The Dome Chronicles
In 1972, a boxcar left Toronto with a menagerie of farm animals and an eager young couple and pulled into the station platform in Kingston, Nova Scotia bound for a deserted hundred-acre farm on the South Mountain in Harmony, determined to preserve the foundations of farmsteads past while constructing a geodesic dome. Armed with an irrepressible sense of humour, they were back-to-the-landers. Over the next forty years, through flood and fire, triumph and catastrophe, they persevered. Read the first chapter.
by Garry Leeson
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2019 | ISBN 978-1-7753717-3-1 • CREATIVE NONFICTION • 168 PAGES / COLOUR PHOTOS THROUGHOUT / 7.25 × 9.25 IN / SOFTCOVER
Winner of the 2021 Margaret & John Savage first book (nonfiction) Atlantic Book Award
EXCERPT
Back in Arthur’s office I strove to look nonchalant as he filled out an ‘offer to purchase’ form on the farmland on South Mountain, hoping like crazy that he hadn’t quoted me the wrong price. He finally passed me the paper and said, “Check this to make sure it’s in order.” Arthur had made a mistake. The purchase price on the form was thirteen hundred, not thirteen thousand. I ventured a condescending chuckle and handed it back to him saying, “Arthur, you wrote thirteen hundred.”
He sat there for a moment staring at me, seeming really miffed. Then he slammed his fist on the desk and, in the loudest voice he had used all day, declared, “I’m sorry, Mr. Leeson.” I’d been plain Garry up until then. “The price is firm. It’s thirteen hundred and not a cent less.” Then, even louder, he shouted, “There is no room for negotiation!” So I wrote a cheque for the full amount and have never regretted it.
We purchased our little slice of heaven for the tidy sum of thirteen hundred dollars . . . and were only slightly taken aback when our new neighbours informed us that they could have got it for eight hundred.
Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
REVIEW(S)
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which shares true tales of going back to the land in 1970s Nova Scotia—is the cure to your screen time habit.
JADE NAUSS, THE COAST
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This selection of short stories about farmers, sustainable agriculture, Garry Leeson and his family's experiences were very interesting and sometimes quite humorous. The coloured and black and white photos gave visuals and added authenticity to the personal stories.
KATHLEEN, GOODREADS