A Little Teaser

 Newfoundland.

Home, sweet home.

I mentioned in the last post that we were back in the states.

We had a great trip!

And this lady pictured above with me was a huge part of our wonderful going home visit!

I met Christy on facebook. 

She runs a group for people who were stationed at the naval base I grew up on. 

Her group is called

Naval Facility Argentia, Newfoundland.

We currently have 1,841 members! Wow!

Anyway, I met Christy through that page and we began an online friendship.

When Mark and I decided to visit the rock, Christy offered to tour guide for us 

and 'tour guide' she did!

Here we are on our first full day there, 

getting ready to head out on the O'Brien's Boat Tour 

to look for whales, ice bergs, and a half a million puffins. 

No joke. That will be a post all by itself.

 Mark set up on the front of the boat so he could use his camera to video the trip. The water is deceptive here. We were in a sheltered harbor where the wind did not reach. It was a whole different story once we got out of the harbor. 

White caps, winds, rough water and weather. 

Thankfully I had on a seasick patch and had taken a prescribed pill to help, otherwise it would have been an awful trip for me.

I told Mark I'd have to wear a patch just to watch the video.

 Most of what we saw on this boat ride looked like this.

This is part of an island where thousands and thousands of birds live.

Seagulls, murre, and puffins.

And they live on solid rock, and in some places patchy grass.

It has been said that Newfoundland is all rock and water, 

and that is a fairly accurate statement.

On a rare occasion you will find some grass.  And dirt. Occasionally. This coastline is pretty standard fare there. This beach is what I think of when I think of 'the beach.' Living here in Florida the beaches are totally different, but when I think of home, this is what comes to mind.

Back Home From Newfoundland

I am back home from our ten day trip to  Newfoundland, Canada! It was a wonderful trip, we saw pretty much all of the Avalon Peninsula as we searched for  icebergs, moose, caribou, beautiful fishing harbours and boats.  It was just a beautiful time - and now I have close to 3,000 photos to look through before I start posting. I grew up on the naval base at Argentia, Newfoundland. The base has since closed down and very little of what I remember is still physically there. The memories never die, though.
This sunset photo was taken on our second day. It was shot over the single remaining runway on the base. What you see in the background is Red Island. Looking forward to showing you more soon.

Newfoundland, Going Home

I need to start this post by saying - 

none of these photos are mine.

I borrowed them all from the internet.

Tomorrow we are flying to Newfoundland.

I grew up there, on a US Navy base.

Dad had a specialty that kept us there for quite awhile.

When we first move there, we lived off base in a location 

very similar to what you see above.

A collection of little fishing villages,

sweet people trying to make it through another day,

lots of water, and even beautiful ice bergs to enjoy at times.

We are going to try to find the house we lived in, 

but seriously I was so young I doubt I will recognize it.

 This I totally recognize.

This was on the hill next to the on-base apartment we lived in

towards the end of our stay.

Argentia, Newfoundland, was a first line defense during WW2, 

to stop any war planes from overseas entering our air spaces. 

There were a series of cannons around the Navy base,

one being right next to our home. 

That is a bunker to the left of the cannon. 

We used to play in those when I was a kid.

 It is quite possible that was my home behind the cannon.

Right where the building peeks out from behind.

Of course, it might not be but I believe it is.

 Another view of the housing representative of the off-base residences. Homes cut into the side of huge rocks. Very little land to grow anything on. Just vasy expanses of rock and water. You can see a roadway there on the left, just above the water.

I am so excited to be going home! I plan to take tons of photographs. I think I have enough stick space to take about 10,000 photos. No kidding! We fly tomorrow, then Wednesday we are doing a boat tour to whale watch, see loads of Puffins in their environment, and hopefully scope out several ice bergs. You won't hear from me for almost two weeks, but I promise you some awesome scenery in photograph form when I return. Can't believe I am finally going back home!

Squid Jiggin'

Wow! Squid Jiggin' Ground.

An old song from my childhood days,

suddenly taking on some meaning in my life once again.

In just a few weeks, Mark and I will be heading to Newfoundland for ten days.

Ten days to relive my childhood, visit the Navy base where I grew up, see my school, go to my old church, try to find the first house we lived in in a little fishing village called Placentia.

I sit and remember.

Remember days when the snow was so high we had trouble getting to school.

They didn't do snow days, so you got there any way you could.

I remember walking - delicately and deliberately - through snow as high as my waist and sometimes higher, trying to pick the safest routes, the safest steps, taking an extra set of clothes to change into once you got to school because every stitch you had on would be soaked.

I remember fishing with my dad on the northside pier. His jacket zipped up tight, cap on his head, fishing for cod, throwing back blowfish which used to scare me when I was little - they are some ugly fish, just sayin'! - trying not to get blown off the dock because the winds were that strong.

I remember going to the commissary one day, and Daddy telling me to hold on to the car door when I opened it. I did, but the wind was so strong it pulled me right out of the car and dumped me on the ground.

I remember hours spent playing on the hill of rock behind our home. Coloring on rocks with crayons, daydreaming for hours, singing, playing make-believe until I'd hear the van as Dad came looking for me for supper. 

And I remember the music.

Standing in the Navy Exchange testing a harmonica they just got in, playing the Canadian National Anthem, and the civilian employees stopping, standing still with a hand over their heart as I played.

I loved living there!

I can't wait to go home in a few weeks.

I know very few buildings remain on the base.

Our two different homes on the base itself are totally gone and trees stand in their places.

I know it's going to be sad,

but it's going to be happy, too,

and I just can't wait!

I'm sorry my new style squid drawing pulled me into the backstory.

Squid Jiggin' Ground is a good old Newfie song

and it just reminded me. 

Now, where did I leave those kleenexes?

(Might I just add this note on May 3rd, my readers are the best! Thank you for the comments you post and send to me - whether here or on facebook. I'm glad you shared some of your memories with me :). You made my day, too!)