Being a homesteader means I don’t go far from home. I may fly once a year around fall but otherwise I stick within my familiar territory.
Doing the Nova Scotia Book tour was my first time really seeing how beautiful this province is. I’ve lived in Nova Scotia all my life and never felt a pull to move elsewhere but I’ve never considered it overly spectacular. I grew up with the notion we were a “have not” province, my school friends all moved away for their careers while I chose a career I could be successful in right here knowing my interest in becoming a librarian would probably cause me to move to Ottawa if I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk at a public library for the rest of my life (which don’t get me wrong, if they were paid a living wage I’d definitely consider it, but…)
Anyways, I’ve gotten off track. My point is I knew this was my home, no desire to leave, but didn’t think it was anything special.
On the book buying tour I found myself in so many adorable corners of this province, on roads I’d never seen before and scenery that painters and poets could make a career out of.
The weather in Cape Breton can be vastly different from Yarmouth just like their economies and dialects but share the same ocean and time zone.
The valley provides lush soil for agriculture while Halifax is perched on rock.
The field behind my property in West Hants. It’ll be apartments someday so I’m enjoying it while I can.
Along with the diverse landscape we also have a wild and diverse history.
My grandparent’s (d’Entremont) on their wedding day
On my mother’s side of the family, we have a history of peaceful isolation, heartbreak, then survival. The Acadian people were a thriving, peaceful French settlement who befriended the indigenous Mi’Kmaq population. They lived in isolation for hundreds of years before additional settlers arrived. (It’s no wonder I’m such an introvert.)
The British didn’t take kindly to these neutral people and so the expulsion of the Acadians began. My grandfather’s family (d’Entremont) escaped the expulsion by hiding in the woods among the Mi’kmaq in Weymouth while other families were separated, and promptly deported, most sent to their end.
Some survivors have since returned and the Acadian population is a heartfelt cultural identity in Nova Scotia.
Page from European Origins and Colonial Travails | The Settlement of Lunenburg by Paul & Eva Huber
On my father’s side of the family, we have a history that began with (what I consider) a refugee. Ulrich Hubley arrived in Nova Scotia on The Pearl in 1751. The only information on record in his home city of Eppingen was the marriage certificate to his first wife, so I don’t know how much stability he had in his life in what’s now modern day Germany.
He settled in Lunenburg among other Germans and eventually was granted his own land. Urich would bury 3 wives and many children before marrying Anna Barbara Eva Metler. They managed to grow old together and watch their families grow and there’s now 4 distinct branches of the Hubley family in Nova Scotia. Lunenburg is now a UNESCO heritage site and still gives that ancient charm to thousands of tourists each year.
The Hubley history is a Nova Scotian one far more than it’s a German one, much like the d’Entremont’s.
My family’s history almost looks boring compared to the rest of the province! From bootlegging mafias, explosions, innovations, battles to mining this 55,284km² chunk of rock can tell stories for centuries.
Saint Mary’s Bay in Meteghan River, NS
In one book I read (the one in the first picture with princess 😺, it compared Nova Scotians to Islanders. Islander’s are known to get homesick when away.
As a witch, I believe in the energy that can be stored away in crystals and rocks. I can’t help but feel this big rock draws us in and makes us feel at home.
Even Margaret Atwood has written about her family always referring to Nova Scotia as ‘home’.
While Nova Scotia is far from perfect, our current government is gutting cultural services like they are an afterthought, not what makes this place so unique.. However, like all things there’s ebb and flow and I have confidence in Nova Scotian’s that we will remain just as vibrant, if not more- just out of spite.
