Hanging Out In Pugwash

Last week I was off to one of my favourite work places: the Tatamagouche Centre, a United Church social justice retreat centre in the small town of Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. I flew into Moncton and so had a scenic two hour ride ahead of me. And company! My colleague Rachel was joining me, and brought her mother Sue and daugher Sofia along. I picked them up at the train (a 24 hour journey) and we hit the road, planning a pitstop in Pugwash, home of the Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs.

First thing we saw was a bay full of cormorants and a pair of bald eagles flying over the Pugwash River. One of them settled in a tree and seemed to hang out just so we could watch him. We were transfixed, none of us more than Sofia (she's 10) for about a half hour. We decided to make our way to the beach, and this seemed a promising sign:

It should read "Sraid Antuisgue" but there's obviously a gang of veterinary smart-alecks afoot in Pugwash.

We found our way, and stepped in the Northumberland Strait. Quite warm for the end of September. This is Rachel, Sue, and me.


A little friend met us as we stepped out of the surf. Her name, it turns out, is Josie, and she lives just above the beach. She spends her days socializing with tourists.


Somehow you expect a rugged retriever, not a Shih Tzu in a pink leather collar studded with rhinestones, to meet you on a Nova Scotia beach. Josie means business. Anything we picked up -- say, a razor clam shell or a snail shell complete with live snail-- she wanted to chase and chew. We managed to save the snail. Mostly, she wanted to run and play with Sofia.


This is Josie's house at the end of the beach. Nice digs.