Walks by Big Alex's Pond by Henry Van Berkel

 Please welcome Henry Van Berkel author of Walks by Big Alex's Pond

Henry Van Berkel will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour

Walks by Big Alex's Pond

by Henry Van Berkel

 

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GENRE: Autobiography (Nature)

 

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BLURB:

 

Ten years after Big Alex MacDonald leaves his home in Ashdale, Nova Scotia, in the 1880's to find his fortune, he amasses fabulous wealth almost overnight in the Yukon and becomes known as "the King of the Klondike". At his death a decade later, there is not enough money in his estate to cover expenses. What happened to his immense riches? A century after Alex's departure from Nova Scotia, the author purchases "Big Alex's" family land and finds his own El Dorado amongst the riches of friends, neighbours and family, and the endless fascinations of nature. On hikes along the roads of the historic property he muses about the drama of his own past, and the life journeys of his family members and those of his neighbours.

 

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EXCERPT:

 

 

Hey! Bugles in the sky??? I only faintly heard the honking coming from the nort before looking up from my yard work to see a pair of geese, just above the tree-line, winging towards Big Alex’s Pond, a five-acre body of water nestled in the hills a half kilometre behind our house in Ashdale, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. My heart thrilled. They were Canada geese. Hundreds of metres away they began their descent towards the surface, gliding as smoothly as a 747 approaching the landing strip at an airport. They splashed into the rippling water just beyond the ice still hugging the outer perimeter of the pond. It was April 6, 2006.

 

I have always loved Canada geese. their noble bearing, their seemingly altruistic behaviour in flight (like taking turns at the lead on long migrations), their monogamy, the ganders’ dedicated, round-the-clock sentry duty during nesting season, the females’ patient, sleepless, wary weeks of incubating their eggs all had special appeal to me. I admire how the parents gave their young flight lessons in time to make the long trek south for the winter. Yes, I know they can be a nuisance to farmers when they congregate in large numbers to feed on crops. And I know they sully public parks and private estates with their droppings and alarm parents as they chase toddlers, and sometimes even adults, away from their space to protect their goslings. They can be intimidating. But I yearned to have a pair on our pond. On this beautiful spring day, it appeared my wish would come true.

 

I decided to leave my landscaping work to have a closer look. I walked quietly, furtively, along our main-woods road, which ran beside the pond through to the back of our woodlot to the Ohio community’s baseline, where it connected with my brother Adrian’s roads. Adrian had a woodlot and farm adjacent to ours, but his home was on the Ohio community side of Ashdale Heights. Adrian had plenty of animals and a pond full of Canada geese too, right by the house, so that he and Anne Marie and their children and visitors could watch the geese from their kitchen window. I was envious. But now maybe I’d have my very own geese. They would have young ones; I’d have a whole family. They’d all come back next year. In a few years, there’d be a whole flock!

 

The leaves were not yet on the trees. I didn’t want to scare the geese away, so I kept some distance. Through the bare alders, I saw the two of them in the middle of the pond bobbing gently on the undulating waves, heads high, checking out the environs. Would it be a suitable place to raise a family? I would not be the cause for alarm, so after a few minutes, I backed away and returned to our house. I told Elaine about the geese. She saw how excited I was.

 

For the remainder of the day, I worked on the lawn, raking rocks and spreading loam to get it ready for seeding. The day passed quickly. My mind was on the geese.

 

 

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Ten years after Big Alex MacDonald leaves his home in Ashdale, Nova Scotia, in the 1880's to find his fortune, he amasses fabulous wealth almost overnight in the Yukon and becomes known as "the King of the Klondike". At his death a decade later, there is not enough money in his estate to cover expenses. What happened to his immense riches? A century after Alex's departure from Nova Scotia, the author purchases "Big Alex's" family land and finds his own El Dorado amongst the riches of friends, neighbours and family, and the endless fascinations of nature. On hikes along the roads of the historic property he muses about the drama of his own past, and the life journeys of his family members and those of his neighbours.

 

 

Connect with Henry Van Berkel

 

FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/walksbybigalexspond/

 

GOODREADS https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50277404-walks-by-big-alex-s-pond 

 

 

Get a copy of Walk by Big Alex's Pond          

 

AMAZON.COM https://amazon.com/dp/0228816947 

 

AMAZON.CA https://amazon.ca/dp/0228816947 

 

BOOKSHOP https://bookshop.org/books/walks-by-big-alex-s-pond/9780228816942 

 

INDIGO CHAPTERS https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/walks-by-big-alexs-pond/9780228816966-item.html

 

BARNES & NOBLE https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/walks-by-big-alexs-pond-henry-van-berkel/1136006616

 

BOOK DEPOSITORY https://www.bookdepository.com/Walks-by-Big-Alexs-Pond-Henry-van-Berkel/9780228816942

 

KINDLE https://amazon.com/dp/B082FSK87N

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

 

Henry Van Berkel will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f4321