that Republicans depend on to justify their LIES ! ! ! Those LIES work better than the slave owner's whip did 400 years ago.
REPUBLICAN POLICIES ARE 'DESIGNED' TO MAKE IT SO THE NEVER-ENDING AND OFTEN BLOODY STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL IN RURAL AREAS AND ON CITY STREETS ALIKE JUST GOES ON AND ON.

It Is Perfectly Alright To Kiss The Dog

 Of course you wouldn't kiss your dog on the mouth. Half an hour earlier it could have scooped up a yukky mess on your beach walk, so remember that before you exchange smooches with your dog again, but generally, I prefer to kiss my dog on the head, rather than getting too close to strangers. And that goes without saying, especially under the threat of a raging pandemic.

But wait...it's not only the pandemic which outlaws any kissing, what about a renitent Trumpian? Hell - I wouldn't even want to talk to one. Ignore, ignore! They are so full of Sh*t that even being near one is higly contagious.

Some of our American summer people have finally returned to the island. And they had to master the government mandated hoops, like uploading their vaccination status to the Canada website and showing a negative test result, preferably not older than 72hrs before showing up at the border. 

Now, yesterday, one couple came up from Florida. Yes, they escaped the epicenter of stupidity and ignorance in their home state with crazy De (in)Sane-tis, leading the way letting Floridians get sick and die in the name of his self-declared "freedom". 

Our neighbours won't return to Florida until some time into the new year. Here, they are safe with their 5 poodles to kiss every day, Much safer than staying in Florida.