A beautiful day begs a bike ride. We headed for Martin’s Point, which sticks out into Mahone Bay between Oak Island and Indian Point.
Martin’s Point points towards the many Mahone Bay islands that we like to sail to and around.
Like many coastal areas, it has a mixture of century-old homesteads, decades-old bungalows, and some new, modern, expensive homes that the average Nova Scotian can not afford, often built by come-from-aways as a summer home and a place to retire.
People who move here by choice bring a lot to our communities – financial resources, income for local businesses, support for the arts, etc. There is often a conflict in values and lifestyle between them and the local population, however, who have a different sense of belonging to the place and a history that goes back generations.
The result can be tension between groups with different priorities, as we have seen in the Town of Mahone Bay over the issue of whether or not to “develop” the woods and soccer field near the old school which is now a community centre. I could go on.
Meanwhile, it was a sunny Saturday and we enjoyed the peaceful bike ride on Martin’s Point. Not a single car asked to share the road with us.