New Year's Day 2004.

Out for a walk late in the afternoon, the air is crisp and I have a stiff wind at my back.

I meet my neighbour Anson.

Anson is a retired fisherman and the keeper of the Cove's oral history. Each time we meet I hear another installment ... just an interesting bit here and there that keeps me coming back for more. Today I learn about the buildings on his land.

Anson grew up on Spectacle Island just across the way. We can see the island from where we are standing and he points out a white speck that pinpoints the location of his childhood home.

His father moved the family to the mainland after buying the old Bell homestead, a 1750s cape, when Anson was 28. (The government had been pressuring fishermen to move their families to the mainland.)

A few years later, with his brother's help, Anson moved the small house he still lives in and four outbuildings from the now deserted, island to the cove.

The owner had been planning to burn the house down when the wind was 'right'; so he was glad to have it taken off his hands ... no need to bother himself.

The brothers built a barge from some old lumber and oil tanks and floated the buildings across one by one. All are still standing though some of the outbuildings are no longer used, including his fish store.

»» Fish store and shanty, Bell's Cove, Nova Scotia

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