Monthly Archives: March 2012

Number 9, number 9…

30 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Newfoundland

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No, it’s not the Beatles’ song “Number 9.” It’s a goal.

Over the past few months, I’ve been blogging about Newfoundland, its charms, quirkiness, and its overall wonderfulness… all in advance of my book “Arn? Narn.” As followers of this blog already know, the upcoming book “Arn? Narn.” (due out this fall) is a black & white photo-documentary of disappearing rural Newfoundland.

In this effort to help promote the book “Arn? Narn.”, I’m seeking to get a significant amount of followers to the blog. Currently, I’m only  away from my new target. Become that th follower and I’ll send you a free, signed copy of my upcoming book, “Arn? Narn.”, of which this blog is all about. If you are responsible for someone else becoming #, then both of you will receive the book, plus you will receive an original print from it as well. Upon reaching that magical number, I’ll announce the winner on this blog. Just go fill in your e-mail address on the “Follow” section and hit the follow button. (No one will contact you unless of course you are #.) It’s that easy. No counting, I’ll do all the heavy lifting.

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Kicking back at Red’s Lounge, meeting the locals, being told where to go (in the nicest way possible, this is Newfoundland after all), and having my first beer in Ramea. Part 1.

27 Tuesday Mar 2012

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When traveling, one of the best ways to get the feel, the flavor, and the social climate of a new locale is to visit the local watering hole. And on Ramea. the best one is Red’s Lounge. Red’s being the best bar/lounge is not only my opinion, it’s also the opinion of all the locals and they should know. It wins hands down and the reason is quite simple – it’s the only bar on Ramea. And though it’s the only pub on the island, it’s not open everyday or all hours. The owner works at an oil company and that job comes first. Priorities – we all have them but I wish his matched mine better.

As in my trip to Fogo Island a week earlier, I needed to get to know the “powers-that-be” in Ramea. Since whoever wore the mantle of he/she-that-counts-as-the-big-cheese-or-poobah-of-the-island was not to be found, I did the next best thing. I went to Red’s. it was lunchtime after all and the light wouldn’t be good until 2:00 PM. Ahhh, the life of the photographer!

Certainly in an outport/island such as Ramea, a stranger stands out even if they’re not in a bar. As in the TV show “Cheers”, everyone knows your name and it wasn’t long before almost everyone knew mine. Hell, you walk into any place with cameras dangling all over you and people look up and take notice.

Before long, maybe at least two or three minutes(!), I was being “interrogated” by the locals. Actually, befriended is a much, much better description but not as humorous. The first of my “interrogators”, sorry,that’s friends, was Gerard. Gerard, born and raised on Ramea, was thrilled to have someone new to talk with. As in any bar anywhere, it’s the same people and the same stories, over and over again. I was going to be entertainment or least a source of new stories. Hey, their stories were new to me! That should count for something.

  So, over a beer or two, maybe three of the locally brewed Quidi Vidi variety, Gerard filled me on all the poop. Who was who in the bar, what people did, local color, etc. For me, he was a font of information – some of it was useful immediately, some not until later that day, but I was not to know that at the time. However, Red’s was to become my base of local operations for the time I would be there. In the meantime, I would need to get outside to photograph while the light was getting better. It turned out that they had a hell of lot more beer left than I did light.

Is that an asterisk or are you just happy to see me?

26 Monday Mar 2012

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Over the past few months, I’ve been blogging about Newfoundland, its charms, quirkiness, and its overall wonderfulness… all in advance of my book “Arn? Narn.”* As followers of this blog already know, the upcoming book “Arn? Narn.”** (due out this fall) is a black & white photo-documentary of disappearing rural Newfoundland. And it, with a little bit of shameless self-promotion, I think is quite handsome. Thankfully, so does the publisher.

What is this all about?

So, here’s the deal. In this effort to help promote the book “Arn? Narn.”***, I’m seeking to get a significant amount of followers to the blog. Currently, I’m 11 away from my new target. Become that 11th follower and I’ll send you a free, signed copy of my upcoming book, “Arn? Narn.”****, of which this blog is all about. If you are responsible for someone else becoming #11, then both of you will receive the book, plus you will receive an original print from it as well. Upon reaching that magical number, I’ll announce the winner on this blog. That’s it. Nothing to buy. Just go fill in your e-mail address, (no coupons necessary, no one will contact you with unbelievable offers of real estate, time shares, aid for underprivileged children in Beverly Hills,  – we will leave you alone, unless of course you are #11), hit the follow button. That’s all there is to it to get a free copy of the upcoming book “Arn? Narn.”*****

* – You may be wondering what all the asterisks are for – just an official count of times “Arn? Narn.” was written. Ooops, that’s now ******! Gotta stop that!

Enter the Wanderer with apologies to Bruce Lee…

22 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Discovery, Geography, Humor, Observations, Photography

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Sounds sort of like a bad Bruce Lee film, doesn’t it? But, there are no flying fists, no crouching tigers, no leaping lizards, none of that stuff…just good old Newfoundland and its’ people.

I’m now ensconced on the small island of Ramea and have started to walk around the island, it IS small, and photograph. One of the first things I noticed on the ferry on my way in, is a collapsed fish processing plant, a fishery. It collapsed physically, but it is as good as any symbol of what has happened to the fishing industry. I could not have asked for a better opportunity to illustrate what has happened here. But Ramea is so much more than that, though its’ fate remains so tied to it.

Rendering of a fishery.

As  I mentioned earlier, one passes through a beautiful archipelago on the way in. It was so unexpected as to create a disconnect. “Hello, that number you’re calling is no longer in service.” That’s how I felt. In my modest research over the years, I believed that one found archipelagos in Japan, Indonesia, Scotland even. But Newfoundland, really? Oh, yeah. Yes, Toto, this isn’t Kansas anymore.

Ramea itself is a small, quaint even, little island if not for the oil tank graveyard I was currently photographing. I’ll tell you right now though, there are no photographs of those in this part of this journey. While I tip-toed around the tanks, respectfully trying not to wake them, I came up on a local who in true Newfoundland tradition was more than happy to talk with me. He gave me a little current history of the island and some recommendations: there was an ocean walk to take – check; don’t miss the wind turbine farm – check; Red’s Lounge – check and double check (can’t miss that!); the Anglican Church – check, but on Sunday of course; supermarket – check; and other places that were meaningless to me at the time.

I was into my wandering big time now. As I’ve written earlier, there I was taking pictures of nothing and really loving it.

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Abducted by sea turtles AND the talk of the town.

19 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by in Culture, Geography, History, Humor, Observations, Photography, Travel

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With all apologies to the bard (Ramea, O’ Ramea, where art thou O’ Ramea?), Ramea is a small island off the southern coast of Newfoundland and I arrived safely on the good ship (well, ferry) Gallipoli. For those who may be history minded, Gallipoli is the name of a horrible battle in World War I in which allied soldiers were brutally massacred because of an incredibly dumb decision. It was also a movie starring the then uncontroversial and better-looking actor Mel Gibson. And Gallipoli was the boat of which I just got off! Should I have read something into that? Time enough to ponder as I’ll be getting back on it to return to the Newfoundland mainland in a few days.

Approaching Ramea, one travels though a beautiful though unexpected archipelago. It was a wonderful greeting. The only thing missing were giant sea turtles, but for all I knew they may have been laying in wait to ambush me and make mock-Bruce soup. Hey, it could happen.

This was going to be very cool. Ramea is a very small island, populated by about 600 people. At it’s peak in the early 1970′s, it had about double that, but when the fish were gone, half the populace followed. Yet, it holds on. There is a music festival, like so many other Newfoundland outports, in August. And there are a number of outdoor activities in which one can indulge. The electricity is furnished by a small wind turbine farm. OK, so much for the Chamber of Commerce business.

As I’ve come to learn and appreciate and obsessively seek out, the best activity of all in Newfoundland is talking and partying with Newfoundlanders, everywhere! And that more than anything would define this part of the journey. Oh, the photographs would be taken. And with the certainty of only those of the pure of heart and who sleep like babies, I knew they would be good. I didn’t really, I hoped they would be good. But I’m rambling. The beer would be drunk, but not I, oh, no! Moose what would be eaten. Sorry, Squirrel. More on that later,

I checked into the B&B on Ramea, unpacked, and then started out on which was to be my newest adventure. Without giving too much away, must be frugal with my words here, I was to see clothes-lines, coffins, windmills, hand-painted signs, a bar, so much more and unbeknownst to me at the time, become the talk of the island.

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And now a word from our sponsor….

16 Friday Mar 2012

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This entry is a bit of a departure from all my previous posts. Rather than writing about my experiences in Newfoundland producing the upcoming photography book, “Arn? Narn.”, I have a wonderful update about it to share with all of you. As this is all electronic, there is no postage necessary. But for an illustration, I’m using an old Newfoundland postage stamp. The image on the stamp says it all: cod. For those who have been following this blog, that will be no surprise. For those new to arnnarn.com, hurry up and catch up!

My publisher, Gosslee, is in the final stages of design and the first galleys should be ready to review shortly. Publication is now set for late August or early September of this year. That feels like almost tomorrow.

Yet, there is still much to write about “Arn? Narn.” before publication. In the months to come, I’ll be introducing you to phantom sea turtles, Jimmy Pink, indecipherable Newfoundland English (even by Newfoundlanders!), kitchen parties, Red’s Lounge, local notoriety (mine!), and much more. And that’s even before I get home to start the next phase of the book.

Stay tuned (is that even applicable any more?), it should be fun!

Look boss, the plane, the plane! No, Tattoo, that’s a boat!

14 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by in Discovery, Geography, Photography, Travel

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Burgeo, on the southern coast. (From Sailblogs.)

Made it to Burgeo after a gruesomely long drive. The good news is that where I was off to next to photograph was a very small island, Ramea, on which I would be walking almost everywhere. The bad new is that when I got back to Newfoundland proper, I had an even longer trip back to St. John’s, but that’s for another post.

I found my B&B and checked in. Martine, my host was very friendly, showed me to my room, and offered some suggestions as to where I might find dinner. There were two options – both named after their proprietors- Joy’s Place and Sharon’s Diner. Sharon was off somewhere and was closed so it was to Joy’s Place which was closer anyway. Joy wasn’t in either (were Joy and Sharon running errands together?) so I couldn’t send my compliments to the chef, so I left a nice tip instead.

I returned to my B&B and had some wine with Martine. my host. We talked about Burgeo and what had brought me there. She told me that Burgeo was very old, about  500 years, but it was only incorporated in 1950 and was basically a fishing village until 1992 when the moratorium was put into place. Then it too went through all the difficulties the rest of the province did. It’s a sweet place with a couple of restaurants, a school, all the things one would expect to find pretty much anywhere, except they don’t have the view that Burgeo does. Take that world!

(From Wikipedia)

So, right now, it’s the perfect place to catch my breath before getting on another boat on my way to Ramea. Remind me why I’m doing this.

(Courtesy Newfoundland & Labrador)

Oh yeah, this’ll be fun.

Me and Homer….no, not Simpson!

12 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by in Food, Geography, Observations, Travel

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Now that I’d returned to the mainland which is Newfoundland proper, I was to head to the southern coast of Newfoundland to catch another ferry to another island. Yeah, yeah, I know…

(Courtesy Terry’s Bayside Getaway)

But, I had a lot a traveling to do in front of me. First south, then west, then southeast, and then finally south again until I reached where I would spend the night before getting on the boat. And that would take the entire day. A very long day. Aw c’mon, this can’t be the way to Burgeo, can it?

Before I proceed with this retelling of Homer’s Odyssey, let me recap some earlier posts for background material. First, Newfoundland is big…damn big. Secondly, much of it is still wild without a lot of settlement on it save for the coasts. Third, there aren’t many places to stop for food, directions, or even meaningless conversations over coffee. When you do find a place, make sure you get some take along food and drink, anything. For me it was chocolate-covered cookies and water. Did I mention it’s big? Fourth, where you can stop will probably have the most bizarre collection of chips available, that you might not want to sample unless you’ll be near a toilet. Fifth, while the maps are quite accurate, nothing prepares you for the enormous space similar to going what Australians call their Outback but here is just out there and out there are absolutely no kangaroos. Sorry, Mate! Hopefully you get the picture. I did mention it’s big, didn’t I?

This is the first time I’d be traveling in Newfoundland without a view of the sea nearby and that’s a bit disconcerting. All my previous travels here have never been far away from water and I’m missing the outports and all their character and stories.

Just brush, bogs, some trees, and a lot of rock. (Courtesy Natural Resources Canada)

While the original intent for my book “Arn? Narn?” was to be an exploration of isolation, nothing had prepared me for this. This part of the island is rugged and almost barren; more rock than brush, some trees, many bogs, few seen moose or caribou, and lonely, very lonely. There was no radio reception out here and I was grateful for the working cd player. And because it was so remote, beyond what the odometer told me, I had no real idea of where I was going. Friends have also told me that, but I digress. And the cookies were running perilously low. If I was going to find my way back, I would probably need them for crumbs to leave a trail.

Onward I drove. From Fogo though Birchy Bay, Norris Arm, to Deer Lake through to Pasadena (no I couldn’t have traveled that far!) then Corner Brook, right hand turn at Barachois Pond Provincial Park into Burgeo, my resting place for the night. Well over 650 miles this day. Resting place indeed. Try crash and burn and wake me next year place. But I won’t need any more cookies for this part of the trip, oh no, – I’m going on another boat! Maybe some Dramamine though.

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Bartender to me – “Would you like that on the rocks?” Not funny.

08 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Humor, Photography, Sea, Travel

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Now, I’m not going to say I was feeling Like Leonardo in the movie. Nor was there, regrettably, a counterpart to Kate Winslet standing bravely by my side either. But, I was on a boat in the seas off Newfoundland and there was a lot of ice in the water. And it was in early April. Draw your own conclusions.

No, I was now leaving Fogo Island for the second part of this trip. Obviously being on this island meant I was going to have to take a boat ride back to the main and much larger island of Newfoundland proper. It was a ferry in actuality, a not very large one, and it took a couple of hours.

The ferry.

The Titanic – see any difference?

Earlier I wrote about the arctic ice pack that had come in and locked up the harbors. For a large ship as my hopefully sea- and ice-worthy ferry was, this would – should be an uneventful trip.

It’s pretty common knowledge that what you see of an iceberg above the surface of the sea is only 10% of it’s size. The remaining, evil, waiting to sink unsuspecting ships, part constitutes the other 90%. Remember, the ice pack, unlike a lot of doctors, is in!

An artists’ idea of an iceberg

So, me and a bunch of other intrepid travelers including their cars, (that’ll make the ship sink faster, won’t it?) drive on and take our places on the ferry. The driveway (?) pulls up, seals the then-open end of the ship and we shove off from shore. (Wait, I think I left my toothbrush at the B&B!)

I’m not normally apprehensive about sea travel. I’ve been on ferries before! But not through icebergs. Alright, they weren’t icebergs – more like a continuous seascape of floes, large, heavy, really white, and cold ice floes. And 90% of each one could not be seen! Yes, this was a steel hulled ship; and yes, it did this every year, but… Hey, wait, every year? How strong could this barge still be?

We plowed through the ice pack slowly; the floes grinding loudly against the hull; some so large that you could feel the ship shift from THEIR weight and mass. Oh, sweet mother… two more hours of this.

Not surprisingly, we made it safely. I got some good pictures. But throughout that whole trip, at no time did I ever want to climb up on the hull and yell “I’m king of the world!” Nor did I hear Celine Dion singing in the background. There is a God after all.

No, no, no… please, I insist, after you.

06 Tuesday Mar 2012

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It is a stereotype that Canadians are among the friendliest and politest people on the planet. But, as a stereotype, that tends to put everything into a one-size-fits-all category. The truth of the matter is that Canadians ARE some of the friendliest and politest people around, bar none. Funny, too. Great music also. I could go on.

It’s almost as if it’s a law that they dare not break or even bend. One will see and experience this on a day-to-day basis just in visiting stores and offices even government ones! But, it is also manifested in a way different from any other I’ve experienced. Now, this becomes a chicken or an egg issue. (No, not the political football being tossed around currently.) Which came first?

What I’m referring to is the highway system – specifically the TCH or Trans-Canada Highway. In Newfoundland, (I can’t speak to other provinces on this issue as not having visited in many years), the THC crosses the entire island and driving it is at a comfortable 110 kph or about 65 miles per hour. People do speed on it and risk being pulled over by the RCMP – but they will be accosted politely.

In the course of photographing for this book, I’d spend many hours and many more miles on the TCH. It is largely a two lane highway, one way; each way – unless there is room for a passing lane. And that is just what it is – a passing lane. Used for passing and passing only unlike here in the US where the passing lane is considered a through lane. Drivers actually use it to pass and then they almost immediately move over. They do not hog the lane. They do not speed up to prevent you from passing them. Hell, if you want to pass them at higher speed (and risk hitting a moose), why go ahead, after you, please, we insist. They’re serious about this politeness, even on the highways. It’s…refreshing.

So, we can count friendly, musically-inclined, funny, AND polite driving as typical Canadian traits. And if Canadians are some the friendliest, etc., then Newfoundlanders take it even further. There is something to be learned from this.

Canary in the global coal mine.

05 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by in Discovery, Fish, Food, History, Newfoundland

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Currently indigenous to Newfoundland are moose, caribou, salmon, and some remaining cod. There are no naturally residing canaries on the island. However, in this case, the island itself was the canary.

Why is Newfoundland important? In much the same way the canary in a coal mine is important. That bird is an early warning of impending trouble. Ignore it at your own peril. In 1992, that is what happened in Newfoundland. Heard, seen, and ignored – just the opposite of the military phrase HUA(!) – Heard, Understood and Acknowledged. They (the government) heard the canary, saw it laying there, and essentially said, “Don’t pay that any attention” until it was too late. It was mismanagement writ large.

So, what was this canary? It was the disappearance of cod stocks. Stocks that had been fished for over 500 years and sustained Newfoundland throughout that time. Then in 1992, the government realized that the cod stocks had plummeted to perilously low levels and imposed a 10 year moratorium on cod fishing. Historically, they knew if left alone for 5-6 years, the stocks should return to previous levels. They didn’t. In actuality, they were in worse shape than before.

In those first 10 years, because there was no fishing, 20% of Newfoundland’s population left the island. It was an out-migration the likes of which had never been seen. And the lack of fishing created much hardship throughout the province. Newfoundlanders continue leaving the island in search of work returning occasionally for vacation. The Newfoundland musical group Ennis addresses this beautifully in their song, “Fortunate Ones.”

Now 20 years later, the moratorium is still in place. But then in 2006, 14 years after the original moratorium was put in place, Professor Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia published a paper that received world-wide notice. In this paper he predicted that by the middle of this century, the entire global stock of wild fish will be in total collapse. This is certainly the result of over-fishing; there is also growing evidence that ocean acidification may be contributing to this as well. Either way one looks at it, both of those causes are man-made.

The “canary” was laying there, gasping for breath and people essentially just walked on by. It has taken too long to realize what this means.

In the short term, forget about your seafood dinner, that isn’t going to happen unless you’ll be willing to take out a mortgage on it. Any fish we’ll have will come from farmed stocks and their purity is suspect.

In the long term, your guess is as good as anyone’s. No one knows what will happen to the seas themselves because of this shock to its eco-system.

So much for Red Lobster!

“Arn? Narn.” Do you feel lucky?

03 Saturday Mar 2012

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This is a different post than usual. I’m seeking to get more followers to this blog. Currently, I’m only 21 away from my target number.

An old Newfoundland flag.

As followers of my blog already know, the upcoming book “Arn? Narn.” (due out this fall) is a black & white photo-documentary of disappearing rural Newfoundland. And with a little bit of shameless self-promotion, I think is quite handsome. Thankfully, so does the publisher.

So, here’s the deal. Become that 21st follower and I’ll send you a free, signed copy of my upcoming book, “Arn? Narn.”, of which this blog is all about. If you are responsible for someone else becoming #21, then both of you will receive the book, plus you will receive an original print from it as well. Upon reaching that magical number, I’ll announce the winner on this blog. That’s it. Nothing to buy. No entry blanks. No hoops to jump through. One size really does fit all.

So you have to ask yourself one question, “Do I feel lucky?” Thanks, Clint.

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‘Scuse me, while I kiss the sky.

01 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Discovery, Geography, Newfoundland, Photography, Sea, Weather

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It’s probably a good bet Jimi Hendrix was not singing about the skies in Newfoundland and more’s the pity.

Nowhere have I seen a more dramatic skyscape than up on The Rock. Now you may be thinking, “It’s a sky. So what? Big deal!” Well, yeah, it is a big deal. It will show you textures, shapes, and tonalities like you’ve never seen and then in a moment vanish only to replaced by something completely different (and not in the Monty Python sense either).

Why is this sky different from all other skies you ask? In one sense, it’s very similar to Big Sky country in Montana. It’s high, it’s enormous, it appears to cover and touch everything you see, it goes on forever, and oftentimes it resembles a time lapse film. The Newfoundland sky is like a living motion picture – something is always going on and like a really good one, you won’t know the ending.

If it’s a sunny day, then the sea takes on an unbelievably rich and dark blue color. All the colors of the island jump out in blazing relief. And even on such a day, there can be fog which will give you a teasing glimpse of something beautiful only to obscure it moments later.

On a cloudy day then, of which there are many, the show really begins. Cloudy days in Newfoundland are not to be confused with a cloudy or overcast day anywhere else. After all, this is Newfoundland. Missing are the drab, plain-jane grey skies in the lower 48. Instead you’ll be witness to high drama. For the person who believes everything is black and white, they should be prepared for disappointment. These skies display some serious greys and a hell of a lot of variations. From light and medium greys to end-of-the-world dark greys. it’s all there. What makes it even that much more spectacular are the many textures. It’s not a flat sky by any stretch of the imagination; no, it’s a roiling, scudding, blustering, opinionated sky with its own intent.

Picture this: you’re out on the coast – the sea is a wind-whipped, nearly black surface complete with whitecaps; nearer than the horizon are brilliant white icebergs sitting in stark contrast to the dark, colorless sea and to the rich, cloud-laden thunder grey sky.This is the stuff of wonderful black & white photography and I’m really there.

So, go ahead and kiss this sky! I have.

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