And there went another summer. It’s hard to keep count of them nowadays, eh? As usual, it looks like we hardly did anything before it was already over again.
That’s a common perception. Good times always go too fast, while the more difficult times seem to last forever, cling around and settle in for the long haul.
Luckily there are some who take pictures to remember what happened during the happy times. Summer here started with the Privateer Days, a few days of fun for the locals, a parade of all kinds of vehicles and people with all kinds of agendas. The lead picture is a rat rod we see regularly on the streets.
In the fog
Then it was already time for Canada Day. This year was marked by very heavy fog, so heavy that none of the fireworks were visible, so the above pic is from the closing of the Privateer Days instead. As you can see, the fog already started rolling in.
Mersey Fog
The foggy weather seemed to want to stick around for a while; photographing it was a breeze. The Mersey River was a welcome subject during this time.
Brooklyn Marina
The Brooklyn Marina, usually with a background of industrial buildings, suddenly showed as if it were a hundred years ago. Clean and no industry.
LaHave Islands
The LaHave Islands are islands not far from here. Some of them are no longer an island as they are connected to the mainland by a causeway or by bridges. They are surprisingly high for such tiny islands. Here too, the fog rolled in and made for dreamy pictures. The Ukrainian colours are simple lobster traps arranged to form the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
End of the day
Then it was finally time to get to the beach without having to dress up for the fog. Photographing people at the beach is a risky business nowadays, even if it is a public space. I decided to keep myself to natural shots instead. This sunset was one of them in July.
Dog Vomit Slime Mould
Then it seemed to be the start of the fungus and mushroom season. The above bright yellow mould is called Dog Vomit Slime Mould. And no, I did not touch it 
.
The next few days turned out to be pretty difficult, with rainfall and thunderstorm for a whopping 20 hours straight. Rain that should have fallen over a period of months came down within 24 hours. No pictures of that, but damage to roads and property was enormous in the rest of the province. We escaped most of it.
More fog
After the rain comes… (drumroll)… Fog. A view over the river towards the town yielded no town at all. Nice picture, but no view.
Kejimkujik Park
Then it was time for some outdoor activity, like hiking. Some people go canoeing or paddle boarding, but you won’t see me on any of those contraptions with my gear.
British Soldier
Looking around on a hike is always the most important part. If it is to numbly walk like a machine, then you’d better stay home. I always like to switch my lens between my macro lens and a walkabout lens, leaving the heavy stuff at home. The above British Soldier Lichen is barely 5mm high, but so bright that it’s hard to miss.
Peaceful canoeing
Another view over the Mersey River, this time from the premises of the local Canoe and Camera Club. This stretch of water is pretty calm, ideal for beginners in canoeing and such. Still not really for me, though.
Milky Way and lightning
Summer is always the time to (try and) shoot the Milky Way. With all the foggy nights this year, I didn’t get much chance for that. But when the opportunity arose… what a night! As a bonus, at the bottom, some 50km away was a thunderstorm lighting up the sky from time to time.
Summerville Beach
Then it was finally time to go to the beach and stay there, catching some much needed Vitamin D. If the dose was sufficient, I can’t tell, but the day on the beach was nice.
The Ovens
Lounging on the beach is not one of my favourite things to do (or not do ?). I prefer some activities, like walking, photographing or even driving around. The Ovens, just north of LaHave are a set of sea caves that are beautiful to visit and record sound in. When the light is right, the colours of the rocks are beautiful.
Island life, here we come
Then we decided to go a little further away, just for a long weekend. Brier Island, on the west side of Nova Scotia is an island in (or on?) the Bay of Fundy. Giant tides and currents are a daily business there.
Age old basalt
What is also visible is an ancient volcanic origin of the Nova Scotia peninsula. While there were no volcanoes as such, there was a long rift in the earth’s crust, spewing lava for millennia. Once that stopped, the island of Nova Scotia was formed. Some places still show the basalt formations of that time.
Whale watching, mother and calf
Who goes to an island in the Bay of Fundy must go and watch whales. On this rough trip, we saw a handful of whales. The above shot was far off the ship of a mother and a calf, swimming together.
Backyard flooding
Then came Lee. Hurricane Lee was much publicised. “The strongest hurricane ever!” was a common sight on news outlets and social media. It turned out to be a good storm; it took off with my garbage can, never to be seen again. My back yard was flooded. Normally, the water stays behind the high grass in the background, just behind the trees. It took a few weeks to dry out my grass again.
Closed off for damage
But the storm did do some damage on the coast line. This breakwater made of solid concrete was no match for post tropical storm Lee.
Displaced Beacon
When water is capable of displacing blocks of concrete that are normally in the sea on the bottom, like for the beacon above, I think it’s a good time to stay home by a warm fire.
And with that storm, the summer of 2023 ended as if a candle had been blown out.
All in all, there was plenty to see and do, we just didn’t notice that it went by so fast. Well, there’s always more seasons to cover…
Until next time…