Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Hidden Gems: Blackboard Poems

I am starting a fun new post series here on the blog and I'm calling it "Hidden Gems":

See, I have started to notice lots of neat but barely noticeable things around my home city and I want to share these with others so that they can enjoy them, too. It's so easy to focus on the big, popular, shiny things and celebrate those, but sometimes it is the small, unknown things that are the most interesting.

I like to seek out these "hidden gems" not only in my hometown, but also in other places I travel to. I like going to the back-alley stores and restaurants, the less-trodden (but most beautiful or well-preserved) streets and paths - the places where locals go and the things that locals love. These "hidden gems" are what make a place truly unique, and reveal the most about the character of a place also.

What can I say - I am an explorer at heart!

For my 1st "hidden gem" in Halifax, I wanted to post about a cute display that I walk by every day on my way home from work. For privacy reasons, I won't say where exactly it is, but I am sure anyone who lives around my neighbourhood or has explored the side streets there has seen it:


Excuse the crappy Blackberry photo

This blackboard is nailed to the front of this porch, and it always has some kind of poem or saying on it. The current selection is Walking the Dog's Shadow, by Deborah Brown. Apparently this is also the title of a book of poems by Brown (as you can see if you click the link above). It talks about pondering thoughts such as grief, within the metaphor of walking a dog on a leash.

Personally, I don't so much care what poem is listed on the board, just the fact that there is one there is lovely enough. It is a nice pick-me-up on the walk home - there is the anticipation of what will be written there next, and what it will make me think about for the rest of my walk. I think it's nice of the person who lives here to share such works with the people that walk by. Art is meant to be shared with whoever is open enough to take it in.

Do you know of a person, place or thing that you think is really cool but is not very well-known? Are there little pieces of paradise in your city/province or in cities that you have visited that are off-the-beaten-path, but you think everyone should know about them? Well, I want to post about them on Gathers No Moss! Email me, tweet @KimHumes or leave a comment and I'll share it in an upcoming post!

Here's to celebrating the little things! And exploring off-the-path to find them!

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