As I write this, there is a heavy snowfall happening with 8 inches already on the ground. It's a soft snowfall that makes me feel like I am in a snowglobe. In our old Meister Farm House, the furnace is full of wood I made last year and it's keeping the two of us and the dogs warm. Before supper, I took a walk to the barn and fed the cattle in the cool, dry barn that, since renovations, is like a fancy hotel for cattle. On the walk back from the barn I looked over a good portion of the community I live in from the top of the hill here. It was during this moment I had an amazing feeling of connection to the land, people, and history of this community.
If you haven't been to New Ross, it's about an hour from Halifax and 30 minutes from Bridgewater and Kentville, in the interior of Nova Scotia. Settled in 1816, this small community is in the middle of nowhere but the center of everything. We have all we need to survive in town with a grocery store, gas station, home hardware, two restaurants, post office, and a bank to name a few things. We have multiple forestry stores that speak to the industries here as well as the hard-working people who maintain those industries.
As you can see from the aerial picture (credit to Matthew Gates), it's a small town, removed from the hustle and bustle of the big city life we left behind 10 years ago. I grew up here, along with 6 other generations before me. Christina grew up about 15 minutes away so the lifestyle here is not far off from what she is used to. Growing up here was fun but I just wanted to move away and live in a city but as time went on in that life, it became clear that it wasn't the right place even though we loved Calgary.
As soon as moving back to New Ross, I was reminded how supportive everyone was with no shortage of people asking to help us and lots of great community activities to engage in.
Looking at this community in 2021, it's clear this is truly a haven from the crazy world we live in. It's not hard to have lots to do every day on the farm but still go 14 days in quarantine by accident because of how removed you can be from the world. The farm/forest operation here has a to-do list that could last through 10 lockdowns and provides us our own food and heat, the new fiber-op internet allows us to work our office jobs remotely and also manage our side business online and the ability to always be in nature has meant we social distance before social distancing was a thing.
If you are looking for an oasis from the city? Do you want a place where the rest of the world seems like a world away? You could be as lucky as we are and have a place like New Ross to call home.
