Pigeon Cove

You know the part in cartoons where there is a big screeching noise? The part where the character skids to a stop, backs up and then its' eyes pop way out of its' head? And maybe they try to say something but they just stumble over their words? That was me yesterday as I drove out to Quirpon and beyond. All of a sudden glaciers were around every corner. The second photo is the view from the elementary school playground where the kids were playing just like ordinary kids, oblivious to how unique their setting was. Can you imagine not noticing a harbor filled with glaciers?
The other oddity here can be found in pictures five and six. As I've mentioned in the previous post, the land here is boggy peat. With a high tannic acidity. The result is that when trees are cut, they don't grow back. Every home here has a wood stove and it is used almost year round. Each family is allowed to harvest a certain amount of wood from the forest that sits further away from the coast...where trees DO grow back. As you drive down the highways you see piles of wood that I learned sit there to cure. The families eventually come and take a load or two of wood and the process starts all over again. There is no theft here. The joke is that everyone knows everyone else so it is impossible to get away with bad behavior like stealing. Besides, they say, 'It's and island. There is no escape!"
The other photo, the one of the garden, has a similar story. These pop up next to the highway as well. Highways are under constant construction here. Not the roads themselves, unfortunately for the pothole issue, but the land beside the highways. First of all there are big ditches on either side of the highway to handle the snow and the run-off. BIG ditches. And additionally, the land is cleared for about two lanes wide on either side of the road to give motorists a chance to see moose as they leave the woods.
That tannic acidity I referred to already makes for tough growing conditions. When the highway is worked on, and the big machines turn the dirt over, the acidity has a chance to leach out making for good, fertile soil. People drive down the road, spot a patch of land and build a garden. Americans do pop-up retail. Newfoundlanders do pop-up gardens. I like that better!Read more