SCENES FROM CAPE BRETON

By Alexa Cude

The mornings here start early. The house my grandfather built has large windows and the morning light filters in readily while sound moves easily throughout the house. The sounds of floors creaking, dogs stretching as they wake, a fresh fire being started and the kettle whistling, familiar sounds, warm sounds. Once one person is awake, everyone else is fast behind them.

Waking up, the day stretches out open and waiting. The days here are all the same yet different; the same in their unplanned nature, different in how they unfold. One day, the sighting of a beautiful doe on a walk through the woods on my family’s scenic property, the next driving aimlessly on winding back roads to wherever they lead us or watching our puppy brave the Atlantic Ocean in the dead of winter. And then there are days that are still and quiet, where it’s just us and the outdoors and everything is as it should always be.

Home beckons when my feet and fingers start getting too cold or the sun starts to get low in the sky. The night is much like the morning, unraveling with good food and company and always plenty of storytelling. Outside the stars luminous, staying out long after I fall asleep.

Inevitably, the day comes when the car has to be packed up. Days worth of books, magazines, sweaters and wool socks get piled into the trunk and the dogs are always as reluctant to leave as their people are. The three hour drive home is more like a drift and conversation circles around how we wish we could stay lost in the country for longer and how we’ll make our next escape.

_____

Alexa Cude is a photographer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. You can find more of her work on her website nxnphotography.com or on Instagram @seriouslyalexa