Storm-stayed in Halifax
A few months ago, I received a lovely invitation from his worship, the mayor of Clark’s Harbour, N.S., Mr. Leigh Stoddart. On March 4, the small fishing village would be celebrating its 100th anniversary as a town and he asked if I might come down to help them celebrate. What a great offer! I was thrilled.
By the middle part of last week, I spotted an area of negative vorticity on the upper air charts. (That’s really just a fancy way of saying a developing storm system.) I thought this couldn’t possibly happen again. You see, late last month I drove to Sussex, N.B., in a snow and freezing rain storm to speak at the New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement AGM. I can forecast the weather, but I can’t control it.
By Friday, it wasn’t looking good, but I was not prepared to pull the plug; I was so looking forward to my visit. I watched the storm system all weekend. I thought if I pack a suitcase maybe the weather gods will feel sorry for me and the warm air will come in more quickly.
I set my alarm and was at work by 7:30 Monday morning. I prepared my morning run of maps with one eye on the freezing rain and another on the highway cameras. By noon, I had to make the call. It broke my heart, but I knew it was a wise decision – I would not make it to Clark’s Harbour. I reached out to Mayor Stoddart and he understood. I offered to visit his lovely town at a later date.
I thought I would do a little research on the town and add it to my column. I needed a photo to go along with my story so I reached out through social media. The photos and the stories started to come in.
Instead of printing my findings, I’d like to share something Laine Parnell posted on my Facebook page:
“There is a sweet little boardwalk along the harbour there, behind the elementary school, if I remember right. We stayed at a B&B there in 2006 and fell in love with Nova Scotia from that visit. The nice lady who ran the B&B let us walk her dog, and one evening it was foggy, there were misted light halos on the boardwalk lights, the gentle sound of waves and my heart just about burst. Went back to Vancouver, packed up, sold my place and moved here. Never regretted one moment since!”
I can’t wait to visit!