PEI and ME

                                                       

The prospect of finding a job was what first prompted
me to move to Prince Edward Island.Arriving on the island on Sept 28th,1997, the sky was bright and beautiful. As the ferry inched closer to land I was amazed at the cascade of greenery I saw outlined by red sand. The ride from the Wood Island ferry to Montague was a very quiet one for me as I drowned out everything around me and took in the wonderful sightsof things I had never thought I'd see in person. I will never forget the sight of cows and crops of many kinds. The rolls of hay bales wrapped in white looking to me like big cigarettes, and of course the unforgettable smells of manure as we passed through farmlands.                                                                

About twenty minutes into the drive to Montague I realized how hot it was. 33 degrees and counting, I had never before experienced such blistering hot weather. By now our friend's car was causing trouble so we had to make a pit stop at Ellsworth's junkyard.I felt like a cat with worms, getting in and out of the car, trying to get out of the heat and find a comfortable spot to put myself. No luck!

Upon leaving the junkyard we opted to find someplace to eat. Thankfully our friend had been here before and led us to a Chinese restaurant called The Dynasty.That was the first time I actually enjoyed eating Chinese food and also found the best eggroll that I think was ever made. I still haven't found one to beat it. After leaving the restaurant with our bellies full, we were off to find a place to live. We searched news papers and ads for quite a while before realizing we should have had our living arrangements figured out before we'd come. Young and inexperienced, we searched until we found someone who rented. Luckily for us he had a mini-home available in a spot called Cardross just outside of Cardigan.
  

             

Well come to find out that this mini-home was attached to a  dirt road that when it got wet, we wished we hadn't moved in. My first experience with PEI red mud was one I'll never forget. My daughter age five, trying to walk from the car to the front door. Trying to keep her rubber boots on at the same time. It was all too funny. The mud was so thick that it stole her boot and she got scared and started to cry.


Settling in took us a few days and on the following Monday, I called the Cardigan school in hopes to get my daughter setup for kindergarten. Regretfully at that time kindergarten wasn't part of the Prince Edward Island school system. I didn't yet have a job and so decided to take the first year to home school her. The next year after that at the start of grade one my daughter started going to the Cardigan school and  wasn't long making friends.

In June of 1998, I applied and attained a job at the Wendy's restaurant in Montague. We didn't have a car so for the first couple of weeks of job training, I hitchhiked to work. I know that God had his eye on me because I was always lucky enough to get the same nice old man come along and drive me to work. Shortly after that we moved to Montague. Thus enabling me to walk to Wendy's. Then in Sept of 2000, I was hired at Wendall Graham's Lobster Factory (now closed).

That Summer was a very unforgettable one. I found a church and met lots of new people. Then in 2002 I was baptized into the Southern Baptist church as a new believer.

I often look back over the last 13 years to find that I am still captivated by the cascade of green that comes with summer in PEI. I have gotten quite use to the red mud (I just moved to a place with more pavement). Now that my children are all almost grown up, I am looking forward to becoming more involved with the community around me and I can truly say that if I had the time back, I'd surely do it all over again.