I spent my last full day in Cape Breton doing some writing on the beach in Iona and then taking my last step dancing lesson at the Christmas Island fire hall.
Actually, I learned some fantastic new strathspeys and reels, which I hope I can remember, that went well past the beginner level. Very challenging.
Volunteers at the Féis An Eilein Gaelic festival in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (Canada).
This geared me up for the closing night of the Féis An Eilein festival’s family square dance. I had learned the Glencoe sets the other night but the Christmas Island sets were completely different.
There seemed to be fewer people who knew what they were doing here, though, so it took a few tunes to figure ourselves out. We did finally do so and I was glad to have another Inverness County set under my belt.
Burton was my main partner for the night: you couldn’t get either of us off the dance floor! Most surprisingly to me, I enjoyed waltzing the best, swirling around the room, feeling like I should be wearing a ball gown. Oh how I love the waltz!
As 1:00 am rolled around, the usual end to the square dances, talk of a beach party made its way through the hall. I couldn’t resist joining in.
After many wrong turns down unmarked trails, a few of us arrived before the bigger crowd got there. A walk along the beach introduced me to one last special quality of Cape Breton: the phosphorescent water of Bras d’Or Lake. Every grain of sand I threw into the water lit up and glowed. On a dark evening with only the stars as light, it was pure magic.
What I Liked:
- I loved going to the Féis An Eilein festival in Christmas Island. Listening to the ancient Gaelic language, meeting such wonderful people and being able to dance all night is my idea of a good time.
- I had never heard of phosphorescent water before, so seeing it was pretty astonishing.
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