ELEPHANT ROCK

Here's a blast from a summertime past!

The erosion that is gradually making our Island smaller isn't new. I live it every day! But it sure is creative. A lot of natural erosion occurs when the tides are high and smashing up against the cliffs, but winter plays a part and so does rain and run off. Heavy snow has to melt in the spring, and it takes the clay and sods with it, creating erosion from the top. It literally just slides right off and the water washes it away. The effect of wind is horrific too. It all works together to create our unique and natural shoreline formations.

I'm thinking I took these photos about 1997 or so. Jamie and I always looked forward to taking the kids on little trips every summer. There was always lots to see and do in our own backyard. Sometimes Moncton, or other sites in New Brunswick. Sometimes Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. But we loved roaming PEI, and when our kids were young, Jamie always had lots of Holidays and free weekends.

When word got out about the crazy rock formations on the West end of the Island and they started becoming part of Tourism, we packed up our little crew one weekend, filled a cooler and took off for Norway.

Prince Edward Island, that is. Yep, for those who don't know, we have a Norway, a Toronto, and an Alaska on PEI. Fun facts learned from my many years in Tourism.

With summer 2023 on the way and the promise of those warm, soft days, it brings back a flood of memories. And this is a wonderful one. With our windows open more now, and the constant mating call of the lawn mowers in all directions, it either puts me down for a nap, or writing a new Blog.

Well lucky for you, a new Blog is in order. Come along with me, won't you? And share your memories too!

Finding this place waaaaaaay off the beaten path was the first fun part. And I don't remember what we were driving at the time, but I do remember walking through this field of tall grass and wild flowers to find that not only was there a Norway on PEI, there was an elephant too! We walked around to see it from all angles. It was complete, right down to the hair on the elephant's back. A wonder of nature and fun to see. I took pictures, and of course, by then, the kids were restless and we needed a lunch.

The big Coleman cooler was packed with egg salad sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, cookies, fruit, maybe some chips, and a big Thermos full of ice cold lemonade. Dragging bottled water hadn't become a thing yet, I guess we just drank water if we were thirsty. It was a feast for weary travellers. (Well, one anyway, I was always the first one to fall asleep on the way home.......)

I loved packing that lunch. Something different every time! And surprises too, we all loved chocolate. We sat in the grass on an old homemade patchwork quilt and had our picnic right there, in that field of tall grass and wildflowers. Probably an unheard of freedom today, but it's always been easier to ask forgiveness that seek permission.

We talked about the Elephant and how accurate it was, and a couple of years later when the "trunk" broke away, well, you can't really call it an elepant if the trunk is missing, can you? That formation just crumbled away, none too slowly, and no doubt was replaced by another wonder of nature further down the coast. Even on an Island as small as we are there are places you can't get to or see from above, so we don't have to give up all the secrets do we?

But Tourism is king, so anything goes as far as attracting come-from-aways, even rocks that seem to balance themselves in an impossible position. The Tower of Pisa we are not.

Teacup Rock has also come and gone, but there'll be lots more surprises around the bend in Thunder Cove, that's the way erosion is. One year it forms a landmark, the next year it takes it away. Ten years ago there was a big finger of land pointing out into the ocean at East Point, that we watched slowly shift and change, until this past winter it broke through right in half, and trust me, no one will ever have to worry about some tourist standing on it's tip for a photo op. It's done and gone! Right in front of my house constant erosion has formed and re-formed a profile in the cliff, for many years. It went from looking for all the world like an old man, to a gorilla, to the head of a lion, Donald Trump was next, and now it looks like an old man again. With eyelids, lips and all.

The best time to take a little road trip and make some wonderful memories is RIGHT NOW! Do it! All our kids have fond memories of our trips, some more than others, as obviously the older kids will have different recollections than the younger.

Can't afford it? Well, honestly if we were waiting til we could afford things, I probably wouldn't be married. Or have kids. Or have built a new home. Or bought a new car. We did it anyway, with no regrets.

I wonder what's on the agenda this year?