Cape Breton Island, N.S.

In the early 70’s when I was about a year old, my parents left BC for Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. My Dad had gotten a job fixing 2-stroke engines in a small town by Lake Anisle making $2 an hour. It is interesting, yet somewhat odd, that they (more likely my Dad) were drawn to the Maritimes over and over again. My father grew up in landlocked Iowa and hadn’t seen anything larger than a lake until he was 21 years old. My mother was from Western Canada. The Maritimes in those days was very poor and psychologically isolated from the rest of Canada. Mom told me the story many times about how they often crossed paths with older ladies who spoke nothing but Scottish Gaelic when they first arrived in Cape Breton. They travelled quite a bit in the the area around Judique and Mabou. One time, she said, they even went as far north as Meat Cove. Cape Breton is also where I lost my Mom’s one and only wedding ring. My Dad never replaced it. She said I was a very loud baby, always screeching and throwing a fit. My parents had been checking out an old abandoned farmhouse between Mabou and Fort Hood, and in trying to keep me quiet to not alert the neighbors, she handed me her wedding ring. For whatever reason, this seemed to work, but it wasn’t long before I threw it onto the floor and it fell through the cracked floors into the muddy basement below, where unfortunately, it was never to be found again. I felt so bad every time I heard this, but, I remind myself, I was only a year old. Still …. I would like to return and see if the house still is standing, which I doubt, and look for the ring. My mother lost her battle with cancer this past January, and I can no longer ask her details about this place. I remember that she said that the house was just before Port Hood, and that there was a distinct road that pulled off. But this was 1972, and I do not even know if the house still stands. My Dad added his two cents with information he remember about the area:  bizarrely, the creator of the Whole Earth Catalogue, Steve Brand, also lived in Judique at that time, along with a few hippie artists who had been active in the Dada Art Movement. That was the 1970’s, and today the famous Rankin Family lives just down the road … I haven't been there for 44 years and hope to see Cape Breton soon!

Side Note: I need to find out why they call it Cape Breton "Island." Is it one? I don't think so ...