Vote for the Bay of Fundy. I can’t seem to go anywhere on the Internet these days without being told to go out and vote.
I have already. Several times actually. Once for each email address and believe you me I have a few.
But I wasn’t and still am not sure why.
I support the Bay of Fundy. No question. I grew up in sight of its tidal might in Windsor. My grandfather Parsons used to calculate the tide tables that told tourists when to expect the tidal bore at the Windsor tourist bureau – back before the Avon River silted in.
My grandmother’s family home was in Burntcoat, in sight of Burntcoat Head, the precise location of the world’s highest tides.
Our favourite beach was near Hantsport, where the water was warm from running in over the mudflats and the water was so dense we could float like a balloon.
Now as a resident of Digby, I can’t imagine a day without the tides. Out my office window I have a different view everyday, every hour, every minute.
And when I have had enough of town, I head for the shore. To walk and wonder. To be in that space between the waves and the woods. To revel in the energy that exists out there.
When you’ve got 200 billion liters of water sloshing back and forth, you’ve some serious vibe going on.
Not to mention the best lobsters in the world, fantastic whale watching, sunrises from Digby over the Annapolis Basin and sunsets on St. Mary’s Bay from the dykes on the Lower Cross Road.
And that’s just our ends of things. I have loved exploring Blomidon and Cape Spilt, Cape Chignecto, Cape d’Or and Five Islands. Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. Halls Harbour.
I love the Bay of Fundy. But I don’t why I’m voting for it.
I did some checking and it seems the founder of this New7wonders campaign, Bernard Weber, wanted us to create a new list of seven wonders, as the old list, dating back 2,200 years was a bit out of date. Of the seven wonders of the ancient world, only the Pyramids of Giza are still standing.
It seems people come up with these kinds of lists all the time – turns out seven is a perfect number for remembering. Does anyone remember the new seven man-made wonders of the world? Macchu Picchu, Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal, the Colosseum… keep going… Petra in Jordan and… Christ Redeemer in Brazil and Chichen Itza in Mexico. Oh and the Pyramids were made an honourary member.
Weber thinks voting for the seven wonders will help encourage people to vote in general, to take part in their democracies. He thinks if we get excited about something, like the Bay of Fundy, we’ll be more likely to protect it. And he believes a bunch of philosophical stuff I can’t quite grasp.
But I read enough fine print to know there is no grand prize, no award; just bragging rights.
The way I see it, if bragging rights are all we can win, we’ve already won. Joseph Howe said back in the later 1800s.
“Boys, brag of your country. For when I am abroad I brag of everything that Nova Scotia is, has, or can produce; and when they beat me in everything else, I turn around on them and say, ‘How high does your tide rise?’”
Still I’m glad I voted. And I hope you will too. It’s real easy.
Just go to votemyfundy.com and have at least one email address ready. It’s free, quick and painless to register your vote.
You can also text the word FUNDY to 77077 – but that costs 25 cents on your next phone bill. The bright side is, you can vote as often as you like; every vote costs 25 cents.
Voting ends on Friday, so take a second and vote now.
Or not. Our tides are always going to be the biggest.
