Why Did We Move to Bear River?

Bear River valley.

Larry and I just passed our 2 year anniversary of living here in Bear River. The novelty hasn’t worn off yet and it still feels like we are getting away with something fantastically amazing. It seems almost accidental that we wound up living here now. I want to share that journey with you again and to tell you the pros and cons of our lives here.

We came to Nova Scotia to our niece and nephew’s wedding in 2003 and fell in love with Cape Breton, the northern most part of Nova Scotia. The air smelled so fresh, the people were so friendly, the landscape was so beautiful, the fresh fish tasted so good and we felt so happy to just be here.

The trees during yesterday's walk in Kniffen's Hollow, Bear River.

I’ll never forget sitting in the back of the taxi that brought us home from the airport to our semi-detached house in downtown Toronto after our wonderful tour of the Cabot Trail. The highway was so grey and ugly, the air smelled so bad, the urban sprawl was unending. We sat in silence blankly staring out to the window all the way home.

All that next winter we talked about Nova Scotia all the time. We wanted so badly to live in a community with a few other artists. We’d brought home a brochure that featured fine arts and crafts in the province and Larry looked at where groupings of artists lived. Then he went online to look at photos of those areas and also at real estate listings. What he discovered was that Bear River was a beautiful village, from a geographical perspective and in terms of what was still standing in on it’s main street. The house prices were low compared with Nova Scotia’s prime south shore (Lunenburg, Mahone Bay) but especially in comparison to Toronto.

Hundreds of winding creeks feed into Bear River.

While Larry researched weather, geography and real estate, I googled the village and its people. Every time I came across the name of a person in Bear River, I searched the internet for more information about them. We started with the names of the local artists in the studio brochure guide. Larry found an Elections Canada street map and we printed it out and marked all the addresses of the artists, filmmakers, and grape growers that we’d come across on the internet. By the end of the winter, we had fleshed out a picture of Bear River and its inhabitants.

Aerial view of Bear River by Judy Amirault.

The following summer we came to spend a week in Bear River and a week in Annapolis Royal, a nearby community that has a lot of resident artists, a theatre and a vibrant summer artist’s and farmer’s market.

Bear River won our hearts from that first visit. There was an unpretentious feel to the community and people we met felt like long lost relatives. The river and its tidal drama was beautiful. Our short visit reinforced our desire to move here.

Winter is pristine and beautiful.

For a long time we had wanted to be able to devote more quality time to our artistic endevours, but we were caught in the trap of well-paying, but non-creative jobs with good benefits. It’s much harder to leave a ‘good’ job than a bad one. It’s called “The Golden Handcuffs.” Our big mortgage and debt made it seem incomprehensible that we could step away from it all and survive. We even consulted with a financial planner who smiled politely, and told us that it would be folly for us to quit our jobs. She said

Let me get this straight. You want to quit your jobs, sell your house and leave your friends and family and  familiar surroundings to move 2,000 miles away to a little village where you’ve spent a total of 7 days  as holiday tourists during the best time of year?

I almost felt ashamed of myself. We had shared our  secret obsession with a number cruncher and she was saying that we were crazy fools.

The woods are within walking distance of the village.

She suggested that we continue working, part time if possible, and take longer holidays in Nova Scotia. According to her formula, the ideal retirement income is 70% of your annual pre-retirement income. That way, the retiree can afford to maintain the same lifestyle. We were pretty depressed after that meeting, but we continued to dream and to imagine living in beautiful Bear River.

The following summer we returned to Bear River for 3 whole weeks and actively interviewed some of the artists we’d met through email and asked them about the money aspect of life. People told us that it was possible for a couple who owned their own house to live on less than 20 thousand dollars a year, but that 30 was fabulous. I heard the same figures over and over, but it just didn’t seem possible that people could live as well as the artists in Bear River did on such meager amounts.

The beauty of this village is evident in every season.

I have to mention here that the financial planner wasn’t the only person we consulted. I’ve read that when people keep asking different  people for advice they are really looking for affirmation of their plan and that was certainly true for us! We consulted with our friend and guru Ursula Fugger, a wonderful astrologer whose insights, dates and suggestions benefited us in selling our house, moving here and buying our new house.

Tomlin woods.

People from the city I left are always curious about how the transisiton has really been for us. Sometimes they ask because they too are considering leaving the city. Sometimes they ask because they may be thinking about making some dramatic change in their life and they want some sign or affirmation that things will work out well for them.

Here are some unscientific income suggestions before you pack your bags:

• come with a builder’s specialty skill (plumbing, electrical, roofing, drywall finishing, heating)
• come with a pension
• come with work that can be done via the internet
• be prepared to work for low wages (minimum wage to $15 hr for semi-skilled, unskilled jobs; up to $25 hr for skilled)
• be prepared to derive income from a variety of sources (2 days a week as a clerk, selling honey from your bee hives, trading your labor for a tangible thing like cordwood)

I love the gothic windows of this modest church.

Bear River Pluses

• the community is friendly and welcoming
• the scenery is beautiful, inspiring and the air is clean
• studio space is cheap ($300 a month for a river view studio)
• structuring your own time each and every day means having choices….only the weather trumps your choice
• there is no easy access to consumer goods, so you won’t be spending money
• people are all in the same economic boat and are open about sharing tips on economizing
• people make up their own (free) things to do such as potlucks, watching DVD’s together, walking through the unmarked, but well known trails, cross-country skiing, making music together
• lots of people volunteer here and it makes all the difference to the quality of life

Music nights at the Rebekah Music Hall cost $8. People bring treats to share..

Bear River and area Challenges

• it’s impossible to earn anywhere near a ‘big city’ income, so budgeting is really an essential skill
• because of employment challenges, most youth leave Bear River and the largest demographic is boomers and up
• it’s tough to live at a distance from family and former friends, but free Skype, email and facebook help
• there is no easy access to consumer goods which can be super inconvenient when you need to buy art supplies
• it’s a challenge to stay task focused when there are many opportunities for socializing, staring at the scenery
• there is limited and distant access to health care
• there is a lack of diverse cultures like in Toronto
• government funding is practically invisible

Happily, our children visited us for my birthday last spring.

I should also throw in the disclaimer that our experience and opinions are not shared by everyone. Apparently more people have come and gone from Bear River than have come and stayed. The employment challenges here have forced many to greener pastures. At the same time I believe that the working possibilities that the internet brings will draw a younger crowd of newcomers to Nova Scotia.  Still, there are many groups within the village and I don’t speak for them.  I do sense though that there is a universal, quiet affection that Bear Riverites feel for this place. And after all, could you blame them?

Low tide on Bear River.

September Rains

It rained today and when it stopped for a little while, I walked down the path behind the house to the beaver pond and took some pictures. Everything is still very green because of the regular (but not excessive) rain we’ve had in August. Here is the path.

I noticed that the deep greens of August are giving way to a touch of yellow.

This is the prefect time of year – no bugs, warm days and cool nights.

The crickets are singing – night and day. A few leaves are starting to turn too.

Summer will soon transform into fall.

It’s a nice time of year to have a visit from Dianne and we sure aren’t going to let any September rains get in the way.

Dianne loves lakes and oceans and swimming, so yesterday we drove down to Mavillette Beach on the French Shore of Nova Scotia, just as a BIG FOG was rolling in. We could hear the fog horn and somewhere in the distance, the sounds of ocean waves. I think of Dianne as a daring person–she has riden the steppes of Mongolia on a horse and treked through the jungles of Hawaii and hosteled in Bejing- and that’s just this year!

So, I wasn’t terribly surprised that she would want to plunge into the frigid, churning waters of the Atlantic in fog conditions.

 I was a little worried about things like rogue waves and undertows when suddenly, the clouds parted and to allow enough sunshine to clear out some fog.

I watched her so intently that I forgot to take a picture of her in the water.

Next winter when we are loading wood into the wood furnace, I’ll remember September rains and fog and watching Dianne taking the plunge. I’ll smile to myself and I might even wish I’d braved those waters with her.

Our Gothic Future in Bear River

It has finally happened! We have bought a house in Bear RIver! After 10 months of living here and almost 3 years of looking, we have found ourselves the perfect spot for us.

Our house has elements of carpenter Gothic which enjoyed a revival in the mid 1800’s. It has a steeply pitched roof and some gothic trim and gothic arched shapes in the interior doors.

We are out-of-our-minds with excitement for many reasons:

• there are 2 acres of beautiful land within easy walking distance of ‘downtown’
• there are old, producing apple trees including 2 Gravenstein trees
• there is a 100 foot high weeping willow tree in the middle of the property
• there is a seasonal view of the valley (when the leaves fall)
• there are several sugar maple trees over 100 years old
• there are ample flat, sunny areas to grow as much food as we will need
• there is a root cellar
• there are windows with air bubbles in the glass due to their vintage
• there is lots of room in the house for us, for visitors and for all of our activities and future ventures

We take possession at the end of September and then I will be able to show you lots of pictures. For now, we are trying to practice patience and to calm down and to figure out the logistics of the next chapter of our life adventure in Bear River.

I’ve been doing some research about Gothic arches and I’ve realised that I’m already living with 2. If you don’t believe me, take a close look at this photo:

Fluffy's gothic shaped ears

Look at those ears, will you! Our Fluffy has perfect gothic ears.

She must have been trying to give us a sign of things to come!

And not only is Fluffy predicting the future. Take a look at these Gothic-shaped drawings from our dear daughter Emily. They were done about 7 years ago while she was still training to be the fantastic animation artist that she is!

Our new studio design?

Our new house in Bear River?

Laid back

Linda Mae’s garden buddha.

People in Nova Scotia are pretty laid back and I think this is even more true in Bear River. So our landlady Linda Mae only slightly surprised us when she said: “While you are housesitting this year, paint the inside of my house whatever color you want that will make you feel comfortable living here.” And then to top it off she said: “Plant whatever you want in the garden that will make you feel happy to live here for the next year. You say you want to dig a big piece out of the front lawn? Go right ahead!”

Linda Mae took us on her walking trail and tagged the way so we won’t get lost!

The last time I looked at a rental contract in Toronto it’s stipulated what you could not do to the walls of your overpriced apartment and even went so far as to stipulate whether or not you could hang a wreath on your front door.

As this is my reference point, I kept trying to show Linda Mae paint chips and colour schemes and to sell her a vision of the place, but she would just wave her hand and say ” I’m sure it will be great… surprise me!” and then she’d jump in her car and drive off to a Tai Chi conference somewhere.

So we’ve been working really hard this weekend on our quest to paint the downstairs. Here’s a bit of the transformation that happened.

It really helped our timeline to learn that some Toronto friends will be arriving here for a couple of nights this week. It sure got us putting in full days on the rearranging committee. I guess we haven’t got the laid back thing perfected yet.