Going ‘home’ to “The Stillness.”

After driving 6000 km, we were thankful to keep our feet in one spot and chill out for a bit in New Brunswick with Brendon’s family out on the East Coast.

 

‘Going home to see the folks’ has quite a different connotation when it comes to visiting Brendon’s parents.

Ken & Fay, Brendon’s parents, live out on the Bay of Fundy in West Quaco, New Brunswick.  It was a long-time dream of theirs to own a retreat centre out on the coast, so when the opportunity came to purchase some land 10 years ago, they went for it, and “In the Stillness” retreat centre was born.

Ken just recently retired from his hourly practice as a marriage and family counsellor (congrats on this step, Ken), focusing instead on his retreat counselling. He still teaches counselling in a post-secondary setting and is also working on his Doctorate, but mostly he likes to spent his time in the woods.  Together, Fay & Ken run the retreat centre, and have guests staying pretty much every weekend.  They also grow and harvest their own chaga mushrooms and chocolate mint tea, and hopefully soon, haskap berries.

Because of their geographical location, the whole experience of going to visit Brendon’s parents is not your typical visit to the parents/in-laws; it is more like staying in isolation in the woods.

The retreat centre is comprised of a few separate dwellings: Ken & Fay’s house (which includes their living quarters as well as an office and blossoming cafe), a beautiful guest cottage which sleeps four, as well as a guest cabin which sleeps two.

This visit, we stayed part of the time in the cottage, and part of the time in this adorable little cabin.

I quite enjoy the short walk through the trees to reach the little cabin in the woods.

Brendon’s oldest sister Karly is a chicken farmer and looks after the free-range chickens of The Stillness.

She lovingly cares for her little flock, collecting their eggs and singing to them at night.  Karly has her own little house tucked up in the woods.

Brendon’s younger sister Kendra also lives in New Brunswick with her husband Steve.  They live in the town of Sussex, which is about a 45 minute drive away.  We enjoyed connecting with these two over some ice cream and bocce ball one evening.

The nearest village, St. Martin’s, is a 5 minute drive away.  St. Martins is famous for its sea caves as well as being the only place in the world where you can photograph two covered bridges in a single shot.

The harbour, with its colourful fishing boats, is pretty cute.  St. Martin’s is quaint, but it does have a grocery store where you can buy basic food items.  The nearest city, Saint John, is about a 45 minute drive away.

From the Neilson’s home, you can look down to the Bay of Fundy below and see a large red rock formation known as Sugar Loaf.

During low tide, you are able to walk on the beach below and climb up to the top of the rock, should you wish.  But you wouldn’t want to get caught up on the rock after the tide has started to rush in, as did one of the visitors to The Stillness.  (The visitor phoned for help from the top of Sugar Loaf and was rescued by a search and rescue helicopter.  It was an exciting day in West Quaco.)  Highest tides in the world out there in the Bay of Fundy!

One of my favourite spots out East is the lighthouse.  I love starting my day with a run to this little gem, and if I’m up early enough, a nice view of the sunrise.  It’s hard to deny the beauty of the East Coast from here.

A big focus of our time out East this trip was planting some walnut trees.

Brendon worked hard for several days beforehand clearing out the area where we would be planting and prepping the land.

Together, with the help of Brendon’s parents and sisters, we planted about 40 black walnut trees and 10 butternuts.  To deter the deer from nibbling on the tender seedlings, we sprayed the trees with a mixture of egg and water… it seems to have done the job thus far.  A spray of some strongly brewed chocolate mint tea also seems like a great natural solution for the deer issue- thanks to Ken for discovering this.

Attending the wedding of Brendon’s cousin Alex and his now-wife Emma was another New Brunswick highlight for us.  We also enjoyed spending time with Brendon’s grandmother, known to us as Nanny.  She is one incredible lady who continues to inspire us in her zest for life and learning.

We’ll leave you with a few final thoughts on what we love about New Brunswick:

For one, the flag.  Whoever decided to put a pirate ship on the province’s flag was definitely an adventurous soul.

The red rocks.  Brown’s Bay, the beach right below The Stillness, is comprised of stunning red rocks and sand.  The rugged red coastline is unique and stunning.

The trees.  Seas and seas of trees.  Because New Brunswick is so hilly, you get these epic views whenever you come to the top of a hill.  It makes for some spectacular drives.

The mistyness.  New Brunswick gets some crazy fog that adds to the allure of this place.

The East Coast has its on unique flavour to it.  There is a rich history here worth taking the time to get to know.

Every time I return to New Brunswick, I develop an increasing affection for the magic found within this often-overlooked province.

Spending time with our family in the East was very special.  Thanks, Ken & Fay for your wonderful hospitality “In the Stillness,” and for your continued support of us and our dreams.  It is inspiring to see you living yours.

Well, as they say in New Brunswick, “Watch out for Moose!” (We thought it was funny how the people of New Brunswick tend to use this phrase like it was a blessing on one’s goings/travels.)  “Well, it was great to see you guys… Watch out for moose!”

Quebec City: Plus s’il vous plaît [more please].

Now that it’s winter, let’s jump back to 5 months ago when it was still summer and we were in Quebec.

We spent four days exploring the historic streets of Quebec City at the end of July.  It was probably a sufficient amount of time to visit most of the key spots on our list, although we would have loved to stay longer and savour its unique flair, historic roots, and bountiful culinary offerings.

We put together a bit of a ‘Breno & Mel style guide to Quebec City’ (a list of everything we would love to experience over again because they were so enchanting).  Here it is:

Visit J.A. Moisan, the oldest grocery store in North America.  The prices are cheaper than you’d think, and the selection is unbelievable.  Pick yourself out some nice Quebec cheese, some smoked meat, and a few other edible delights and have yourself a picnic on the Plains of Abraham.

On the topic of cheese, we sampled a few Quebec cheeses during our stay, and our favourite was a 2 year goat cheddar- surprising because neither of us are usually a huge fan of goat.  We were recommended the cheese by a friendly man waiting in line at a fromagerie.  He told us he was going to a party that evening, but wasn’t allowed to come without that cheese.  We were convinced to try it, and were definitely pleased we did.

Picnic on the Plains of Abraham, the site of the great Battle of Quebec in 1759 between the French and the British, led by General Montcalm and General Wolfe.  Pack a tasty feast of local delicacies and marvel at the rich Canadian history that took place on the ground beneath you.

For a brief recap on the battle, click here.

Watch the sun set upon the copper roof tops of Quebec City.  A nice spot is the West side of the Plains of Abraham, by the barracks.

Wander the quieter back streets of Old Quebec City and admire all the distinct colours and quaint details.  I could have spent hours doing this, imagining how life would have unfolded on these streets a hundred years ago.

Take the terry across to Levis, and snap some scenic views of the City while on the boat.  Climb the stairs and walk to Chocolat Favouris to indulge in some flour de del chocolate-covered maple ice cream (or any chocolate/ice cream flavour combo that you are feeling).

Take some time to explore Rue St. Joseph.  Not the commercialized end to the East.  The West part of Rue St. Joseph is MUCH cooler. 

You will find L’Affair est Ketchup, William J. Walter (a sausage & beer joint), and a good cafe called Nektar that served an excellent brewed coffee, among other gems.

Rue St-Vallier Ouest, close to where we were staying, was also a happening street.  It didn’t appear on any guides or blogs that we came across before our trip, and we probably wouldn’t have discovered it if we weren’t staying in an Airbnb place close by.  There were some cool looking restaurants & cafes, along with this neat vintage shop called Si Les Objects Pouvaient Parler.

Rue Saint-Jean, the very first street we explored in Quebec City has some spots you should hit up too, including some cute bakeries and bookshops, as well as the aforementioned J.A. Moisan. Jupon Presse is a cute vintage boutique along this road.

Strolling the Petite Champlain area will make you feel like you are in Europe, especially if the musicians are out, serenading the passerby with melodies on the violin or accordion. Many local artisans have set up shop in this area, and we had some neat conversations with a few of them.

Say yes to the maple taffy on a stick.

Concluding thoughts.

Because of its smaller size, Quebec City was easier to get to know than its larger Quebecois counterpart, Montreal.  I was surprised by just how much it felt like Europe (or what we would imagine Europe to be like, as we have yet to visit that continent.)  We feel proud and very fortunate to have Quebec City on our home soil, and think that every Canadian should really get out here at some point in their lives to heighten their understanding and appreciation of French Canadian culture, as well as to visit firsthand the many sites that are significant to our history as Canadians.  We would love to go back for a round 2 of this fine Canadian gem.

Merci beaucoup, Quebec, for a truly enchanting time, and to Little Al, for accompanying us on our Quebec adventures!

Christmas unicorns & other yuletide oddities: A Sufjan-inspired Christmas production.

This year, I set out to do something I’ve never done before: to write a Sufjan Stevens- inspired Christmas production.

I didn’t so much write a whole production, as I wrote a play, or more specifically, a series of sketches to be performed at our school’s Christmas concert.

The idea of a Sufjan Stevens Christmas musical came to me at some point last year, and with the help of our brilliant music director, Graham, and several other talented staff members, the vision became a reality.  During the second week of December, “Christmas Unicorns and Other Yuletide Oddities: A Thought-Provoking Christmas Experience” came to life.

The process.

Inspiration for the musical came from Sufjan Stevens’ two Christmas box sets.  The idea had been in my mind for a little while, but plans were put into action during the summer, on our return journey from the East Coast.  Brendon and I did some script writing in the car, and pinned down a few sketches that stemmed from a handful of Sufjan’s songs.  The script was finished with the input and creative insight of a few others, and we had ourselves a collection of six sketches, each named after and based on Sufjan’s songs.

This was mid-October.  I thought I was done, ahead of my own personal deadline even, and was prepared to hand over the script to another teacher to carry out and bring to life with her students.  It soon became apparent that the teacher I thought would direct the play wanted to step back a bit in her involvement, and that I would need to be involved in the directing role.  Thankfully, another teacher, Yvonne, who has an extensive background in drama, expressed interest in co-directing, and we began a crazy season of lunch hours abandoned to rehearsals in order to get enough practice time in with the grade six actors and actresses.

The day before the first concert, we saw the music and dramatic sketches come together for the first time in rehearsal.  The result was magical.

The production.

The production was held in our school gym over two separate evenings, involving the entirety of grades K-6 (split up between the two evenings) along with the Gr. 8/9 band, which is comprised of over 50 kids.  It was a lot of people (and parents) to fit into our gym.

Overall, I was really quite amazed with how things came together.  Kids stepped up to the plate when it was time to perform, and fused with the music, I think we put together something really beautiful and thought-provoking.  We had our share of minor technical difficulties that arose on both nights, which was slightly stressful, but for the most part, people weren’t phased by them and the production went over well.  The chorus of crying babies erupting just as the soft-spoken Unicorn Kid delivers the most pivotal lines of the play was rather unideal, but we had better luck the second night.

The music… was amazing.  Graham did a ton of work rearranging the songs so that they would work for the band and the kids, and the variations sounded incredible.  A staff band, consisting of Graham, Codi, & Eric, accompanied the class choirs on their songs… it sounded unreal.  We have an insane amount of talent on our staff.

My favourite part of the show was the opening song, Barcarola.  With Grade 6 actors & actresses singing from the risers, I got to take in the spectacle of the band & lighting effects (thanks Chris Kooman) from backstage and take a deep breath as the show began.

My aim in writing the production was for it to be a venue for thought.  I think it’s important to think about why we do the things we do… specifically around Christmas.  Though they had their humorous lines, the six sketches raised quite serious questions around topics such as traditions, wealth, appearance vs. reality, family, Christmas spirit, happiness, and hope, just to name a few.  In many ways, it was not a play necessarily written for kids, but for the adult audience watching the play.

We got some very encouraging feedback on the production from parents and community members, praising the seamless transitions and teamwork within the production.  It was also neat to hear that the production was indeed quite thought-provoking for people.

The post-play lull.

I didn’t anticipate the post-play lull that hit the day after it was all over.  In fact, I honestly hadn’t thought about life past the play.

I probably wasn’t completely aware of the amount that I became invested in carrying the play out… Things like blogging, baking, crafting all took a back seat during the month leading up the play, but I didn’t seem to care.  Although it involved a whole lot more than I thought it would, most of it was fun, exhilarating even. Upon the abrupt finish, I found myself with a lost sense of purpose for a few days.

Having a big of space to breathe now, it was quite an experience to reflect on.  With this being the first time I had ever written or directed a play, I was surprised at how smoothly things came together, and how fun & rewarding the process was.  It was neat to apply my creativity to a new realm I had never worked in before.

Even though Sufjan wasn’t there (well, I like to think he was there, dressed in a disguise of sorts), I think he would be proud.

It was an incredible experience to work with this skillful team to bring a vision to life, and have it be successful in its mission to generate meaningful thought and discussion.

Way to go, team.  It’s been a pleasure working with you brilliant folks.

In print and getting close: A thesis update.

The light at the end of the thesis tunnel is growing brighter by the day.  Brendon’s thesis is in print.  It sits on our table, approximately 3.5cm high.

The Chicago Manual of Style has been a trusty companion in these last few weeks (or should we say months) of editing and revision.  Brendon has hired an editor in England to do final edits on the document, and hopefully catch anything that was missed.

Upon completion of final edits, Brendon will submit offical final copies of his thesis to AUT in New Zealand, from where they will be distributed to each of the 3 graders who will be evaluating his PhD.

It’s pretty crazy to see a project you’ve worked for years on finally come (just about) to completion, and finally manifest itself in physical form.  Brendon is feeling more positive than previously about it, and certainly excited to tie up the final strings of this multi-year endeavour.  Not much more to go now, B!  You’ve got this.