Author | Lightnews

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 6h

THE INLETS —— This great concrete tunnel draws little attention, and that's what's so lovely and lonesome about it. There was a very brief time when it was the most important thing... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

November 1, 2025
Weston, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6565 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 6h

WHEN I RECALL —— Erosion is an element of what I love most. All forms of entropy; rot, rust, corrosion define me. Give some concrete eleven decades to wear away, and it's just... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

November 1, 2025
Weston, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6565 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 1d

Painters can reference my photos — I don't say no. But it's important to understand that their work tells my story, borrows my experience. Places I've discovered, moments frozen in my memory. Painting scenes you never saw can't carry that weight. I've told you where to look, but where will you turn?

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 1d

FOR A SECOND —— I feel like everyone should have somewhere that makes them feel at home in a lonesome sense. An out-of-place belonging that keeps on calling back. That's how... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 31, 2025
Mount Hanley, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6564 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 1d

CARRY THE WEIGHT —— If your idea of hiking is keeping a steady pace on slightly rugged terrain, then my daily wandering wouldn't hold much appeal. There are rarely any paths... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 31, 2025
Mount Hanley, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6564 of my daily journal.

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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 2d

MEANS OF SURVIVAL

there's a great gasp of life
in the fields gone feral
now everything gets
all the light it wants
and new growth taunts
the shadows sullen
with ugly... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 30, 2025
Arlington East, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6563 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 2d

LIKE A SANCTUARY —— I still feel haunted by my very first visit, on a cool September evening in my mid-twenties. In those days, a matching home stood much nearer to the... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 30, 2025
Arlington East, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6563 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 3d

BUT NOT QUITE —— It's been a long way up for the Annapolis River, which reached lows I'd never seen by the end of September. A few heavy rains have played their part, but... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 29, 2025
South Farmington, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6562 of my daily journal.

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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 3d

MORTAL QUESTIONS

mark me remembered
like Jack Burbidge
randomly found
on the forest floor
buried by rocks
the dead do talk
about all the love they lost
you'll be discovered... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 28, 2025
Port George, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6561 of my daily journal.

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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 4d

"You're so vain, you probably think this photo is about you." That's what I told myself for years, to just let others take my picture and have their memories. For years, I took self-portraits that made me look bad on purpose, to see myself in every way possible. Acceptance through desensitization.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 4d

VIBRANCY PAST —— We're getting to the sorrowful season, last weeks of colour come to earth. When cloudy days drift down heavy, the woods grow deeply dim and seem always on... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 27, 2025
Waldeck West, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6560 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 4d

WORK IS FEELING —— I've often been the sleepy sort, but I've never let it worry me much. Being in a rush is dangerous. Most species our size know that pacing is paramount, so... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 27, 2025
Bear River, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6560 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 5d

COME TO PASS —— The deep, dark places carry mystery for me long after I get to know them well. It was just about this time of year when I first scrambled down the slopes of... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 26, 2025
Nictaux South, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6559 of my daily journal.

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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 5d

STONE SURVIVOR —— I'm often weary of those who assume the old ways are automatically better. Some see this lovely stone tunnel and imagine that the durability of granite... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 26, 2025
Nictaux South, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6559 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 6d

LOAN SOME

now that the hard part is over
the impossible bit begins
praying with no purpose
for you to reach deep down
and bless my curses
you ever hear
about the great... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 25, 2025
Wolfville, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6558 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 6d

LEAVES LINGER —— This is the season of evergreens catching leaves on their boughs, a soft descent paused till the next big wind comes along. I guess my days are a series of... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 24, 2025
Greenwich, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6557 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 7d

REST BREAKING —— In the woods here and there are rails left to lie. Set a path that I can follow, straight on through the natural chaos. Life often finds me with a distinctly... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 24, 2025
Greenwich, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6557 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 7d

SHADOW I FEEL —— Seeing is easy, but thinking is hard. We never stop looking, eyes darting, aiming for a bullseye worth drawing our aim and attention. Taking in information blank... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 23, 2025
Brickton, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6556 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 8d

PAUSE TO KEEP —— Many of the old railroads are so long abandoned that there's no public access to reach them. This is the case with much of the former North Mountain Railway... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 22, 2025
Lakeville, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6555 of my daily journal.

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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 8d

LITTLE MORE SOLID —— When I think about the dozens of drainage tunnels I've inhabited this past year, they always seem to haunt me in a sense. They were never intended for... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 21, 2025
Deep Brook, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6554 of my daily journal.

Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 9d

MAKE A NEW TOWN —— If you want to make somebody angry, start a conversation about Cornwallis. The massive complex of semi-disused buildings has sparked and quenched a lot... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 21, 2025
Cornwallis Park, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6554 of my daily journal.

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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 9d

ANCHORED —— I've often filled my thoughts with what it means to fail. So many see success as chased and grasped in a hurry; they can't imagine plugging away for years to... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 21, 2025
Cornwallis Park, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6554 of my daily journal.

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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 10d

I find it deeply sad when people say that childhood was the happiest time of their lives. As a nervous kid, growing up was hard. I was scared of everything, and never had a friend till my late teens. If I'd believed their lies that I wouldn't get unimaginably happier, I'd have had no hope at all.

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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 10d

DRAGON'S LAIR —— I've tracked down thirty of these historic tunnels this past year, scattered widely under railbeds across the Annapolis Valley area. Some are stone from... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 20, 2025
Upper Clements, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6553 of my daily journal.

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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 10d

SITTING SO STILL —— There are few true time capsules out in nature, most things changed or shifted in some sense, modernized or broken down with time. I've got a lot of... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]

October 20, 2025
Upper Clements, Nova Scotia

Year 18, Day 6553 of my daily journal.

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