A while ago I posted about a weekend on Brier Island, NS. Living on an island seems idyllic to city folks and landlubbers alike. But you have to be of a special mindset to live on an island.
I can’t imagine myself living in a place where you have to take several boat/ferries and hours of driving before arriving at the closest supermarket for my food.
Doing my groceries once a week/month etc. also doesn’t work for perishable goods. It’s easy to say that we now have freezers and all, so nothing should need to go to waste. But bread tastes better when it’s fresh and it normally doesn’t stay that way for very long. Many veggies can’t be frozen either.
Soft landing guaranteed
So why is “Island life” so attractive then? It all comes down to the change in atmosphere for me. While living on the mainland (even if Nova Scotia is kind of a peninsula) is easier, living on an island is kind of going back to your roots.
Remnants of whales as front yard ornaments
Long ago, people lived in the coastal areas, afraid to go inland where the wild beasts lived. Until they found out that grasslands and woods were pretty comfortable as well with plenty of resources to live on. But that was already thousands of years ago, why does it still linger in our DNA?
It’s a house…
I’m more leaning towards the change in lifestyle for a few days. Out of the usual routine, even the idea that you can’t go to a supermarket if something is missing from your pantry gives a sense of adventure. The same was true when I lived in Ukraine and we went to “the village” for the weekend. No gas or electric to cook on, wood stove it was. As well as a lack of other amenities we take for granted.
The lighthouse
Island life gives that feeling of being cut off from the rest of the world. No way to get in contact with anyone, no way to get anyone here. It’s hard to describe without falling into the scenarios from a certain Stephen King 
. The main ingredient for a good horror story is the isolation from help. But island life is far from a horror story for me.
Basalt or Granite
I embrace it, at least for a while. Also, islands tend to have unspoiled nature and remnants of a distant past. A past like this one of volcanic nature. While Nova Scotia was not a volcano, a rift of hundreds of kilometers was spewing lava a few million years ago. This lava condensed in basalt when it came in contact with the air. Much stayed underground and was compressed into granite instead. Today we can see basalt-like formations of granite at the surface.
Gulls and Cormorants
The ones that really don’t care if they are on an island or mainland are the birds. The more nooks and crannies they have to go and nest, the better they feel.
After a few days and nights on the island it was time for us to get off the island again.
Sandy Cove Beach
One last look on a beach that was already on the Digby Neck and not on Brier Island and we were off to home. Nova Scotia is full of surprise nooks and crannies for people too, but only if we are curious enough to try and find them.
Until next time…