(Originally published Friday, June 11, 2021)

I went to the beach last night to shoot the Milky Way. It was my first attempt – the first new moon since I finished my quarantine here in Fortune, and the sky was perfect – dark and clear.

Last night was step 1 – shooting the sky with a tracker (a mount that matches the movement of the night sky with the rotation of the earth). I’ll probably go back soon, during Blue Hour, and shoot the foreground, and then I’ll composite the images together.

It took me a while to figure out how to set up the tracker, and to get the camera settings right and everything framed just so, and every few minutes standing there at the water’s edge the waves would lap over my boots and I would jump back, knock the tripod, and have to start again.

But the night was cold, clear and lovely, and the longer it took, the more the day’s worries drained out of me and the more confident I became – and soon enough I could see the first shots in my viewfinder, and I thought I might well be on the right track.

These shots are all long exposures – 4 to 5 minutes – so there is lots of standing around time, and lots of time to just watch the sky. I was working with a red headlight so my eyes eventually became very night-adjusted and gradually I could see the night sky as I have rarely seen it before.

And just then – on my third or fourth exposure – a shooting star blazed across the sky – right where I had been looking! – and burned its smoky trail down, coming from high above the northeastern sky, cutting right across the heart of the galactic centre of the Milky Way, and ending over and behind Abell’s Cape. I gasped – I’m pretty sure I used extremely colourful language – and then I thought of Michael.

They buried Michael today. It was a lovely service – warm and loving, full of affection for this kind and sweet man. Michaela, his daughter, spoke at the end, and told the story of how they had been separated but then finally brought together again, here in Fortune. There was so much about Michael that I didn’t know but I was grateful to have this chance to sit and listen and hear about his dedication to Michaela, to Nancy, to his church, and to this community.

A few years ago, we had a party here and Michael brought his guitar. Toward the end of the evening we set a chair for him and he started playing. He had a lovely deep, warm and rosy voice – like warm caramel – and Celtic music came naturally to it. Toward the end – maybe it was his last song, I can’t remember – he played Farewell to Nova Scotia. But he played it as a dirge – slow, solemn and reflective – even mournful. I’ve heard that song hundreds of times, but never like that – and I was stunned. Floored. It was a completely different song, a completely different story, and – as I discovered later – entirely improvised in the moment. I still don’t really know how that happened, how he did it. Michael completely inhabited that music – I suppose it was just in him. Maybe that was how he was feeling that night, I don’t know. It was in him, and he revealed it to us that night.

I got to hear that song one more time. Last year, as I was celebrating my 60th birthday in Fortune, alone in quarantine and far away from everyone but with them on Zoom, of all things – Michael came to the door at Vicky’s invitation, and under the porch, tucked in from a downpour, he played it for me again. And then, with his Michael laugh and little shrug of his shoulders, he packed up and was off.

Through his long illness, Michael was on Facebook. And everything he shared resonated with me. I was seeing every day how this man’s politics, sense of humour and attitudes were so very much like mine. How he laughed at what I laughed at. How he was quite obviously a friend I had never really properly met (when we are here we are always either busy working or busy with family). So a couple of weeks ago I emailed him to say that I was finally out of quarantine and could we get together for a visit. Of course! Come by when you can! But again – there just wasn’t enough time. There is never enough time.

I will miss Michael. Fortune is different to me now. But I am really glad I went out last night to watch the stars.

I love this photo essay by our friend and PEI summer neighbour Louise Savoie about our summer lives.  These shots were taken at my cousin Paige’s summer place – I’ve written here about those days before. (yes, the hat is a tell – I am in there in a couple of places.)

2012 changed the way I think about food. Good fortune happened. Life happened, I suppose – but now, looking back, it all feels like serendipity. Our lives changed in ways both large and small. We met too many new friends to count, and old friends wove their lives even more deeply into our own. Our families prospered, everyone healthy, everyone well. We spent the summer in a timeless reverie with nieces and nephews. Marvelous children – golden children, all of them – growing so confident and strong. And over and over again we found ourselves looking at each other, wondering – how did we come to be so fortunate to be living all of *this*? Looking back now, I think 2012 was simply the longest dinner party we’ve ever held.

Before all of this fades from memory, I want to acknowledge the many people, places and experiences that fed us so marvellously this year, and who put so much of themselves into keeping our family and friends healthy and well. (Photos are in the gallery below, in no particular order, and are also on my Flickr page. Generally, they’re geotagged on Flickr, if you’re trying to find a location, and in some cases I flag a location below).

Best neighbourhood cocktail party

Best food truck food and best grilled cheese sandwich (The Big Orange Lunchbox)

Best meat on a stick

Best soggy burger

Best looking plate, best restaurant steak and favourite food photos (Farmhouse Tavern)

Best dim sum (Ding Tai Fung)

Best brunch (Farmhouse Tavern)

Best restaurant steak – this is a tough call, but Farmhouse Tavern’s côte de boeuf is remarkable. Beautifully aged, perfectly roasted, gorgeously plated. Alex Molitz does a great job with everything, but this dish is a knockout. I enter civilized, and leave in a near-feral state. The wine keeps things under control – barely.

Best steak at home (Queen St. Meat Market)

Best local lunch (The Junction Eatery)

Best food in a bar that is also a club that is also a restaurant (3030 Dundas West)

Best oysters (Colville Bay)

Best lamb roasted in a hole and best restaurant meal

Favourite food photos and favourite purveyors (Scott Dingwell)

Favourite food photos

Best street food (Ricas Carnitas)

Best guest food photographer (photo by Louise Savoie) and best meal (Vicky’s paella)

Most wine-soaked dinner party (John Bil’s home)

Most resentful fish sandwich

Most surprising burger (In N Out protein style)

Most gratuitously porky photo of breakfast sausages

Best dinner party (photo by Alexa Clark)

Best view from the meal

Best kid’s dessert

Best family-style home-cooked meal

The bo ssäm at Daisho was incredibly fun, and crazy delicious. It was also a perfect way to wish happy holidays to friends before we all went our separate ways. Excellent side-effect of the meal – friends then trying bo ssäm at home, and inviting us or bringing us leftovers.

Best bar food that is not really bar food even though you eat it in a bar (Hole in the Wall)

Best street food in our ‘hood (The Junction Flea)

Most romantic setting for a meal (Gonca Balik in Torba)

Best sno-cone

Best restaurant meal – how often can you sit next to an aqueduct and eat lamb roasted in a hole? How often do you find roasted lamb, on the bone, with the fat left on, salted and crunchy from the fire? I don’t think the lunch at Siirt Seref Büryan Kebap cost me more than $10 but I’ll never forget it. A shy waiter who spoke only broken English and knew Canada only for its snow guided me through the menu and somehow rustled seconds for me (the stuff on the bone does not last long). Afterward, I drank a fragrant yogurt beverage, and wandered through history, thinking about lamb fat.

Best meal (Vicky’s paella)

And finally, my food heroes of 2012. I could talk your ear off about how wonderful the Junction is as a place to live, but to really understand it you have to come and eat here. Incredibly talented and hard-working people have opened one superb restaurant / bar after another in the last few years. Nothing moves me more than the food art created by talented, hard-working people. We are so damned lucky to live here among them. The Beet Organic Café, 3030 Dundas West, Hole in the Wall, LAN Sushi, Indie Ale House, Farmhouse Tavern, Curry Twist – by the time you’ve finished reading this there will no doubt be more – it’s an embarrassingly long list. We love these folks and have had so much fun this year eating their food.

Whenever I go to Farmhouse Tavern (original post here) I leave feeling that I need to run naked across a moor and howl at a full moon. Everything about this place leaves me feeling primal, and deeply satisfied. I’m always dazzled by the vibe, the food and the service. Darcy MacDonell has done a superb job with the design and the team.

Last night we sat at bar seats overlooking Chef Alex Molitz and his crew in the kitchen. These are the best seats in town – highly recommended (more photos here).

One of my favourite experiences during our summers here on PEI are the Sunday Dinners hosted by my remarkable cousin Paige. They are marvelous, epic, and a wonderful opportunity to connect with family and friends. Video of the entry, and a photo gallery, below.

While our friend Michael O’Connor Clarke is in hospital we thought it would be fun to send him video best wishes – in recognition of the amazing videos he wrangled for us in hohoto. Create your own, and tag it #mocc on twitter so we can find it. Make sure to cc @michaelocc and his brother @eamonnclarke1. Here is mine:

Here’s one of the videos Michael wrangled for hohoto:

During the first week or so of any visit back to Fortune we always find ourselves at the Inn – last night was this year’s first visit. We know it well – it’s just across the Bay, and it hosted both of my sisters’ weddings (then Chef Michael Smith cooked for both).

We’ve been regular guests since it opened. Current Chef Domenic Serio is terrific, and a great neighbour. We’re at the beginning of PEI’s “Dine Around” festival – menus below.

3030 is a new opening in The Junction and already one of our favourite places to eat. It’s a tapas menu served at dinner, for now, as well as brunch Saturday and Sunday. The kitchen is putting out exceptionally intensely flavoured dishes – try the pigs tail torta and the duck leg. The venue has two bars with a variety of craft beers, a stage for nightly music, and a variety of board games for entertainment. 3030 has very attentive and relaxed service and a very casual vibe. Pics below (Flickr set here).

Update: Lots of great press for 3030 – sample here. I’ll periodically post new pics of our meals at 3030 here.

A few months ago I bought my first macro lens. Several months before that I had discovered and met The Lens Doctor and was regularly reading his eBay store updates, looking for something I could use with my Nikon (his is mostly a Canon shop). Finally, the opportunity came: a refurbished Tamron SP90mm macro, modified with Eddie’s fluid variable aperture for easier use with video. It’s a gorgeous piece of hardware, and produces lovely contrast and lush, dreamy bokeh. Here are some shots I’ve taken with it.

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With every day that passes the Junction becomes a more perfect place to live. We’ve now been here for almost 15 years and this has been a game of inches, certainly. But we’ve gone from near-zero to awesome in a very short time and the future looks very bright indeed. Much is responsible for this, and the terrific restaurants (these are just the only two I have good photos of) we now have in the neighbourhood are a big part of that. New restaurants, shops and other businesses are moving into the area on an almost daily basis, it seems.

And now we have the Junction Flea, a completely charming flea market held monthly this summer in the lot opposite The Junction Eatery. Today’s inaugural was part flea, part county fair. Collectibles, useables, food, and the exuberant embrace of community life that can only come from people who truly care. Organized by @smashca and Russett & Empire, who go straight to heaven for this one.

(The pics below are initially from the inaugural, but the photos will auto-update as I add new ones. The Flickr set is here.)

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