Little Things

It's not always the big, huge things, or events, or sights, that make a trip special, sometimes it's just little things.  I've been paying attention to some of them, and thought I would share a few.

First off is Canada's gift to the world: free admission to all its National Parks, Historic and Interpretive Centers, and other national places in honor of Canada's 150^th birthday.  I found out about it as I was researching this trip, and requested a pass that seemed to be available to anyone who wanted one – whether you were Canadian or not. It came in the mail, and has been living on my rear view mirror.  I have seen lots of other cars with these passes on the mirror, and they don't even ask for it when you get to a park or interpretive center – they just say welcome!  No entrance fees are charged for any of these places (although you still have to pay for camping, but that's not very expensive).

Along the roads where electrical wires are strung, the utility poles often have cages full of rocks around their bases.  I saw this when I was in Alaska too, and have wondered about it. There are many more of them here.  I don't think they would be sufficient to keep the poles upright; they seem too small for that. Although I googled the rock cages, I didn't find any answers, and the next time I see a ranger or other person who might be able to answer the question I'll ask.  Meanwhile, if anyone knows, please enlighten me!

On the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland I saw lots and lots of wood piles along the road – usually pieces cut in equal-sized lengths and neatly stacked. There were no houses nearby, and no apparent sawmills or any other business, so my curiosity was piqued. I asked a ranger at L'Anse aux Meadows and her response was really interesting.  She said that anyone could get a permit to cut up to 8 cords of wood (I think per year, but I'm not sure). The people go into the forest, cut the wood, then stack it in these huge piles along the road. It is mutually agreed that nobody touches your wood, and you don't touch theirs.  The wood stays there a year or two until it is dry, then is used for supplemental heating in the homes. Most people have either oil or electric heat as their primary source. They use the roadside because it is convenient.

This one I don't have a photo of, because there were never any pulloffs, or even driveways where I could safely pull over to take a picture.  These are the little garden plots alongside the road, not near any houses, just out there alongside the road. It seems that much of the soil on the Northern Peninsula is not very good, so folks dig garden patches where they find a section of good soil along the road. They are fenced off with rope, or something like crime scene tape, or plastic snow type fencing, or even wooden fences.  Sometimes you'll see 3 or 4 of these gardens in a row, then nothing for a long time. I saw potatoes and cabbages growing that I could identify, and lots of other things too. Again, that mutual respect for each others' gardens is evident.

This last one had me puzzled for a long time. At the end of almost everyone's driveway were these containers that look like lobster traps, or barrels, or something similar. They are occasionally painted a bright color, although more often just that lovely weathered gray that you see at the seashore. I couldn't imagine what they were for, until I was driving through a small village fairly early in the morning and I saw people walking out to the end of their driveways with plastic bags of garbage!  That's what they are, garbage cans! I'm not sure how they get emptied; I never saw a garbage truck. But who knows, I still have some time here in Newfoundland, maybe I'll find out about that too!