My Mother and i left the Boston area a few days ago on a road trip to Nova Scotia. I was trying to re-create the yearly trip my Mother did, as this could likely be her last given her health issues. We stayed at a little motel in Pocologan, New Brunswick the first night. It was definitely motel style but the view along the water was very pretty. The next day we finished our trip into Nova Scotia. It rained for the entire 4 hour drive but it was worth it to finally arrive in Great Village. I had no memory of meeting my cousin before, but he remembered seeing me when I was about 7. We chatted a bit and ended up in his garden for some macro photography. The bugs feasted on my scalp and one ended up in my nose, but I hope the photos will be worth it. After a long visit we went on to see more relatives just next door. When I got to the front door, I was stung by a hornet. It took me by surprise and I must admit, I react loudly when frightened. I kicked off my flip flop after the hornet stung me on the toe, and ripped off my over-shirt as I thought he had flown into it. I did this while screaming my bloody head off and running around the front of his house like an idiot on fire. This is what my cousin saw after about a 15 year hiatus. I'm sure he was quite impressed with how much I had matured over those years.
The next day we drove to Livingstone Cove to a beautiful vacation rental home along the water, where we are as I type. Two cousins from Halifax are staying with us and today we drove to Goldboro to visit an old family home. I expected everything to be the same so it could still match the memories in my head, but time changes things. The old fishing pier was gone and so were my chances to photograph it. The house had aged quite a bit but I still had fresh memories of the old stove that was also used to heat the house, and the smell of the house itself. Each of the places I have memories of visiting when I was a kid include memories of scents and those come back to me quickly, bringing a feeling of comfort to offset the visual changes that have occurred. Sadly, the loss of the pier also took with it the memory of that low tide smell and the catch of the day wafting from the fishing boats pulling in to unload. I was glad to have visited but left feeling a little disappointed.
There will be more visits during our road trip and I'm glad my Mother is out here once again. This is where she had a lot of happy memories created and she's forgetting more and more of them. I just wish I could bottle the smells of my childhood and bring them home.
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