What’s My View? - Grace Butland, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia

Every 8 a.m. every weekday morning, year round, I gather with a group of equally enthusiastic (or demented, depending on the weather) people on the Annapolis Royal wharf for half an hour of Tai Chi. The view is always beautiful. It’s always different but the same - depending on the tides, the fog or sun, the boats at the haul-Up, the birds circling overhead or on the wharf. Some mornings there are seals or dolphins, and usually there are herons and often eagles. Some days the fog is so thick that we can’t see Granville Ferry, just across the river. Other days are sunny and so still it’s difficult to tell the village from its reflection in the river. Some days there isn’t a cloud to be seen; other days the sky is black and roiling (if it starts to rain, we make a mad dash for the covered area of the Farmers’ Market across the street). Some days the weather is so perfect that I don’t want to leave and others, especially in January and February, are so cold that I lose contact with fingers and toes and question my sanity (as does my husband). But I go back every day for the inspiration.

Here’s the view on a sunny day in October.

Grace