Ten Things...Let's get out of this town

In general, my flight instinct is a lot stronger than my fight instinct. As soon as things get hard, I want out. Life gets stressful and I start dreaming about being anywhere else. This is only compounded by the fact that I really do love to travel. Consequently, I spend a good amount of time thinking about being other places. I daydream about what my life would be like if I lived somewhere else. This longing for other places often finds its way onto the blog. Here's ten posts that reflect a yearning to just get out of this town (and, yes, that is a reference to the Carrie Underwood song):

1. Wanderlust
2. I love the places I ain't ever been to
3. Sometimes I feel I've got to run away
4. Daydreams of Paris
5. The Siren Song of the City
6. The Power of Suggestion
7. Sunset on the Harbour
8. Getaway Car
9. When words fail
10. Fields

The Power of Suggestion

Several days ago I read an article in the Travel section of the newspaper about driving the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. Ever since then I have been longing to go back there. Every time I look for pictures to post on here I start with the pictures from the last trip we took to Nova Scotia. There is something about Nova Scotia that draws me in. There are very few places that I typically get longings to visit again. Nova Scotia (especially Cape Breton), Toronto, Ireland, and Budapest, that's about it. I've been other places that I loved, but those are the places that I want to visit again and again.

Anyway, I took this picture the last time I was in Nova Scotia. Specifically this is taken in Baddeck which is right on the Bras d'Or. We were there early enough in the summer that it was typical Maritime weather: windy and rainy. It made for some spectacular pictures though. Sigh. I will go back one day.

I often thought how proud I'd be in a boat like Gideon Brown*

I mentioned a few days ago that I really love taking pictures of boats despite not having the best working relationship with them when I am actually on them. This is a collection of black and whites that I took the last time I was in Halifax (yes, I am still on my Nova Scotia/maritimes kick...). My mom and I went for a wander around the harbor and naturally I took about a gazillion photos. The day was overcast and so the lighting was actually quite ideal for black and white shots. Plus, boats tend to have good strong contrasting colors. I had never noticed how many little interesting details there are on boats. Personally, I think my favorite shots in this grouping are the one with the ship on an angle in the frame and the close up on the Roman numerals down the front of one of the ships. I have no idea how those numbers function, but they sure look cool!
*The title of this post comes from the lyrics of "A Boat Like Gideon Brown" - Great Big Sea

The Barra MacNeils

I just returned from the Barra MacNeils concert. There is seriously nothing like that music. It makes me happy every single time. The only downside is that everytime I go to one of their concerts I leave with an incredible desire to move to Cape Breton. Now in general this is not a problem, but it does make the whole focusing on school work thing a bit of an issue. Oh well. I'm all smiles because of it so I guess I can put up with some daydreaming.

In the summer of 2008 I was lucky enough to spend some time in Cape Breton with my family. I positively fell in love with the place. I know that a couple days ago I said that I am very much a city girl, but I think Cape Breton would be an exception to that rule. I could quite happily move there. This picture is from Fortress Louisbourg. It was misty and cold the day we went out there which was unpleasant for walking around but made for some stunning photos. I should probably warn you all that this Barra MacNeils high might not wear off for a while so there might be a bit of a maritimes theme to my posts for the next unspecified period of time.