... while we were on prince edward island i made little attempt at photography ... indeed, at most of the places we visited i left my camera in the car ... thus, no "first nation garden," no "singing sands," no "end of the world," nor, even, a most fantastic red sand beach ... "why," you ask ...
... years ago adrien took me to oregon, the beginning of her quest to visit all fifty of the states even as it was the completion of mine ... this past week liz took me to prince edward island, thus allowing me to now make the claim that i've set foot in all the provinces, territories, etc., of canada ... from our first stop on the island, however, a friendly welcoming into the home of the mi'kmaq first nation, i found myself most enjoying seeing liz explore and learn ... for that i had little need for either lens or frame ...
... at the western "land's end" of p.e.i., we found a phantasmagoric assemblage of sandstone inuksuks ...
... stretching over two kilometers into the ocean, this is the longest rock reef in north america ... this family suddenly picked up their pace when they realized they were racing the incoming tide ...
... liz couldn't get over the purple color of this jellyfish, which, if i'm correct, is a "lion's mane," cyanea capillata ...
... throughout our visit, wherever there was a kid with a question liz was on the scene ... here she was having a great discussion as to whether or not the creature was dead and/or poisonous ... later in the day, with another child, would come the giant crab adventure ...
... attempting to save the creature, liz bravely returned it to the sea ... and, yes, it can be deadly to humans ...
... i sat sunning myself as liz strolled into the sea ...
... hiking into st. peter's bay we found ourselves awash in waves of magenta ...
... whatever the beach, liz investigated every rock and piece of driftwood ...
... i sat in one spot and explored a tiny piece of the island ...
... this is a place to come to a full stop ...
... the floating boardwalk allowed us to enjoy the brack ponds behind the huge sand dunes ...
... walking in we'd had a nice conversation with this couple ... we talked of all sorts of ecological things, including human-eating coyotes ... on the way back we spotted them working in the deep muck along the edge of the tall grass ...
... katie is collecting the cast of dragonfly larvae ... she'll be analyzing their composition to learn more about how different chemicals and compounds are entering and affecting the ecosystem ...
... phillip is doing the same thing, although there were a few moments we thought he might sink so deep into the mud that he'd be in a good position to study the bottom ends of the plant roots ...
... i was fascinated, but, then again, i'm not a gardener ...
... one of liz's favorites ...
... at the "tuna fishing capital of the world," again with the rocks ...
... peeking from behind the dunes, these two were like the hundreds of others we encountered all over the island ...
... a royal wave from a royal island ...
... on the trip home i gave the map to liz and said, "if you see something just get us there" ... in st. stephen we stopped to visit the world famous ('cept for the united states, that is, where they don't seem to market their product) "ganong chocolates" ... one of the founders was "known to eat three pounds each day" ... surprisingly, he lived well into his eighties ... [hmmmmm, perhaps a new diet craze] ...
... if i read it correctly, ganong invented the valentine's day heart-shaped box of chocolates ...
... the tour included "all you can eat" samples ... we tried to chomp down the entrance fee ... we tried, very, very hard ... i'm not sure, but i think we may've done it ... in the process, of course, we were comforted learning that "chocolate doesn't cause pimples" ...
... i gave it my best effort trying to fill the tray faster than the 17-seconds it takes the company's professional candy packers ... i really think i did it, but, alas, in my zeal to set a world record i forgot to hit the clock's start button ...
... with a most friendly smile the customs agent welcomed us back to the united states ... a nice cruise across the famous "airline highway" and we were home again ...
... what a marvelous wanderabout ...
“Dear old world”, she murmured, “you are very lovely,
and I am glad to be alive in you.”
L.M. MONTGOMERY, Anne of Green Gables