“Well, hello there. Good morning to you.” I opened my eyes to find this little fellow on the INSIDE of our tent! “Out you go”. I gently picked his soft little body off the tent with a piece of tissue paper and put him back outside. Two months ago I would have been way more upset about it. Now I’m just glad he’s not something that bites.
Overcast skies and a brisk chill wind. A fine mist of rain with the looming prospect of a heavy downpour. The day ahead was looking more and more like the kind of day that should be spent curled up with a good book. We packed up our things from camping beside the manse. Even though the ground was a bit damp, as was the air about us, the tent was quite dry. Best to get it dismantled and packed away before the rain starts.
It was early and we hadn’t decided what we wanted to do for the day. We have less than 100 km to ride and 4 days to do them in before we catch the ferry to Newfoundland so we can afford to linger around a bit. Besides,there were festivals going on right here in St Peters for the Tall Ships and for something else, I can’t remember the name. We went to Tim Hortons to look over the map and explore our options.
A man at Tim’s came over to our table and asked about our trip. He said “You can’t leave without going down to the canal to see the Tall Ships. And there’s a swim too, you’ve gotta see that.”
We tentatively planned the next few days, then took the man’s advice and headed towards the canal. We planned on making and eating our breakfast down there and then checking out the watercraft. The weather remained overcast and Enviroment Canada confirmed our concerns. Rain was expected throughout the day, continuing into the night.
On our way we passed a sign that read,”St Peter’s Church. All are Welcome.” We usually go to church on Sundays at home. Let’s go to this one since it’s starting in 20 minutes and we’re already here anyway. We made and ate our breakfast on the stairs of the building beside the church and were ready to walk in at the top of the hour.
It was small but very welcoming. The music was good but secretly I’d been hoping that they’d sound more Rankin-ish. After the service we hung around a bit and talked with a few people. Charlie was talking with one couple, Pat and Sharon Sutherland, and they asked where we were going to stay tonight. We told them we had an offer from someone up the way, Claire Rankin to camp in his field if we chose to stay another night in St Peters. We still weren’t sure what we were going to do. Hotels/motels/B&B’s are all totally booked up these days by vacationers. Pat and Sharon told us they had a downstairs bedroom and that we’d be welcome to stay with them. Since we have some leisure time banked, we decided to do just that.”Come on up to the house” Pat said, “and you can get settled in.” 
We spent a good part of the late morning, early afternoon talking downing cups of tea, raisin bread and cheese, talking, but mostly laughing. Pat is so funny. He’s from Cape Breton and he’s known and loved in this community. He’s a fast talker and with his thick accent, I found myself having to process what he said, so I wouldn’t “get it” for several seconds after he’d spoken. Charlie, though, had tears streaming down his face from laughter. He wrote down a lot of the quick things Pat said. Oh, and he loved to talk! They both do and we learned so much about their families and jobs and animals and, and, and…. But it was fun, and we couldn’t have had a better time. Pat had to leave to go to Halifax to pick up his niece, so mid-afternoon, as he left, he tossed the car keys to his second vehicle to Charlie and told us to take it out for a drive. Pretty amazing, we thought. They have never met us before and not only have they opened their home to us, now they’ve leant us their car. 
We asked Sharon if we could at least make dinner for them and while Pat would have to have leftovers much later, we 3 could have dinner together. She said that she’d enjoy someone else cooking for a change.
The past few weeks almost every seaside town has been boasting about the Tall Ships. We’ve either gotten there too early or too late to see them, but today there were 4 in the harbour. We drove there, taking extra special care; if you’re going to have a fender-bender, it’s best to do so in your own car. There were lots of people there exploring the decks of these tall sailboats. 
One, the “If and When” was built by General Paton who planned on sailing around the world with his wife if he made it through the war. Tragically he was killed in a car accident before he was able to realize that dream. 
Many people were swimming the canal. There is a lock system mid-swim and they had to wait for the water level to even out before their swims could be completed. 
We were recognized by the gent who we’d met at Tim’s. When he saw us he started waving madly. We thought he was waving at someone else. Who knows us here?
We made dinner for Sharon and ourselves and had a very good time chatting. Pat’s sister came by for tea. She explained the “Chase the Ace” gambling game that we’re seeing every where in Cape Breton. Soon after Charlie and I excused ourselves and went downstairs to bed.
It rained during the night. Hard too, apparently. We were oblivious to it, thanks to Pat and Sharon.
Wendingourway:Across Canada by Bike 2017 
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