The Picton Castle Tragedy Continues

Ruth and I see the Picton Castle daily when she has been in port, and she has not moved from her berth since arriving home in May, 2007. As our home overlooks her Lunenburg port of call, we have an unusual advantage in taking pictures of her from an elevated place (our second storey Lunenburg Bump.

The two of us have collected a very large number of photos of her over the past years and will post some of them if there is an interest? A number of these are already online (click link to home website ar right), with Rod's personal musings about the loss of Laura Gainey from her deck during a North Atlantic storm.

Rod is quite busy just now, so you will have to e-mail him if you want to see more pictures of this craft!

http://rodneymackay.com/

Father Christmas at Mahone Bay

A modern embodiment of Father Christmas greets well-wishers on Main Street. This town has less than half the population of Lunenburg but totally outdoes the larger centre when it comes to co-operative projects meant to draw out-side visitors to the town.

In addition to this living breathing representative of his kind, this Father Christmas was supplemented with seventy life-sized replicas representing the reincarnate Saint Nicholas, whose feast day is still remembered in some places on the fifth day of December. Old Saint Nick is a Teutonic Yule-tide character and a natural for Christmas promotion in Lunenburg County which was settled by German protestants in the mid eighteenth century.

Franky, the Lunenburg Christkindlmarkt or "Christ Child's Market" was more of a local food fair, and did not seem to attract hordes of visitors from outside the immediate area. That is unfortunate: From the lack of decoration on the part of nearby businesses on Lincoln and Montague Streets it may be suspected that the local merchants were ot entirely enthusiastic about this solidly amateur effort!

Waiting For Santa at a Lunenburg Wharf

In our seaport town Santa Claus comes to land on a scallop dragger abd is transported by firetruck to Santa's village at the Christkindlmarkt