ON THE MAP, it’s just another dot by the sea.

On the ground, it’s just another unremarkable one-street village.

At its core, it has heart and soul and character and vitality to spare.

Socially and economically, it works.

This ain’t no quaint fishing village either, and there is no fish plant—and there is no mill, no factory and no call centre. There’s no idyllic sandy beach, no provincial or federal park, no famous landmarks or iconic tourist traps—not even a lighthouse, no resorts (former Timmy’s mogul Ron Joyce’s ultra high-end golf destination Fox Harb’r, complete with its own jet-capable airstrip, is just down the road—but really, it’s mainly a self-contained operation.)

WE HAVE A fun piece inside this issue on water witching, or divining. It’s a bit of a hoot, really. But at the same time, it raises a question related to folklore and customs and the activities associated with traditional rural life here.

How long, for instance, may we expect there to be people around who can find an underground seam of water using a forked willow twig or some such device? 

January 2013: As we unloaded suitcases from our rent-a-car into yet another

overnight stop in a stunning location on the other side of the planet, we hailed a

“good morning” to an elderly gentleman outside the next cottage.

“Where ya from?” he countered.

“Canada,” we said. “You?”

“New Yak,” he responded in a familiar twang. “What part of Canada?”

“East Coast,” we said. “We’re neighbours.”

IT’S A PRETTY safe bet these days that we have several times more discarded coffee cups than people. Litter is an unintended consequence of our increasingly convenience-oriented, disposable culture. 

Discarded cigarette butts constitute a surprisingly large proportion of litter, and about 20 per cent of them end up in rivers, lakes, streams and oceans. The toxins filtered out of the tobacco are then shared with fish and other marine organisms.  

Any fruit or vegetable that is grown locally tastes delicious, but perhaps the most popular and most amazingly delicious “just picked” is being harvested now in orchards around the region: Apples! Our country has been growing apples since European colonists brought them over in the 17th century. Today, Nova Scotia produces about 10 % of the commercial apple crop in Canada with some 1800 hectares under production, while New Brunswick produces about 1% on about 225 hectares. (Statistics Canada for 2010). This of course does not count the many apple trees growing in backyard plantings by homeowners wanting to grow their own apples.

Get out the salt, pepper, and butter! Local sweet corn is available throughout much of Atlantic Canada now. Unlike its relative field corn, (grown for livestock feed or for cooking oil or ethanol), sweet corn, as the name suggests, is much higher in sugar than other varieties, making it a desirable food for our tables.

What if the Pinta Island Galapagos giant tortoise and the Yangtze giant softshell turtle — each currently estimated to have a population of one — go the way of the dodo? Does this mean that they couldn’t cut it in an evolutionary sense; that they were unfit, and therefore extinction is somehow acceptable?

Last month, PEI beef lovers were in hamburger heaven as restaurants competed to create the ultimate burger made with 100 per cent PEI beef. An extensive marketing campaign called “PEI Burger Love” encouraged Islanders to get out and taste burgers from 22 restaurants. Each person who sampled a burger was then asked to “rate their love” online. The burger with the highest “love” rating won the crown.

We probably don’t need to tell you that Saltscapes magazine has some talented contributors. Writer Jack MacAndrew won gold at last weekend’s Atlantic Journalism Awards (held in Fredericton) in the category Best Magazine Profile for his story on Catherine MacLellan (Mar/Apr, 2011); Sara Jewell took home silver in the category Best Magazine Article for her story “Circle of Life” (Sept/Oct, 2011). Photographer John Sylvester won an award in the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) Awards, also held in Fredericton last weekend, in the category Best Evocation of a Place Photo for his image that opened the story “Torngat Safari,” Nov/Dec 2010. And raise a glass to our Drinks columnist, Natalie MacLean, who is a finalist in the National Magazine Awards’ How-To category for her story “Grapes of Laugh,” May/June, 2011 Good Taste. Go, team!

Experience is the best teacher when it comes to photography. Whether you have been taking pictures for years or you just bought a new camera and don't have a clue how to use it, joining a photography club is a wise move. I joined the Sackville, NS, photography club to help me feel more at ease taking photos, to learn more about my new Canon G12 camera and to share my passion with like-minded people.