A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the old saying goes. But sometimes a word says all that needs to be said. Or perhaps, more than a thousand pictures can convey.
Words label each section of Timelines, the 2.9 km trail that we are opening to the public for the first time on July 20, as a fund-raiser for the Massawippi Foundation. (You can buy your tickets by clicking here.)
Words begin the journey at In Transit/En Route, where signs ask questions
The trail leads to a clearing in the woods where a walker can sit and contemplate the passage of time.
A short distance beyond the Sundial, Timelines enter The Clearing of the Land, a section remembering the impact of the early settlers who came to Quebec’s Eastern Townships.
Passing through The Clearing of the Land, Timelines takes a turn at Two Roads.
One path leads farther back into Quebec’s history, towards the entrance to La Seigneurie.
The formality of French garden design and the historic importance of the road that leads to old Quebec City are celebrated along La Grande Allée.
At the end of La Grande Allée, Perspective calls attention to where we are and to where we are going.
With a reminder that The Past Looms Large, Timelines now leads us father back, to the roots of western history and culture.
Another classical reference introduces the basic shapes that make up the built universe.
A sign suspended over the trail announces Orin’s Sugarcamp, where maple syrup once was made.
Finally, we return to the present, at the Grandchildren Trees.
The words I’ve used along the trail tell only part of the story of Timelines. The land speaks its own version, not through words but through sound and scent, taste, touch and sight. Walking the trail is a total experience and pictures convey only a tiny part of it.