On the road with Rubberneck Ruby...

Fortunately, the coach station guy, otherwise known as Jim, took pity on me and gave me a lift out to Pascal's place. His place was a white-painted, weather boarded cottage, nestled in the pines, on the edge of town. It was lovely, but apart from the sound of a dog yapping when we knocked on the door, there was no sign of life. Jim took pity on me once more, drove me round to his mother's house and asked her to give me a bed for the night; so here I am.

Susanna is a bright, motherly woman who has revived my spirits with her generous smile and leftover lobster salad and apple pie. She works for the Antigonish tourist office and has been keen to share her knowledge of all things Antigonish. Apparently, I've arrived just in time to see the hotly-contested Highland Games. Susanna is learning the bagpipes so that she can compete in the piping competition.

She played to me as I ate my apple pie. As the saying goes, every silver lining has a cloud.

After I had eaten we decided to have a quick game of On The Road - North America. It was going well until Susanna realised the picture cards featuring the six most significant North Americans didn't feature any Canadians. She made a spirited case that Alexander Graham Bell should have been the first choice for the cards because not only did his invention of the telephone make him the father of the age of mass communications, but he also spent the latter part of his life as a Nova Scotian. I'm not sure about her logic but, I do know that until the Nova Scotian in my life learns to answer his bloody telephone, my vote's with Walt Disney.

Where the hell are you, Pascal?