Home to Nova Scotia

Well the trip home last week went well. There was only a little snow while I was there and generally I had a good visit with lots of people despite getting another cold. There was a good time had with my parents and showing Taryn around my home town. I stopped in to see some family including my grandmother, aunts and uncles, and my niece and nephew. I also enjoyed seeing everyone in the Valley both in and outside of work, although sometimes it was hard to get anything done. After the week of work I spent a night at Taryn's in Kentville and spent some quality time with the Hound. Maggie would be jealous (as she sits on the couch next to me snoring). Macy hasn't gotten any bigger since I left but she's just as loud and has all the usual habits of a moderately nervous hound. Here she is napping in the sun, something she didn't seem to do very much of on the French Shore-too much going on I think. Taryn was hosting movie night at her place the night I was there so some of the locals from the old neighborhood were there too. It was nice to see them and meet some new friends. I think I surprised Pete and Sandi the most. Pete even went out to get some celebratory rum for the occasion. The rum always did taste better in Nova Scotia-must be the cold sea air. While I was home I ate more lobster than I usually eat in a whole season. I also took Taryn out to the pound for a tour. The owner, Lucien-Paul was great. He gave us lots of time and answered all of Taryn's questions. We even got to see a few blue, green, and rust coloured lobsters. Here is the pound. Everything on the left is lobster crates, sometimes stacked four or five deep and full of lobster. Taryn was very curious about the whole process. Here she is asking about water temperature, circulating pumps, molting, and the finer points of keeping the crustaceans alive while Lucien-Paul gets out his big ones... That bad boy was over 12 pounds. Taryn didn't hesitate one bit. She grabbed that thing like he was a long lost cousin. If you want to see what comes next you'll have to go to her Blog. I promised I'd let her post the really good picture. As you can see below the claws alone were about 8 inches long. In the end the trip home to SC was uneventful. I spent my last night in Halifax with Peter and Elizabeth. We ate more lobster that was hardly a day off the boat and had a very quick visit to see Jane's grandmother. Before I knew it I was back in the sunny south again and getting hugs from the girls. If you are in Nova Scotia and you're wondering why I didn't get to see you I apologize. Hopefully next time won't be as crazy.