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.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Backyard visitor

The island is veiled in fog today. In the morning a young heron, the colour of fog, stood on the back wall. Maybe he was looking around for fish.
He flew off across the orchard to settle briefly in an apple tree. His vast wingspan made a poor fit with its dense branches and homely leaves. He seemed incongruous there among robins' nests, like some ancient pagan god visiting a simple peasant's hut.
Then he flew south, across the lower orchard, toward the cove. The shore is the usual feeding place of the heron, not our back yard. His visit was a reminder of how closely the familiar and the wild dwell together here. It's something I forget. Then a glimpse of that strange otherness and grace illuminates everything, and I remember again for a little while.

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