We are no doubt more conscious of the passing of time as we grow older, but it is still amazing to realise that another Advent season has arrived, and another year in Nova Scotia is passing. For those of us who: (a) run UNIX systems, which do not have any Y2K problems, and (b) realise that both the 20th Century and the second millenium will end on December 31, 2000, and not in a few weeks time, the end of 1999 is not more remarkable than any other recent year end. Still, the Advent and Christmas seasons are a time when I take stock of life, and am more conscious of the milestones that have passed and the dwindling number of milestones still to come.

There have been quite a few milestones this year, both large and small. For those in the immediate family, the biggest milestone has to be the wedding of Athanasia Tsavalas and Michael Tobias Tinker, on November 16, 1999. Regrettably, neither the Tinker nor Tsavalas family were able to attend this event, which had to take place earlier than previously planned, owing to the fact that Tobias and Athanasia will be going to Munich to work, and the arcane EEC rules about foreign workers required it. Not much less significant is the move to Munich! Tobias is joining the circus - actually, the Cirque du Soleil troupe in Munich. This is a wonderful opportunity, and we are bursting with pride and happiness. Even though the wedding had to be low key, everyone may be assured that there will be a major gathering, feast and celebration on the grounds of Granville Manor - perhaps in 2001, when the new millenium is really established and the neighbours have begun to forget the last wedding here. Those who missed that event will have a second chance to experience a Granville wedding, this time with a distinct Greek flavour added.

A lesser milestone was our trip to Victoria BC and California to visit the west coast branch of the family. It was a wonderful trip, and the scenery was spectacular. There is no doubt that Easterners like us find the West Coast to be pretty exotic, even though years ago we lived in the Pacific Northwest. But central California is exotic by any standards. Tim and Julie live on the shore of Monterey Bay, and I would recommend that anyone with an interest in the environment, ecology, sea life,and especially birds, go there as soon as possible! Monterey Bay is richer in life forms than any other body of water in the world, and most of those living species are spectacularly accessible to visitors on the shore. While there, I added 14 new species to my bird life list, and the sheer numbers of many of those species were almost overwhelming.

One afternoon we stood on the shore at Elkhorn Slough and witnessed a flock of around a million Sooty Shearwaters (an estimate later confirmed by an expert spotter who had been monitoring the Bay from the air that day) - a solid river of birds a half-mile wide and two or three hundred feet in height, stretching for over 15 miles! (Harris' "Sea Birds of the World" remarks on this spectacular annual gathering.) All this while perhaps 100,000 Heerman's, California and Western Gulls, tens of thousands of Forster's Terns, several thousand Brown Pelicans and numerous other shorebirds wheeled about, dazzling the eye and mind. A short list of wildlife seen on our trip follows:

Mammals

Birds (Lifers)

Birds (Non-Lifers)

The real highlight of the visit was, naturally, the Sea Otters, which thanks to Julie and Tim's connections with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we were able to observe quite closely - but even for the casual visitor, they are hard to miss, and full of interest and appeal.

For a good overview of the birds, mammals and sea-life of Monterey Bay as well as the quite fantastic Monterey Bay Aquarium, be sure to check out the website <http://www.mbayaq.org> .

Another of this year's milestones was the long awaited arrival of our brand new harpsichord, which was finally delivered last weekend. We purchased it as a kit two years ago, and it was completed by Anthony Murphy of Dartmouth NS. It is, in a word, magnificent - the culmination of a lifetime dream for Sheila. The purity and clarity of the notes, and the power of the instrument, are wonderful. I am not a keyboard player (just a lowly chorister), and have never had the chance to closely examine an instrument like this, so I marvel at the complex physics embodied in it, at Tony's meticulous craftmanship, at the beauty of its shape, at the glow of natural wood and gleaming choirs of strings. Somehow a piano (probably made in a factory, by robots :-) doesn't have the same intimate presence. It's interesting to note that we have fostered the birth of an instrument which will be giving pleasure and inspiration to people not yet born, a hundred years after we are all gone to grass. That's sort of humbling. In the meantime, it will be bringing joy not only to us, but to the wider community in Annapolis Royal, as we are able to share in the active musical life here.

We will eventually get a photo of this instrument scanned and distributed by E-mail, but in the meantime you can see what our instrument looks like on the website <http://www.zhi.net/kits/german1.html> . Our instrument is painted green, but is otherwise the same as the one shown on this web page.

You can learn lots more about this wonderful family of instruments, by exploring the rest of the website of the Zuckerman Harpsichord company, <http://www.zhi.net>, as well as other sites you may find at the "Claviers Baroques" website, <http://www.interlog.com/~hpschd>.

Winter has finally arrived, and we have just survived the first Nor'Easter of the season. These truly vicious cyclonic storms breed off Cape Hatteras and travel up the Gulf Stream, gathering energy, and passing to the south of us, bring blizzard conditions and storm force (Force 10 or more) winds - not as severe as a tropical hurricane, but as severe as I hope to see, thanks! I live in constant anxiety for 36 hours while they blow by. Literally, the house shakes in the gusts and picture frames rattle on the walls - I had to nail a prop to the barn door to keep it from being blown off the building. There was surprisingly little damage on the property, except a large part of our big Chestnut tree broke off and fell onto the telephone wires. It was nerve-wracking watching a branch that probably weighs close to a ton swinging wildly in the wind, wondering whether it would break the cable first, or pull over the pole. But it didn't do either, and eventually the cable crew arrived and lifted it down to the ground with a crane. We are going to chainsaw it up into firewood this weekend. These storms bring mild temperatures, and precipitation soon changes from snow to rain where we are, so today all the snow is melted down in the valley. But up above us on the mountain, the snow lies in the forest, and I see cloud shadows sweep along through the tree trunks.

As usual, the Christmas season in Annapolis Royal brings a round of special events and activities, and usually I bore everyone with my accounts of these. This year, however, the town has a rather nifty website where you can read all about our old-fashioned Christmas and our very special village. It can be found at <http://www.annapolisroyal.com>.

I hope this hypertext edition of The Granville Times will be interesting and useful to those who have Internet access, while at the same time being readable to those who prefer the more traditional means of reading the news. Let me know what you think.

A very happy Christmas to all,

David

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 David O. Tinker                    |   E-Mail address:
 4311 Granville Road, Box 2030A,    |         dtinker@tartannet.ns.ca
 RR 2, Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia |   Alternate E-Mail address:
 B0S 1K0                            |         dtinker@blunile.guild.org
                                    |   Voice: (902) 532-2916
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 ***  Plan now to visit the "Port Royal 400" Celebrations in 2005 ! ***
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-- Dave Barry, "Postpetroleum Guzzler"