In May 2011, after four years of life on McNutt's Island, we moved to Montreal. This blog remains, though, as a (sort of) daily record of our time on the island, and a winding path for anyone who would like to meander about among its magical places. For additional perspectives and insights I recommend Greg's book, Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia (2010), and my Bowl of Light (2012). I'll continue to post once in a while. If you do want to read this blog, one option would be to begin at the beginning of it (which is, as we all know, in blog-world, at the end), and read forward, concluding with the most recent entry. It's a journal, really, so it does makes more sense if you read it that way. But, you know, read it any way you like.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

New Jerusalem Farm

If Alexander McNutt's ghost were ever to wander along the lower road, he would surely stop to admire our new sign. It honours the old schemer and con-artist -- or perhaps visionary and dreamer -- nobody really knows for sure. He did intend, or so he told the Lords of Trade in London in 1761, to make a utopian community at Port Roseway for Ulster Irish. He named his imaginary community New Jerusalem. Maybe he meant it and maybe he didn't. Maybe a settlement of sorts happened here before the Loyalist tsunami, and maybe it didn't. Anyway, he lived at his brother Benjamin's place up the road from here for many years before he skedaddled to Virginia. So we remember him.

Greg made this sign as my Christmas present, but he only put it up last week. We didn't think we needed a sign during the winter, when there are no visitors along the lower road. 
 
According to our sign, New Jerusalem is the place where deer and lamb lie down together, where the trees are filled with apples and the seal pokes his head out of the waves and the little red boat always runs quite nicely. It's maybe another sort of utopian dream, but one Alexander might recognize.

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