Just because....

Rainy, windy, cold in St John's. I took a good nap after the time in the archives. I woke up and decided that I would start heading toward Harbour Grace. I kept driving and driving until I found myself pulling into this hardscrabble little town of Harbour Grace at dusk. Though it has a history of production and aviation, it seems that things have now slowed down quite a bit and it has more of a look of "hard times". A few teenagers darted out into the street on bikes. A couple of ATV'ers were rolling around. Only one gas pump in this whole town. One corner store. There were a few ships in dry dock. And then I spotted a church and decided to check it out. It was St Paul's Anglican Church. The one that Ella Stevenson had been carried into by Mark and Hannah Stevenson to be baptized. Apparently, the oldest stone church in all of Newfoundland. Built in 1835. I touched the door with the weird knowledge that my Great Grandparents had touched the same door in November 1886. One hundred and thirty two years ago as they carried my then infant Grandmother in through this doorway. Cool, powerful energy. It was getting dark and cold but I wanted to maybe find the neighborhood that was "The Hill". There was really only one section of town that made geological sense and even though all the houses appeared to be new, I think this might have been our Grandparents' neighborhood.From the elevation you can see the steeple of St Paul's between The Hill and the harbour. .Read more