July 21, 2008
Louisbourg Breakdown
I awoke yesterday, Sunday morning, in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, in a weary state. All attempts and pep talks at self-revival failed. I was tired from two long days of hard driving and sightseeing. I needed a break. I needed some down time. We were scheduled to visit the Louisbourg Fortress, a wonderful reconstruction of an Eighteenth Century fort and town. I could not bear the thought of going to see it. So I negotiated a morning of golf – some nice relaxing down time.
This goes into the category of “be careful what you wish for.” We drove the motorhome about three hundred yards up the street and it just died. Died. Several hours later we were towed back to our campground with a problem in the fuel delivery system. No one works on vehicles on Sunday.
It turns out that no one works on big vehicles in the rain on Monday either. The only garage in town was very nice, but they were not big enough to bring the motorhome inside. They were unwilling to work on it outside in the pouring rain. Can’t blame them for that. They are scheduled to work on it tomorrow which is supposed to be sunny. I hope that I am sunny by then.
Tomorrow will be our third day in Louisbourg. I could tell you way more than you want to know about the town. It was once thriving port for the shipment of coal, until that business collapsed. It morphed into a fish processing town until the cod fishing grounds were closed down in 1992. The town shrunk from 3300 residents to 880. Of course today it is 882 since my wife and I are now official residents. Everyone in town already knows who we are – the folks who broke down on Main Street in the motorhome.
My wife says that I “overshot” when I asked the universe for down time. I think that it is perfect. Here we are in the rain in our little motor home – ALL DAY – just loving our time together. I am reading “Reading Lolita in Tehran,” an upbeat subject. My wife is fascinated by everything that is going on around us.
She peered out the motorhome window and said, “Look at the seagulls lined up.”
I shot back, “I’m not looking at seagulls.” I would have had to turn around in my chair to see them.
“It’s fascinating,” she said. Fascinating and seagulls are two words that are not often used in the same sentence.
I started to laugh, “That just shows how bored you are.” But I also turned to look at the seagulls and they were interesting. You can see the picture at the top of the page. Fascinating? I’m not sure about that.
We are so bored that we are going to turn on Canadian TV and watch soccer in French. Could it get any worse?
I am not asking the universe for anything anymore. I am keeping my wishes and desires to myself. Tomorrow will be day 3 in Louisbourg. I really want to get out of here. No, I didn’t say or think that. Ignore that.
I think I’ll go watch some seagulls.
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3 comments:
Okay, you know me, I'm a fan of yours. But this seagull story in Nova Scotia seals the deal. I could even be your cheerleader but I'm way too old for that. I haven't had the legs for those teeny skirts since I was in my mid 20's. Instead, let me lavish praise on your prose and tell you that I'm looking forward to your next missive.
with love,
Pat
OK, you guys!! If you are still brokendown and waiting to get repaired, could it not be the divine telling you its time you come home to take care of your lonely hot tub!! After all it now has such a lovely tent over it, protecting it from the elements. Heck's pup, when you get home it'll almost be time to take the tent down!! Other useless info for weary travelers, - the Mystic was terrific (again the ht is the perfect place for this rapt conversation) and Damariscotta was a delight as well. Hope to see you soon.
One up side of three days breakdown - conside all you saved in gas those days. Must be a bit horrific - RV in Maritimes, highest prices in Canada during the massive price surge across the continent.
Loved your prose. The seagulls would have been pleased!!
Cheers for next phases.
Tom & Virginia
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