Pictou Harbour from ‘Sweet Landing’

I loved the place.

All this time later, I still think of the fond memories of “the Landing.”

That’s all you have to say – “the Landing” – and pleasant thoughts begin to flow.

Every year, from late June until Labour Day, we were known as “the cottagers” or “the townees” to the folks who resided there year-round.

Just mention the Landing and I’m off on another journey down memory lane.

The other day, I received a reminder that the Nova Scotia Harbour Swims, a fundraiser for the United Way, is returning this year.

Pictou Harbour is again one of the chosen locations for the event. I love the theme: “Just pledge and plunge.”

The local event isn’t until September, but it’s never too soon to sign up and help raise funding for a very valuable organization. The swim – about a kilometre in length – goes from the Pictou waterfront to the Landing side of the harbour.

I hardly read the email’s content before my thoughts were back down the Landing Road to the cottage.

Forgive me, I reminisce easily.

Since my earliest summers at the cottage (when I wasn’t much bigger than a toddler) I admired and loved the sights and activities of Pictou Harbour from the Landing side.

Our cottage was right at the point where the harbour waters meet Moodie Cove. The area in the dirt road is known as Rustico.

When I was four, five and six years old, the Canadian Navy was using the harbour extensively during the Second World War. It was common to see destroyers, submarine chasers and minesweepers coming and going.

A little kid got excited the moment a warship sailed into the harbour past the lighthouse. There I was, running to the bank and yelling loudly, “Anchor here.” Often the ships anchored in full view of our verandah. I was so sure it was because of my shouts.

But the cottage was more than wartime.

We spent our summers there through my school and university years, through the 10 years I worked for The Chronicle Herald locally.

Sadly, good times must end.

My sister married and moved to other parts of Nova Scotia, while my own career took me to Halifax-Dartmouth 53 years ago. So the cottage was eventually sold.

The memories, however, never faded.

I’ve never forgotten where we played croquet, where the nearby tennis court was, where we anchored our motor boats and outboard motors, where we swam at the lighthouse beach, where we walked through the woods to George MacKay’s store on the Lower Road to get ice cream cones.

I’ve never forgotten the coal pier where schooners and ships took on coal, the lumber wharf where ships delivered and took on products, where the ferry Ashagola left for the waterfront over in Pictou.

I’ve never forgotten about sitting on the verandah and, using binoculars, watching golfers playing on the course across the water. I’ve never forgotten going to “well hill” to fill our large glass bottles with fresh drinking water. I’ve never forgotten Cammie MacKay’s store further along the Lower Road where lobster was forever available.

I’ve never forgotten watching lighthouse keeper Harry MacFarlane rowing his wooden dory to the light, or arriving on the shore below the cottage with a carton of fresh lobster that cost $2 a dozen, or the sailboats coming and going in the harbour.

Each summer, we enjoyed every hour, every minute “at the cottage.” It was my mother’s favourite place.

Then, too soon, the cottage was sold.

The good times, though, are recalled anytime I’ve visited the Landing, anytime I’ve talked about “the shore” with others.

And that’s why the United Way announcement brings back the past.

The message emphasized that fearless fundraising swimmers will plunge into harbour where, “one stroke at a time, they will engage in harbour hopping United Way Style.”

Events like that always bring out people willing to help, and bring smiles to the participants. There’s no emphasis on beating others in the water, no major attention to the fastest competitors. The objective is, indeed, fundraising.

Meantime, at home in Dartmouth, I’m reminded of the Landing – what I always call “God’s country.”

I never lose sight of the lighthouse standing proudly at the entrance to the harbour.

Among my souvenirs is a Fred MacLeod painting, the one showing the lighthouse from the lawn of the cottage. I admire it daily on the wall above my bedroom bureau.

Meantime, two long-time friends from high school days, Marcia (Campbell) Davey and Fergie MacKay, have made sure the good times never fade.

Both have authored books focused on, you betcha, the Landing – where they both grew up.

Fergie’s, A History of Pictou Landing, was published in 2014, with a second printing the following year. Marcia’s – her eighth book – carries a title I love, Sweet Landing. It came off the press in 2017.

Prior to their university years (they both became teachers) they took advantage of their surroundings.

Marcia, who lived on the Lower Road just up behind George MacKay’s store, and her cousin Pat Campbell knew the harbour well.

Marcia’s story: “We used to swim across to Pictou and then, yes, we swam back, too. There was no other way to get home.”

Fergie’s home was on the Upper Road. He couldn’t find competitive sports activities, “so I delivered newspapers around the Landing, running my route all the way, six times a week.” No wonder he started running marathons, including the one in Boston three times.

All these years later, Marcia and Fergie still love to think about “Sweet Landing.”

Though a former “cottager,” I feel the same way.