Page 76 - With Jessie Morrison of Cape North - A Cape Breton to Alberta Pioneer

ISSUE : Issue 66

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1994/6/1

Visiting the relatives. And visiting us. These are warm, lovely, long memories. So many that I would like to name but time has commitments. But there was always laughter and fun. My mother was the spark and always was the one who could entertain. I just want to make a few observations of my Grandfather MacKinnon who--before leav? ing the subject--he rather intimidated me. He had piercing blue eyes and was rather stern. I recall him shouting to my mother because, "...that child's skirt was up to her knees and it should be at her ankles!" I can't say that Mother followed his ad? vice and lengthened my skirt, it still re? mained (at) my knees. Now Grandfather's great interest was poli? tics and reading. And he was a dyed-in- the-wool Liberal, as were most of his as? sociates. He subscribed--this is interest? ing- -to the Ottawa edition of Hansard, early on. And he read each copy cover to cover. He took great delight, so my mother said, in the verbal jousting. And he prob- ~ Our 24th Year in Business • Canso Realties Ltd. Box 727 Port Hawkesbury, N. S. BOE 2V0 • Phone (902) 625-0302 * We carry 300 listings of property for sale in Cape Breton and Eastem Nova Scotia. JIM MARCHAND ?? BROKER (Nfi ably secretly imagined himself in the role of a participant, in the Liberal side, of course. Incidentally, when I went back in 1940, I saw stacks of Hansard in the at? tic. Also the books that Great-Grandmother MacKinnon had brought from Scotland: the cradle that my father made for me; and the spinning wheel. All this was lost a few years later when vandals destroyed the old home by burning it. Oh, yes--and Grandfather, he would travel miles--often with a friend--when a new minister came to a neighbouring church. The object being to taste the sermon. Then in his diary, which I found, he would ana? lyze the sermon and make comments. I searched the diary eagerly to see what en? try he had made when--about his one and only grandchild, Jessie Grace. A few days prior to September fifteenth. 1904, he wrote in his diary that he had been to Neil's Harbour to buy a fish. Later com? ments with regard to the potatoes. Septem? ber the fifteenth came and went: no entry. But on September the 16th the entry that Blossom the cow had had a heifer calf--and so much for the grandchild! Now the day of parting came--a sad, sad day--Mother and I returning to Boston knowing that the next summer of 1912 would see us travelling west. Mother never did get back, and I not until 1940. We moved west. My father came to the cou- We're really into parks and recreation. Every year, more and more people in Nova Scotia are tuming to our forests for sport and recreational enjoyment. Through multiple land-use planning activities and forestry operations, a system of access roads and woodland pathways make it easy for Nova Scotians to experience our natural beauty first hand. From hiking, biking, and skiing trails, to hunting and fishing areas, our forest manage? ment practices promote a healthy environment and create a forest legacy for future generations to use and enjoy. STORA' .. FELDMUHLE Stora... creating a Nova Scotia forest legacy. Stora Forest Industries Ltd. P.O. Box 59, Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, Canada BOE 2V0 Tel. (902) 625-2460

Cape Breton's Magazine