Ready, Steady, Go

We zipped across the island yesterday ahead of Hurricane Bill. There was no sign of Bill except for the heavy, humid air that precedes hurricanes and is rather rare here. Much to the surprise of many a tourist, crossing Newfoundland is not a small thing - it took us over 8 hours with one short stop for lunch.

We stopped in Gambo, birthplace of Joey Smallwood. We visited the Joey birthplace, where a rusty boiler marks the spot. Can you see it? It's in there.



Grammie and Lucy were not so impressed.



We moved on.

I caught a glimpse of Mount Pearl and Paradise as we approached St. John's and they looked like fertile ground for photographs but we zipped onward. I will come back in the next couple of days.

It feels a little strange to be in a city again, especially one that reminds me so much of all the other eastern seaboard cities that I grew up among: Providence, Boston (only a little - maybe more like Cambridge, there is a definitely college town vibe here), Portland, Maine. I guess it was all the same people who built those cities and this one too.

We re-visited the sight where we spent so much time on our first visit to St. John's 12 years ago when Finnian was a baby and my mom came along while I was in residence at the Pouch Cove Artist Residency program.



We were happy to see it was still standing.

Hurricane Bill passed over us overnight - wild but not outrageous. Now the air is clear and tonight is my first knitting group get together.

I'm ready!