Bay of Fundy 1

Continuation of the Canada Chronicles    
August 2018

The drive from Quebec City to St. Martins was the hardest leg of our trip so far.  Despite being shorter than the drive from Niagara to Quebec City, it felt twice as long.  We stopped at the Basilica of St. Anne Beupere for about an hour which delayed our arrival until after midnight after losing one hour to time change along the way.  For me, the most stressful parts of the drive were the stretches of highway with moose warning signs.  The "meese" tower over the little cars in a very menacing way.  Clearly, if a moose and car stand off, the car--or van--will lose.  I put myself on moose-spotting duty which was very stressful particularly when it got dark.  We listened to Prince Caspian on this leg.  I had a hard time focusing due to my state of high alert but the kids enjoyed it.
     In the description of the cottage we rented was a reference to a cliff on the property with a 200 foot drop.  I wasn't terribly worried about the cliff in daylight.  The girls are certainly old enough to avoid it but driving down unfamiliar roads in the dark made it a bit more concerning.  I imagined fatal drops on all sides.  Still, we made it, assigned all the beds and ended the day excited.  The cottage was tiny and cute and it all felt a lot like camping only with indoor plumbing.  After the girls got settled that first night, Chris and I went out to the little bench built into the deck 35 feet from the cottage.  It was clearly meant to be an observation point.  The night was incredibly dark and at first, I could not see even an outline of anything around me.  Gradually, my eyes adjusted and as I looked heavenward, I could see dustings of stars across the sky.  It wasn't the normal points of light I see when I stargaze, more like someone had dipped a paintbrush in star dust and swirled it here and there across the black.  I sat on the bench overwhelmed with exhaustion and amazement until I heard a door open and a little voice wondering where we were.  The strange cottage and bed were too much without a parental presence close by.  Goodbye beautiful sky.  I will be back before we leave.  Actually, as it turned out, I did not go back out in the pitch black another night.  I have one memory of that scene and I will treasure it.
     Aside from the cliff, which turned out to truly be a 200 foot drop to a rocky beach, the highlight of the cottage was its proximity to a bonafide working lighthouse.  The sounds of horns and bells were a treat but the view from lighthouse hill was breathtaking.  I enjoyed the view from the cottage's cliff but it was a very small one because of all of the pines and other trees growing at the edge and literally holding the ground together.  The lighthouse view was entirely different.  It was wide in both directions and there was plenty of room to roam the hillside for different vistas--which Sophie did more than anyone.  Ella found wild blueberries that her dad gave her permission to eat.  Mia brought her journal and sat in a narrow spot that jutted out over the water a bit and then went back with Madeleine one morning to watch the sunrise.  The scene reminded me a bit of The Count of Monte Cristo because of the rocky jutting bits of cliff.  It was more beautiful than my heart could hold.  Even more amazing to me was the fact that we had it all to ourselves.  We have certainly done and paid for touristy things in Canada but so many moments that we have treasured have been personal and private, our tiny band alone in God's great, big, beautiful world.  To say we have been blessed is an understatement.  I feel lavished upon.
     Who is man that God created this incredible world for his delight?  Baffling, unanswerable question.  We have lived it on this trip and I am so grateful.