All Things Newfoundland and Labrador: Tuckamore

If you like to take a walk on the wild side,
there is no better place to do so 
than in the remote and beautiful 
Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Canada with Newfoundland and Labrador in Red

This unique place 
is not for everyone.

It is a raw land,
scraped bare 
by glaciers
and scultped 
by wind and water.

Source:  Wikimedia




This remarkable land holds a special place in my heart.
I was privileged to live and to work there in my past.

This province is so different, so other;
and, nothing more so than its language.
Your ear needs time to adjust 
to this province's grammar, syntax, lexicon, and cadence.

When I first arrived in Westport on White Bay in 1971,
I couldn't grasp what Westporters were saying
as words came at me rapid fire.

Westport on White Bay, Newfoundland, 2011

Garbage Bin Showing the Location

of Westport on White Bay, Newfoundland, 2011 

If I was lucky, 
I could piece together the gist of the conversation,
but often I was flat out flummoxed!


A Westporter would think of our conversation:
I'm not talkin too fast.
You're listenin too slow.
(Source:  phrase attributed to singer John White)

My sister Bertie (coral) and I (turquoise)

with Our Long Time Family Friend Dulcie

on a Recent Trip to Westport 

Slowly but surely my ears listened faster,
and I began to comprehend their spoken words.
I fell in love with this rich and original language 
with its lexicon of rare and unusual words.

For me one word typifies the essence of the province:  
tuckamore. 

Tuckamore, Broom Point, Newfoundland, 2011

If you walk almost anywhere 
along the exposed coasts of the province,
especially those of the Great Northern Peninsula 
and the Strait of Belle Isle,

you will find tuckamore.

Tuckamore Behind the Signs, 
Blanc Sablon, Quebec, 2011
Left to Quebec ~ Right to Labrador
Exiting the St. Barbe ~ Blanc Sablon Ferry

Tuckamore is the province's ubiquitous coastal forest 
of hardy dwarf white spruce and balsam fir.

   Terry, the Ever-Patient, with Tuckamore

Lobster Cove Head, Newfoundland, 2011

Stunted, contorted, intertwined and dense, 
tuckamore is shaped by the harsh wind, 
the salt spray, and the acid soil

of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Tuckamore, Broom Point, Newfoundland, 2011

The origin of tuckamore is in a combination of two words:
tucking ~ tugging or pulling (as in tucking a net), and
more ~ an archaic word for root.
(Burzynski, Michael, Gros Morne National Park, Breakwater Books Ltd., St. John's, NF, p. 85)

Tuckamore is almost impenetrable.
Any exposed part of the forest dries up, dies, and breaks off
forming a tangle of vegetation 
that shreds and rips and scratches.
Surprisingly people have been known to rest 
on the surface of tuckamore.

 The E-P Considers a Nap at Cape Ray, Newfoundland, 2011

Michael Burzynski in his book Gros Morne National Park 

wrote my favorite description of tuckamore:

"...the wind sculpts growing coastal trees 

into a stooped and streamlined forest 

that flows and swells inland like a brushy green wave."
(Burzynski, Michael, Gros Morne National Park, Breakwater Books Ltd., St. John's, NF, p. 85)

 Tuckamore Rising Up Tracey Hill

in Red Bay, Labrador, 2011

To me, tuckamore also typifies the hardy people of this province.

Centuries ago they rooted along its wild and lonely coasts,

and they have persisted,

shaped by its winds, its waters, and its soils.

If you are lucky enough to travel in this special place,

you will find no finer people,

warm, generous, practical, and tough.

Chance Encounter and Impromptu Picnic

Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, 2011

I will return, 

and may you be so lucky 

as to experience all kinds of tuckamore

in Newfoundland and Labrador.