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Monthly Archives: December 2012

Prince Edward Island Nicknames

Posted on 2012/12/16 by Guy Posted in PEI the Garden Province .

The Island

Along with Alberta, Prince Edward Island seems to have the most nicknames. Islanders love their Island and sometimes just call it “The Island.” The Government of PEI has a page called The Island Today where you can glance at weather, news and things to do.

Spud Island

PEI is known for potatoes.  Therefore it is a good fit to call it the Spud Island. Even the online Dictionary defines Spud Island as PEI.  Google search for Spud Island will yield all sorts of interesting things like potato recipes.

Million Acre Farm

Along with the potato theme, we also have the Million Acre Farm.  A drive through PEI in the summer will quickly illustrate. While you may see some wooded areas, on many roads you will see field after field of various crops like potato, corn, canola, barley, etc. Prince Edward Island is known as the “million acre farm” for its red fertile soil, temperate climate, and abundance of mixed and specialized family farms.

Garden of the Gulf

Nestled in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, PEI is also known as the Garden of the Gulf. The Museum in Montague, chose Garden of the Gulf as a fitting title.  

Abegweit

Meaning Cradle on the waves, Abegweit is the  Mi’kmaq name for Prince Edward Island. Look at a map of Atlantic Canada. It does look like a cradle.  Now we have to wonder which Indian Legend flew over the Island to determine its shape. The name Abegweit is associated with many PEI subjects.

 Minegoo

 The legend of the origins of Prince Edward Island includes Glooscap and Minegoo. This is a colourful tale that incorporates the features of PEI.

The Gentle Island

 A Google Search of (the) Gentle Island will yield several results for PEI. If you want to get to the PEI tourism website, just type gentleisland.com

Play in PEI

My favourite way of reaching the PEI tourism site is peiplay.com.  This is short and easy to remember.  

I hope you are planning on including Prince Edward Island on your next holiday.  Check back here often to see why I love PEI.

 

Guy

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Hurricane Sandy – An Observation

Posted on 2012/12/10 by Guy Posted in Experiences .

For the past 10 days, I have been reminiscing about my experiences on Staten Island with the Occupy Sandy relief Group.  

I recall the Ice storm of 1998: Cindy and I were living in Ottawa at the time.  We got help from hundreds of miles away.  I also remember stories of the Mont Blanc and the Halifax Explosion of 1917: The City of Boston was a major help in relief and rebuilding.  So much so, that Nova Scotia sends a giant Christmas Tree to Boston every year. Hurricane Sandy did not affect us in Eastern Canada and it was our turn (Cindy and I) to offer help to those in need.

We were only there a week.  We readily sacrificed spending Thanksgiving with our daughter in North Carolina; making up for it last Saturday with a big turkey dinner with all the fixings.

Now that we are gone, I am left with an emptiness and wishing I could have done more to help.

Cats without shelter

What about the 50 or more cats in the New Dorp Beach area that are without a home? We heard that 2 people had 20 or more cats each in their home and were looking for help with food and litter for all these animals.

 

hurricane sandy debrisWhat about all the debris that still clutters the streets? Sanitation crews are working relentlessly at picking everything up.  However the amount of debris in the narrow streets it making it difficult.

 

relief donations for Hurricane Sandy victimsWhat about all the food donations that are sitting out in the elements?  Rain and freezing temperatures will soon put these donations at risk.

 

 

occupy sandy  galleyWhat about the people serving food in freezing temperatures? What about those with no heat or electricity in their homes lining up in freezing weather for a hot meal? I heard a comment today about hundreds still without power in New York . . . a month after the storm.

What about all the politicians saying we will learn from this and plan better next time? Did we not hear similar stories after Hurricane Katrina?

Regardless, I am still proud to have played a small part in helping those in need.  My experience has reminded me about a saying concerning people.

There are three kinds of people

  1. those who make things happen
  2. those who  watch  things  happen
  3. those who wonder what happened

Thanks to those who have followed me on this journey.  For my friends in Prince Edward Island complaining about the snow and freezing rain today, count you blessings if you have a warm home and hot food. For those reading my blog to learn about PEI, come back in a day or so when I will resume providing information about our Gentle Island.

Guy

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If not for BaD LuCk he would have no luck at all

Posted on 2012/12/06 by Guy Posted in Experiences .

In my last post, I spoke about the people in Staten Island.  We got to know a few of the residents quite well, even though I have forgotten most of their names.  One I will not forget is Anthony. He was always there helping out though he needed help himself.

The last night we were there, a strange set of events occurred   Cindy said “I smell something burning”.  Someone answered that it must be the campfire – a smelly piece of driftwood on the fire.  Cindy said it smelled different but we sloughed it off.

It was our last night there as our daughter needed our help in North Carolina the next day. We turned in early.  Cindy went back out to the supply tent to look for kleenex.  She heard some yelling coming from down the street.  She came to get me saying something like “they broke into Anthony’s house.”

evening-fire-alarmAs I headed out, I heard sirens.  Three fire truck arrived on the scene.  They were followed closely by three more – the flashing lights lit up the darkened streets. We arrived on the scene right behind the fire fighters.  We could see smoke oozing from the shingles of a home.  We also saw Anthony, visibly in shock and possibly burned in the fire.  Despite his injuries, he was yelling to the firemen to tell them exactly where the fire was.  We watched as the firemen ripped apart what was left of the water damaged home to find the fire and put it out.

A couple of our volunteers were helping Anthony until the paramedics arrived to begin treating him.  The rest of the story we learned from a news article on the internet.  We have yet to get any more news about Anthony.  If anyone has heard, please let me know.

 

 

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The People at Occupy Sandy Staten Island

Posted on 2012/12/03 by Guy Posted in Experiences .

When we arrived at the Occupy Sandy Camp – there was a big sign on the sidewalk that said Occupy Sandy.  Unfortunately, by the time we thought to take a picture, it had been removed.  I read somewhere about Occupy Wall Street Hippies, presumably disorganized, that were accomplishing wonderful things on Staten Island.  I guess it was just our good fortune to happen upon their camp to volunteer.

Low Riders Motorcycle ClubThere were also signs from three motorcycle groups: the Low Riders, Rolling Thunder and Hallow’ed Sons. These volunteers brought many resources to the camp and had good local connections. We met Jimmy Carter, a wonderful man who is apparently well known in the circles.

The occupy Wall Street group had many volunteers that spent 24 hours at the camp and often went out on demolition jobs, helping people clean out their ravaged homes. We made several good friends during our week of volunteering at the camp.  Although we may never see any of them again, their faces and special characters are indelibly inscribed in my mind.

Wherever help was needed, whether organizing, serving food, helping the victims, or unloading new supplies, there was always someone available to help out. Chyno was as outspoken as they come.  Not a shy bone in his body.  He had a reputation for getting things done.  he was the go to guy when we needed to go the the “miracle department” as I usually call it to resolve a problem. Donna was one of the head organizers, don’t let her small stature fool you (if I ever find a picture of her), she is a ball of fire and won’t back down from anybody. She kept things organized, made those endless TO DO lists and organized essential shopping trips for critical supplies.  I see many other faces to which i cannot put a name.

Then there were the residents.  5 or 6 of them were at our camp almost every evening.  After they had done what they needed to do in their own homes, they were with us, helping us organize and helping others.  

The old adage is true: adversity seems to bring out the best in some people.

 

 

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Tags: hurricane .

Hurricane Sandy Seaglass Souvenirs

Posted on 2012/12/02 by Guy Posted in Beachcombing .

Damage to trees in New Dorp Beach areaCindy and I spent some our our down time on New Dorp Beach.  The first time out was quite an experience.  

 

ploughing sand to reveal walkwayWe could see where ploughs had been down the walkways to move the sand out.  We also saw dozens of downed trees, some littered with garbage – mostly plastic bags.

We had heard that after a severe storm, there was often more seaglass on the beach.  We were not disappointed   In addition to the treasures I spoke about yesterday, We found quite a bit of quality seaglass.

wire wrapped sea glass from Hurricane SandyCindy picked out some of the nicer pieces to use for pendants.  We did not have much wire on hand so we found a craft store where we got silver wire and black hemp to assemble our treasures. We decided it would be nice to hand out souvenirs to the volunteers and to the victims who came to our camp regularly.  I picked out a cardboard box and assembled a makeshift jewellery display unit to show off our pieces.

Sea Glass display from Hurricane SandyWe made 3 dozen pendants and invited people to pick one out for a souvenir.  Some offered to pay us but we had no intention of profiting from other people’s misfortune.  One person insisted on making a donation that we immediately turned into the kitchen fund. After a day and a half, the three dozen were gone.  Cindy made another couple of dozen that we turned into pendants with fishing line.

One day, one of our regular couples was looking at my pendant. “Amulet” she said in broken English.  I said yes.  Here, take it, it will bring you good luck. A few minutes later I saw them again in the food line and asked how things were going. “we got electricity back yesterday but still no heat.” “Wait a minute,” I said. I knew we had two electric space heaters in the supply tent.  I spoke to the organizers and we arranged to give them a heater – at least you can keep one room warmer.  

She touched her amulet and said “Brings good luck.”  That was the highlight of my day.

 

Guy

 

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Tags: beach glass, hurricane .

Taking a Break at Occupy Sandy

Posted on 2012/12/01 by Guy Posted in Experiences, Uncategorized .

Cindy and I are beachcombers. When we needed to unwind – like after the morning routine, we would take a walk on the beach looking for treasures.  We found some nice pieces of seaglass – see tomorrow’s post for details.

I also found a coke bottle. You can find these coke bottles in antique shops and garage sales.  But this is a seaglass coke bottle.  Gently frosted by years of exposure, it only has a small chip on the top lip.

 

 

 

This bottle says P.F. O’Neill Bottling Company of New York with an address on Greenwich Street. I have seen various pictures of this type of bottle on the Internet but not one yet that can shed any light on its history or age.  Judging from the thickness of the glass, I would guess it is early last century.

  

 My next and most prized find is this bottle stopper. We now have two in our collection.  Although rare, I know several people have dozens of these but it is always a big thrill when you find one.

 

Cindy also found a clay pipe bowl.  See her scrapandwrap blog for details.

Come back tomorrow to see what we did with the seaglass we found.

 

Guy

 

 

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