Woodstack: the festival; back to the Annapolis Valley; and more

My adventures this time included a visit to The Noodle Guy in the Valley. Love the funky space and colours.

Woodstack: Peace, love and stacking wood

They all came down to Woodstack….

I had a thought. Every year, when I receive the annual four cords of wood that needs stacking in the wood house, I could turn it into a huge festival around music, art, and…well, stacking wood.

And I would call it - wait for it - Woodstack!

Don’t you think that’s a great idea for an off-grid festival?

Now it would only take a crowd of folks a day to stack four cords, so the music and events would have to take precedence.

We could have things like speed stacking events: who could stack a certain size of wood pile in an allotted time, and it would be marked for points on things like precision. I see Rage Against the Machine as the perfect band for that event.

Given the size of our front lawn, I anticipate a capacity crowd of about 50 people. Start planning now for when tickets go on sale.

Woodstack aside, yes, the annual delivery of wood has arrived, or at least the first two cords of four, and I’m hard at it again.

This is the full four cords of wood. I’d better get to work; it’s not going to stack itself.

I’ve talked before about the joys of stacking wood. It’s meditative, and great exercise, both things I currently need in my life at the moment.

There’s no need to rush. My Border Collie waits for me to throw her disc in between stacking pieces of wood, and long pauses to contemplate the woods out back of us and listen to the bird song are strongly encouraged.

Because I take my time, it will likely won’t be until mid-June until the wood is away. I’m OCD about it, and like it stacked just so, all the pieces perfectly notched together, but with enough space for air to flow through and dry the sticks.

I never dreamed of a day when just me and a pile of wood would be pretty much perfect, but there you go. These days, it’s my idea of a really fine time.

Return to the Valley

Runners milling about before the start of the Bee Hive Five.

Racing the Bee Hive Five

If I didn’t live on the South Shore, surely I’d live in the Annapolis Valley. Despite it’s increasing Californication, I love it there. What’s not to like? The mountains, the vineyards, the climate, the cideries, the great restaurants. Plus, I have a lot of good friends living in the valley.

This time the occasion was for me the first in-person race in three, or four - I can’t remember anymore - years. My friends at Route541 put on their first live, chip-timed event. Up to this point, during the pandemic, Route541 hosted a number of virtual runs and races. But now they’ve decided to expand into real world runs, the first of which was the Bee Hive Five.

The start/finish line was adjacent to the popular Port Pub in Port Williams, and offered two routes. One was a flat five kilometre, which was the option I chose. The second was a hilly five-miler.

Roughly 60 people showed up to run or walk the two routes. At first the day looked sketchy. Short downpours of rain eroded everyone’s confidence, but by the unusually late start time of 11 a.m. (which a lot of people loved), the sun burst out and the heat was on.

Getting things ready at the start/finish line.

My goal was to briskly walk the five kilometre route. Two other guys hooked in with me, and at first I was briefly annoyed at the heavy breathing beside me. But I chilled out and began to talk to Andy and Jerry, and pretty soon we were all best friends, exchanging stories of past marathons and more. They both allowed that I was pushing the pace for them. No worries. The three of us crossed the line together with the same chip time.

It was a great return to the real world of running, or in this case, walking.

You could not have asked for a better organized race. The course was clearly marked. A water stop was available at the half-way point, and the route was as scenic as they come. Did I mention the medals? Bees. Metal bees. A keeper, for sure, for those who collect race bling. Well done.

I’m looking forward to the next Route541 live event. It reminded me of everything I loved about running races: the friendships, the opportunities to meet new people, the chance to challenge yourself, and the opportunity to push your fitness in the fresh air and new places. I’d missed that.

A visit to The Noodle Guy

Inside The Noodle Guy, one of the most inviting spaces I’ve experienced for a restaurant.

While the Route541 run offered soup as part of the package afterward, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I’d driven over to the valley to sample another new-to- me restaurant. I headed over to The Noodle Guy.

I’d actually been curious about this spot in Port Williams for years now. I’d seen the sign many times, but just never happened to make it over when it was open. I lucked out this time.

The Noodle Guy is Ross Patterson, who started out at the Wolfville Farmers’ Market in 2010 and a year later opened a small store front operation in Port Williams. In 2014, he moved a few doors south to a larger space with room for some tables.

“Despite the presence of said tables, Patterson refused to call the business a “restaurant”, and focused on selling pasta, sauces, and other grocery items for people to take home; serving prepared food on site was a secondary concern,” according to The Noodle Guy’s website.

Patterson finally acknowledged he was running a restaurant when in 2016 his place was named best restaurant in Nova Scotia in the “not-in-Halifax category” by the The Chronicle Herald. Patterson even acquired a liquor licence.

Obviously, showing up in 2023 I’m a little late to the party. I loved everything about The Noodle Guy (the restaurant, that is; I saw Patterson on the restaurant floor at one point, but not enough to say I love him): the funky, coloured decor; the impeccable and friendly service; and most of all the food. Oh my gosh, the food….

The ramen: one of the best meals I’ve ever had, no exaggeration.

First of all, I had a tough time ordering just because the menu contained so many appealing items. As you would expect at a place named The Noodle Guy, pasta took precedence. But it wasn’t just Italian-style, although plenty of that was available. The place also offered rice noodles in a stir fry, a soba noodle dish, and ramen.

Then, there were the non-pasta offerings, and plenty of those looked tempting. Did I want the dal? No, because it didn’t have any heat to it, according to the waitress. Maybe the potstickers? They were more like an appetizer, though. It all sounded so good.

I finally settled on the ramen. Damn. Right choice.

The vegetables retained their snap. I figure I’m a pretty dab guy at cooking tofu, but The Noodle Guy’s were that much crisper on the exterior than mine, and softer on the inside. The chicken added depth. But the crowning glory was the jammy egg. And, well, I couldn’t top the noodles and broth if I tried.

The place was packed for lunch. No surprise given the quality of the food and service.

What I’m listening to

“If you cut Buddy Guy open he would bleed blue.

“His guitar-playing style was so visceral, so ferocious, that the blues had to be running through his veins. Guitarist giants such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan cite him as an influence.”

Those are the words of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 when it inducted Guy, who had as nominees no less than B.B. King and Eric Clapton.

Cited as a living link to Chicago’s halcyon days of electric blues, Guy holds seven Grammy Awards, a 2015 Lifetime Achievement Grammy, 37 Blues Music Awards (the most of any artist), and more.

Actually raised in Louisiana, he landed in Chicago in 1957 as a session guitarist for the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and other Chess Records label mates before recording his own albums.

A double album, Rhythm & Blues is a driving force with Guy’s stinging guitar attack and rich voice. Backed with the Muscle Shoals Horn section, Guy augments the arrangements with a number of guest artists, including Kid Rock, members of Aerosmith, and Gary Clark Jr. It all adds up to an outstanding collection of electric blues that packs a punch.