Peggy's Cove

Peggy's Cove (YouTube video)



Before we planned the visit to Peggy's Cove, my first question was:
"How did Peggy's Cove get its name?"


It turned out, acording to legend, that Peggy's Cove was named after
the only survivor of a schooner that ran aground and sank in 1800... .


Peggy's Cove is a picturesque fishing village, 35 miles from Halifax
in Nova Scotia. The famous lighthouse there is said to be the most
photographed lighthouse in Canada.







We got there in the early evening.

While my wife was fascinated with the lighthouse, taking pictures at
different angles and from various distances, I paid attention to the
unique geological display, the wave-washed boulders facing the Atlantic.
I walked up and down, and between the rocks. Finally I climbed up to the
top of a giant boulder and sat there for a while, relaxingly enjoying the
view of the rushing tides and the endless open sea. I could have been
resting there for the rest of the day.










Then, the fog, the cool grey fog, moved in quickly from the ocean sea.
I saw 潮水共長天一色. It was getting dark. It was time to leave.




Yeh Tze

Lighthouse

YouTube video by "USAAdventures"


"The rocky ledge runs far out into the sea
 And on its outer point, some miles away,
 The lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,
 A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.
................................................................. "

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Lighthouse"


My wife has always had a fascination with lighthouses.


During our recent road trip along the New England and the Canadian
coast, we came across quite a few historic lighthouses. The Portland
Head Lighthouse is one of them, strikingly beautiful.

From Google Images

It is the oldest lighthouse in Maine, and has been said to be one of
the most photographed lighthouses in the world.






                                             From Google Images

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American poet and educator, who
was born in Portland, was a frequent visitor in his younger years.
Portland Head Light might have been the inspiration of his poem as he
sat on the rocks near the Lighthouse in the late 1840’s.



Yeh Tze

Power of nature, 鬼斧神工

The Hopewell Rocks - Time Lapse video (YouTube)


During our recent travel to New Brunswick, Canada, one of the trip’s
highlights was a stop at the Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy. We
witnessed the work done by the power and creative hand of nature , or
鬼斧神工.

This unique water system located between New Brunswick on the west
and Nova Scotia on the east is like no other place on Earth. Every day,
twice a day 110 billion tons of seawater rush into the Bay creating
phenomena that can only be experienced to be appreciated.




Bay of Fundy | Tides | New Brunswick, Canada   (YouTube video)



The gravitational forces of the sun and moon combine to create a
continuum of tidal action. The Bay of Fundy tides can reach up to 50 ft.,
the height of a four-story building, twice every day.

            

The reddish cliffs at the Hopewell Rocks were said to be first formed
millions of years ago as a massive mountain range, older than the
Appalachians and larger than the Canadian Rockies, began to erode.




Yeh Tze

Glacial Erratic

Acadia National Park (YouTube video)



I can’t believe I was able to hike the Acadia mountain trails
continuously for more than three hours with only few brief stops.
It likely had something to do with motivation, persistence, and
more importantly, the fact that I was attracted to the surrounding
nature along the trails.

The morning we were supposed to leave this National Park and
drive to Saint John, New Brunswick, we decided to take a final
look at the park and pay a visit to “Bubble Rock”.







We climbed up to the top to view this amazing “glacial erratic”,
which has been quietly resting there for some 10,000 years.
It has been said that this displaced rock was carried along by
glacial ice flow, traveled 19 miles south from mainland Maine.
The receding glaciers dropped it on the southeast corner of the
summit.








We were humbled by the great power of nature.




Yeh Tze

Walden

Thoreau's reflections on Walden Pond



Last week, we finally had the opportunity to pay a visit to Walden
Pond outside Concord, Massachusetts, where we were personally greeted
by “Thoreau” in front of his little cabin.







Henry David Thoreau, a philosopher, naturalist, essayist and early
environmentalist, lived on the shores of Walden Pond for two years, two
months and two days, starting in the summer of 1845.





His account of the experience was recorded in his book "Walden; or,
Life in the Woods", published in 1854. It is a book on nature, a book
on ecology, a book on human nature, a description of the struggle
between modern civilization and the land that nurtured it.




Unabridged Dover (1995) republication


In communing with the nature world, he said:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front
only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had
to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

Yeh Tze

A Time I Treasure

Thursday, April 12, 2012 

A Time I Treasure (Lost post recovered)

旗津燈塔 (from YouTube)

During the course of one's life, there are always certain experiences

that one would remember and treasure for the rest of one’s life.

Taking a walk with my wife around her hometown was one of those.

While 高雄 was my wife’s childhood hometown, I was a 台北人. I had

not had a chance to take a real look at her hometown before we left

Taiwan for the US in 1972.

Late autumn last year, I finally had the opportunity to do so.

Before dawn one early morning, we left her old house in 鹽埕埔 and

started another walking tour guided by my wife. We came to the

famous 愛河, where we were welcomed by schools of fish swimming

in the same direction as ours. They seemed to accompany us for a

pleasant trip.

While strolling along the bank, my wife started to provide me the

history of the Love River, as well as that of her hometown, which she

had known well as a 在地人.

We walked to the ocean bay and took the ferry to 旗津. We climbed

up to the lighthouse on the top of hill, where we had a grand view of

高雄港. She pointed to various places that she was so familiar with.

She refreshed her old memories of her trips with her family and

friends during her childhood and youth. Her sweet memories seemed

to become mine as well.

Despite being a several hour walking tour, I did not feel tired at all

during this entire trip simply because I had a lovely private tour guide.

Yeh Tze

Comments

Thank you, Yeh Tze. It is like a beautiful chapter from a love story. 
I haven't been able to visit Taiwan yet and I plan to do it this fall. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iLf5hPh2NY&feature=relmfu 
［師大夜市／台北］ Have a great weekend! Ted on A Time I Treasure


Thanks, Ted. Have a great trip to Taipei (Taiwan). BTW, my wife once 
old me that she had the best 牛肉麵 at 師大夜市. But that was 40 years 
ago. on A Time I Treasure1 replies. Yeh Tze 


Thanks for the info, Yeh Tze. I will definitely try the 牛肉麵 at 師大夜市. 
Do you still remember the shop's name? And I will compare it to the 
牛肉麵 at Golden Dragon noodle shop by the roadside at Shinsaibashi 
(心斎橋)in Osaka, that is the best I have had so far. I plan to go to: Mitsui 
No. 604, Ming Shui Road, Taipei 104, Taiwan 02-25338802 that I have 
heard so much great comments about. Ted on A Time I Treasure

This article makes me miss Kaohsiung so much! I spent my senior high 
school years in this charming city, it's a time I treasure too :) Yvonne in 
Napa on A Time I Treasure

"雄女" (Kaohsiung Municipal Girls' Senior High School), a prestigious, 
all-girls, Taiwanese high school located in Kaohsiung City on A Time I 
Treasure replies. Yeh Tze 


林徽音詩作《我說你是人間的四月天》： 
我說你是人間的四月天， 笑響點亮了四面風；清靈 在春的光艷中交舞著變。 
你是四月早天裡的雲煙， 黃昏吹著風的軟，星子在 無意中閃，細雨點灑在
花前。 那輕，那娉婷，你是，鮮妍。 百花的冠冕你戴著，你是 天真，莊嚴，
你是夜夜的月圓。雪化後那片鵝黃，你像；新鮮 初放芽的綠，你是；柔嫩
喜悅 水光浮動著你夢期待中白蓮。 你是一樹一樹的花開，是燕 在樑間呢喃，
——你是愛，是暖， 是希望，你是人間的四月天！ 
Ted on A Time I Treasure Anonymous on 4/14/12

Nature Walk

Speaking for Nature (YouTube video uploaded by didymops)

Speaking for Nature (Part II)

Walden; Or, Life In The Woods:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front

only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had

to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

- Henry David Thoreau -

Nature Walk

By following a nature trail through prairies, wetlands, woods, and
ocean shores, we discover the wonders of the wild and we feel
connected with Nature.

Although it is with great pleasure to be strolling through scenic places
such as Yosemite, Zion National Park, Great Smoky Mountains, ….. ,
or sacred landscapes as Grand Canyon, Sedona, Monument Valley, .. ,
nature walk can take place in a park, on trails in nearby rolling hills,
or even in our own backyards. All we need to do is go outdoors and
observe what we see and try to use all five senses in our observation:
sight, smell, feel, taste, and hear.

Taking a nature walk can sharpen the mind. New study finds that
short-term memory is improved by walking in nature.

Yeh Tze