Briar Island's End

 

                                  Briar Island's End, Grand Passage Lighthouse, oil on masonite, 16" x 20", Steven Rhude


The overtone of the title implies the setting of the sun on a crystal like day. Briar Island is two ferry's in, or if you happen to be one of the two hundred or so residents that live there, two ferry's out. When my son and I arrived at the Briar Island Lodge to check in for the night, it was completely empty. No staff, no restaurant chef, no one to show us to our room. A call to the manager, who wasn't on the island, connected me with a local resident who gave us a room key and said "enjoy the lodge - it's all yours!"

Later that evening, a dirt road led us to the north tip of the island where the Grand passage Lighthouse is located. There's also the Westport Search and Rescue Station's presence to remind one of the perils of the sea. I've always been fascinated with the concurrent image of the sun caressing a lighthouse; the idea of two lights interacting - one of man made material, the other a fiery ball of heat. I always touch a lighthouse when I explore one, or bring back a particle of paint from it. It's a superstition of mine that I suppose brings me some comfort, like Locard's principle of exchange I guess, a cross - transfer of physical evidence to prove to myself I was there... that ever so briefly two entities were in contact.


Steven Rhude, Wolfville, NS           

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