Oweshegettinonbys? (pronounced “How’s she gettin’ on bys? Means “how are you?”) Yesterday we were in buying tickets for our boat tour and I overheard two women talking. At first I wondered what language they were speaking and then it dawned on me that it was English. Lesson #
1 Don’t assume I can understand a language just because it’s English.
I write this while swiveled around and sitting comfortably in Stella’s easy chair at our KOA in Rocky Harbour about half way up the west coast of Newfoundland. Our travels have taken us far and there are days, especially of late, that I cannot remember where I am!
Our first impressions of the island that people refer to as “the rock” are ones of surprise and delight. There are a lot of trees; slender and weather-beaten black spruce, papery-white birch, and red pine to name a few. Quite a number display little puffs of foliage on top as if they’ve been contoured by human hand. These ones I have dubbed “Dr. Seuss Trees”. Agriculture is virtually non-existent. There are plenty of rocks but also low growing shrubs, grasses, and flowers! Pink, purple, white, yellow; and they’re lovely along the roadside or amongst the long blowing grasses. And the wind? It goes on and on and on. The landscape evokes a sense drama, to be sure.
Surrounded by water and blessed with lakes, a visit to the province is certain to involve boats. We’ve been on two so far and plan for a couple more. Today we puttered around a lake which is surrounded by steep cliffs (http://www.canada-photos.com/w
estern-brook-pond-photos.htm). The thinking is that it was an ocean fjord at one time but has since been cut off so now the water is fresh and very cold, containing few nutrients and supporting little life. Its fjord-ness reminded us both of our Skookum trips from Egmont to Malibu.
Our thoughts are never far from home but are especially close today as we 
remember our dads and wish them a very happy Father’s Day.
