Tessera

Sara Spike

@saraspike.bsky.social

Cultural historian of rural communities and coastal environments in Atlantic Canada. The ocean and the woods. Visual cultures. Senses. Fog. Flora. Adjunct Prof, Dalhousie University. Executive Committee, NiCHE. PhD, settler, she/her https://saraspike.ca

364 Posts1951 Follower 983 Folgt

Alan MacEachern @alanmaceachern.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Me choosing a session at #CHASHC2026.

NiCHE Canada @nichecanada.bsky.social · 2mo ago

If you are at CHA next week, join our executive members @drheathergreen.bsky.social & @saraspike.bsky.social at the #EnvHist Group Meeting on June 2nd at noon to chat about what we're up to and how you can get more involved. niche-canada.org/2026/05/28/n... #cdnhist @cndhistassoc.bsky.social

NiCHE Environmental History Group Meeting – Canadian Historical Association 2026

2 June 2026 - University of Prince Edward Island - Join us at the Environmental History Group Meeting! Connect with NiCHE Executive members Heather Green and Sara Spike to discuss all things NiCHE! We...

niche-canada.org

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Hi is it spring where you are?

An old road through coniferous woods and a beagle.

Beagle at the edge of a brook in spring.

Jeff Miller @theghostpine.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I'm taking Temporary Palaces on the road! Hope to see you in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Peterborough, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Charlottetown this spring!

Jeff Miller @theghostpine.bsky.social · 3mo ago

My novel Temporary Palaces is out now from @houseofanansi.bsky.social! Available at your local independent bookstore or library. I can't wait for you to meet these punks! houseofanansi.com/products/tem...

Temporary Palaces

"A plainspoken, punk-rock hymn … This is a book that will pick you up off the floor of a mosh pit and wrap you in its arms." —Sean Michaels In the fevered summer of 2001, charismatic activist Rob and ...

houseofanansi.com

Dr. Jessica van Horssen @historiamagoria.bsky.social · 8mo ago

To get us all into the festive spirit, I've written a piece on the #EnvHist #histSTM of artificial xmas trees for @nichecanada.bsky.social. Click for the wild ideas, stay for the wisdom of Peanuts. niche-canada.org/2025/12/11/a...

Augmenting Christmas: Artificial Trees and the Lure of Perpetual Nature

Artificial Christmas trees evolved from feather and aluminum novelties to plastic simulations, revealing desires for safer, cleaner, “better” nature and modern convenience.

niche-canada.org

Tina Adcock @tinaadcock.bsky.social · 8mo ago

It’s my book’s half-birthday today! To celebrate, I’d like to mail one of you a free signed copy. Just like this post to enter the draw. You can enter your name until 11:59 pm Pacific time on Wednesday, December 3rd. Please reskeet! #cdnhist #envhist www.ubcpress.ca/a-cold-colon...

A Cold Colonialism

A Cold Colonialism - Modern Exploration and the Canadian North; A Cold Colonialism reframes exploration as a modern enterprise – one through which southern Canadians and Americans sought to exert cont...

ubcpress.ca

Shirley Tillotson @stillots1.bsky.social · 8mo ago

It's finally here. A history of the Nova Scotia lobster fishery. Morton is truly an historian's historian, and from the installments I've seen, the book is going to have riches of social history, politics, economics, and even some marine biology. share.google/J3GYgjTkjV9I...

Screen capture of a book cover. It's a white background with a picture of part of a multicolored lobster dominating the bottom 2/3 of the cover. Book title is Contested catch: lobster, localism and Canada's Atlantic coast, 1870 to 1970

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · 8mo ago

We love bringing you smart, fun work about human engagements with the natural world! Did you know that NiCHE does not have institutional funding? Your help is greatly appreciated! 🌱

NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 8mo ago

We are SO CLOSE to 75% of our fundraising goal. The fundraiser will end on Tuesday. Have you given yet? If not, can you send $20 our way. The average donation right now is $189, but we heartily welcome smaller donations! fundrazr.com/niche2025?re... #envhist #envhum #cdnhist #envstudies

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · 11mo ago

I love the memories this post has generated in the comments. Did you grow up with dulce (edible seaweed) like I did? Thanks to @richrray.bsky.social for pulling some stories out of the archives for this fun piece!

NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Today @richrray.bsky.social shares a brief history of dulce in in New Brunswick. "Dark Harbour ... emerged as the dulse capital of the world, an industry likewise made possible by its unique geography and the Fundy tides." niche-canada.org/2025/09/18/t... #envhist #coastalhistory #cdnhist

NiCHE Canada @nichecanada.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Join our editor @saraspike.bsky.social on the @transcanadatrail.bsky.social to remember the Blueberry Express! niche-canada.org/2025/09/09/s... #envhist #cdnhist #trails #novascotia

Sara’s Trans Canada Trail: Remembering the Blueberry Express

Once vital for freight and passengers, Nova Scotia’s Blueberry Express railway now thrives as a scenic multi-use trail celebrating local heritage.

niche-canada.org

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Finally rain 🌧

Raindrops falling on the surface of the ocean at low tide with yellow seaweed all around.

An assortment of small plastic and metal buckets set out on the grass to catch rainwater, each partially full.

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Big high tide, the goldenrod is swimming xo

A patch of blooming goldenrod is partially submerged in water in evening light.

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Wildflowers, history, and dulse what else? 💙

Richard Yeomans@richrray.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Thanks @saraspike.bsky.social for sharing this incredible view with me today - a great place to chat about wildflowers, history, and dulse.

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · 12mo ago

🌫️📯🤍

Dr Cathryn Pearce@cathrynpearce.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Just two minutes in the British Newspaper archive, and I've found a dispute in Dover about the frequency of the fog gun going off in 1905, and poetry. One poem is for @saraspike.bsky.social ! Though that sounds like Newhaven, too!

Clip of the poem in the Derbyshire Couriers, 13 July 1839:

While through the fog and driving rain
The lab'ring vessel flies,
Again, again, the welcome sound,
Nearer and nearer still;
It cometh from their native ground---
The steep and well-known hill
Frowns through the evening's darkening glooms
As once again the Fog-gun booms.

They pass at length the guarded fort,
They pass the rocky height,
And now within the sheltered port
They're safe from Ocean's might.
One cheer, one loud,long, grateful cheer,
Burst forth from ev'ry lip,
As, in their welcome rest, they hear
The sound that led their ship,
And brought them o'er the raging sea,
To the calm port "where they would be."

H.P. NOVA TERRA.

*It is customary at St. John's Newfoundland, at Halifax, Nova Sotia, as well as in many other situations where fogs are frequent and dense, to fire a gun every hour, as a guide or warning to any vessels that may be near the coast.'

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · 12mo ago

🙏

Irish@nakedirish.com · 12mo ago

This, actually works. For me at least.

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Blueberries 💙

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · last yr.

I've been working with Sarah on a project about the history of forestry in our area. Her presentation tonight was excellent; her GIS skills are incredible! We'll be sharing the results of this work this fall. Get in touch if you have any personal knowledge of sawmills in Halifax County!

Sarah O@bluenosegardener.bsky.social · last yr.

Kinda nervous! Haven't done anything like a lecture in 3 years. Not sure if I will be able to enjoy my fish cakes and baked beans.

Julie Park @juliepark.bsky.social · last yr.

My essay on how the early modern camera obscura brought us more deeply into our interior lives is now live @publicdomainrev.bsky.social publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-ea...

Watching the World in a Dark Room: The Early Modern Camera Obscura

Centuries before photography froze the world into neat frames, scientists, poets, and artists streamed transient images into dark interior spaces with the help of a camera obscura. Julie Park explores...

publicdomainreview.org

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · last yr.

Mackerel xo

Blue water over the gunwhale of an aluminum boat.

Two people wearing sun hats and life jackets fishing with rods from a small aluminum boat. A beagle is sitting on one person's lap.

Two mackerel caught on a line being lifted into the air.

A white bucket on a wooden wharf with 7 small mackerel in it and a beagle looking in.

Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · last yr.

I was excited to find out that my book is available for pre-order! One for anyone interested in energy, climate, and the history of Britain. Thanks to MUP for making it pretty and affordable 🫶 manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526182968/

Manchester University Press - Electric wind

Electric wind - Browse and buy the Paperback edition of Electric wind by Marianna Dudley

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · last yr.

I was asked to write about my local section of the Trans Canada Trail. Here is my short essay called "Remembering the Blueberry Express," about rail to trail along the coast of Nova Scotia tctrail.ca/stories/reme... #envhist #cdnhist @transcanadatrail.bsky.social

Two people walking away from the camera on a flat gravelled trail with bright blue sky and blue water around them.

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · last yr.

Finally found the fog, at Cape Spear Lighthouse xo

A small white building with a red roof on a hill surrounded by fog, a yellow sign warns that the fog alarm may sound at any time.

Christi Belcourt @handle.invalid · last yr.

The way the blueberries feel when I roll them from their stems with my thumbs into my palm.

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · last yr.

My mom made a lot of the clothes for this fashion show, based on historical photos from our local archives. It promises to be a lovely time, and another great reason to come to the Eastern Shore 💗 visitmemorylane.ca/events/1940s...

A woman in 1940s garb on a poster advertising the 1940s Costume Magic Fashion Gala at Memory Lane Heritage Village, August 9 and 10.

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · last yr.

Looking for fog in St. John's at @theroomsnl.bsky.social

A pile of yellowed paper on a wooden table beside a big window looking out over St. John's harbour.

Waterfront Media HFX @wfmhfx.bsky.social · last yr.

(Weather) A high fog settles over the Halifax waterfront as temperatures climb today. Temperatures are expected to climb into 30+c over the next few days with high humidity. Molly the dog was definitely taking advantage of a fun cool down activity. Take steps to avoid heat related illnesses

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · last yr.

Heading to eastern Newfoundland to visit archives and talk to folks about fog. Any suggestions for fog- or non-fog-related activities, great community museums, excellent food, people to connect with all greatly appreciated! Hoping to get back to Elliston, where I took this photo a few years ago ❤️

Three puffins perched at the edge of a rocky cliff, the foggy ocean behind them.

Sara Spike @saraspike.bsky.social · last yr.