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Steve Skafte

@steveskafte.bsky.social
117 followers 19 following 1.5K posts

Ardent explorer of misplaced memories. Uninterrupted daily journal since 2007. These are excerpts from the full posts on Instagram, Facebook, Patreon, and Substack. Signed books here: etsy.com/shop/SteveSkafte

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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 1h
GENTLE RUSH The small and snaking Clementsport Falls is the only of its kind that's more mesmerizing with less water. Carving a curving descent across the course of countl... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 16, 2026 Clementsport, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6884 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 1h
THAT'S NOT NOW I've got a good chunk of childhood memories at Mickey Hill. A lot of those revolve around a rope bridge that's been missing a couple decades at least. The swing... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 16, 2026 Graywood, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6884 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
LIGHT AS WEIGHT I've often found friendship an imposing prospect. Not from a fear of connection or closeness, of which I have none, but more for the emotional investment in the... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 15, 2026 Halifax, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6883 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
COMPANY OF FRIENDS Introducing close friends to each other can be a harrowing experience. Since I've only got two, bringing them together had a certain kind of weight. Annie is... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 15, 2026 Halifax, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6883 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
THE ONLY CERTAIN Walking with the one I love while darkness steals the daylight softly. It's one of the more incomparable pleasures in my lifetime. Clarence Road in reach... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 13, 2026 Clarence West, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6881 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
CAUGHT UP ON It might be worth imagining exactly why bright paint makes us love an otherwise ugly fishing shack. Me, I'm twisted enough to appreciate a wreck without the colour... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 13, 2026 Hampton, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6881 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
REAL WORK In my head is the heart of what effort love takes. When I was young, I was taught the lie that love is work, by people preserving the supposed virtue of long and... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 13, 2026 Bridgewater, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6881 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
NO ONE PLACE In the two decades since I started hiking daily, I've never once revisited my childhood stomping grounds at Kejimkujik National Park. Wandering in isolation pul... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 12, 2026 Kejimkujik, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6880 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
FROM ON HIGH Every time I've been down to the beach at North Medford, I've had it to myself. If it weren't for the fact that I've seen pictures taken here, I might be sus... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 11, 2026 North Medford, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6879 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
SPAN OF SOLITARY Whenever we have a chance to wander my homeland, one of the first places we go is the sea. Susy grew up in sight and smell of the ocean in Cuba, before her... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 10, 2026 Port Lorne, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6878 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
SEARCH FOR MORE It's been a few years since I could afford to go far from home on vacation. But these weeks of September offer at least a minimal extension from the norm, d... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 9, 2026 Church Point, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6877 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
LOW AND TRUE I know all the spots in my down home towns where I can walk least likely to be disturbed. Cemeteries are obvious ones, especially with evening coming on. But anyw... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 8, 2026 Wolfville, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6876 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I'm still on vacation for the next couple weeks, but I wanted to let you know that signed copies of my 2027 Abandoned Nova Scotia calendar are now available for pre-order! There's a whole lot of my heart in these pages. Ships out on October 1st. www.etsy.com/shop/SteveSkafte
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Never missed a day since I started in November 2007, never will until the day I die.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
LONG I LAST I'll be on vacation for the next couple weeks. That means something different for me than it might some folks, because I never truly take a day off. I haven't n... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 7, 2026 Beaconsfield, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6875 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
LOWS OF DAYTIME One of my favourite simple pleasures is this, flicking accumulated droplets off a clothesline. Something held so tenuously set free. When a long drag of ove... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 6, 2026 Beaconsfield, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6874 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
SOLITARY SOUL If all my hikes in the wild form into a kind of picture, then these cabins are like points in the constellation. Flickering stars shining out a vacant welcome... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 5, 2026 Delaps Cove, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6873 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
NO CLOSER Can't recall the last time late summer was so wet. There's been more rain in the past week than all of last July, August, and September put together. It's proved p... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 5, 2026 Delaps Cove, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6873 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
NEVER INHABITED I first stumbled over the Stevens homestead eight years ago. I was almost repelled by a black bear disturbed by my presence, bounding through the brush in... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 4, 2026 Arlington West, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6872 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
SHARP SOFT In a strange sense, abandonment was something I needed. Through my late teens, I'd taken to feeling like not belonging was someone else's problem, and my lack... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 4, 2026 Arlington West, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6872 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Here's a poem from my book Scarecrows Are Growing (2015). It's a breathless expression of unbound passion, and the need to uncover it in others. Wherever it might hide or lie. Want a signed copy? On sale for 50% off regular price here: www.etsy.com/shop/SteveSkafte
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
HUMAN ELEMENT The remote and rolling hills of Stanburne Road were heavily settled in the 1800s, fields cleared and farmsteads raised, many original structures still standing... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 3, 2026 Stanburne, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6871 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
MARKED NEARBY Just downstream of a rickety pony truss bridge (likely as old as anyone living), there's a jagged cascade called "Devil's Hook". These dark depths of North River... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 3, 2026 Stanburne, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6871 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
EVER GIVEN Out back of my childhood home is an unbroken swath of woods. Climbing up the North Mountainside, young growth rising from abandoned cattle fields when we built i... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 2, 2026 Beaconsfield, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6870 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Sharing stories from "Outskirts of Ordinary" with the residents of Hillside Pines (Bridgewater) yesterday afternoon. I've had 8 stops at care homes this summer, 4 coming in autumn. Hoping to add more! Please consider donating toward expenses: gofundme.com/f/help-send-steve-skafte-to-more-care-homes
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
WORLDVIEW I've been pretty prone to nervousness lately, with one thing and another, a common chaos that runs me around. The easiest escape is sending me down some sleepy strea... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 1, 2026 Wallbrook, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6869 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
SLIPPERY WHEN DRY Slate streams are fascinating beasts. They're precarious places to hike, no doubt, all their loose shards upturned and easily shifting. Wet rock is untrustwo... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] September 1, 2026 Wallbrook, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6869 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
TIME INTACT Out by the treeline, I leave a swath of grass to go wild. Between the lawn and the trees, every kind of wildflower and weed rises. I don't know enough to tell one... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 31, 2026 Beaconsfield, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6868 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
It's been a heartwaking experience all around, and I hope to continue it this winter by accepting more invitations close to home in the Annapolis Valley area! Contribute toward the fund here: www.gofundme.com/f/help-send-...
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Halfway through my first tour of nursing homes, and I'm eager to visit more! Can you help me make this happen? If not, please share this fundraiser with those who can. Through the coming months, I'm hoping to visit many more down here in my home counties of Annapolis, Kings, and Digby.
gofundme.com
Donate to Help send Steve Skafte to more Care Homes, organized by Steve Skafte
Earlier this year, with the help of your support, I was able to mount a speakin… Steve Skafte needs your support for Help send Steve Skafte to more Care Homes
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
LAST KIND WORDS I was nineteen years old and Christmas 2006 was coming quick. I still hadn't bought my fiancé a gift, so I took my Friday off work to head up the Valley. On the... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 30, 2026 Round Hill, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6867 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I wrote this poem as a farewell to a world I had to leave behind. From my 2020 poetry paperback "Someone in Search of a Story". Almost out of print! Grab the last-ever copy on sale for 50% off here: www.etsy.com/shop/SteveSkafte
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
MATTER OF TRUST I've gone on long walks in search of a narrowing sliver of sunshine. That's often what I'm after in the forest, the boundless beauty of lucky light, crossin... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 29, 2026 Parker's Cove, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6866 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
CONDUCTING PASSAGE Stumbling down the rocky ruts of Lightfoot Road, cleared fields gave a newly wide view to the expanse of Fundy. While I stood here catching random rain... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 28, 2026 Victoria Harbour, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6865 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
NEVER RUN AWAY Unfinished but already abandoned. It's a surprisingly common sight when I wander in the wild, cabins left to nature in a not-quite-completed state. Somewhe... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 28, 2026 Victoria Harbour, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6865 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
DISREGARDED ORDINARY I'm a low-stakes climber, where the only real consequence is a skinned elbow or wet feet. I like to look at the wild world as a kind of ever-expanding pl... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 27, 2026 Mount Hanley, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6864 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I wrote this poem in the midst of the hardest year of my life, when every dream seemed rudely woken and unlikely coming true. It's given me a lot of comfort. From my 2014 poetry paperback: "Long Time, No Sea". Grab a signed copy on sale for 50% off here: www.etsy.com/shop/SteveSkafte
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
ANY OTHER WAY The oldest surviving gravestone at Nictaux Cemetery has been half-swallowed by a tree. Sarah Whitman Morton died in 1824, and this lovely sandstone marker was placed... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 26, 2026 Nictaux, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6863 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
SENSE OF PLACE One of the first areas I explored in depth were the woods along Arlington Road. Old hippie houses, winding streams, marshy tangles of brush. It all felt so remot... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 25, 2026 Mount Rose, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6862 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
DAY IS FALLING We say that night is falling, but really, it's day that's always on its way down. The sun sinks and shadows rise, starting from places like these. This is... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 25, 2026 South Williamston, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6862 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
SKY LIKE A SCROLL some say: "live every day like it's your last" but that came to pass when I was ten and I spent that week (just waiting on the world to end) tell me, who'd'ya... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 24, 2026 Port Lorne, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6861 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
ALL THE WILDNESS This stream is spanned by an old tank of some sort, with the ends removed to form a makeshift culvert. The washed-out road surface is spanned by wood in variou... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 23, 2026 Round Hill, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6860 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
RESISTANCE What I love most about these ancient boulder fields is a sense of false precariousness. You feel as if something could suddenly come tumbling, though it's clear on c... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 23, 2026 Round Hill, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6860 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
TELL I'M NOT Every year when my birthday catches up with me, I get curious about signs of change. Those are pretty easy to observe, as I can always scroll back to some self-p... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 22, 2026 Beaconsfield, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6859 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
CALLED ME ALMOST Now and then, I stand in the sun as some reminder of why others must love it. My appreciation is passing to a point where I mostly only find it in reflection... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 21, 2026 Harbourville, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6858 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
FIND COMFORTABLE I often follow the cliffs of Fundy until I find the first ingress. Any weak spot will do, wherever the waves have drilled their way through solid rock, where... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 21, 2026 Harbourville, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6858 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Who are your favourite songwriters? Perhaps my most unmatched joy is time travel through music, marking an unbroken line from now till then. Here’s 1 favourite song per year from the past 7 decades, sung by the folks who wrote them. Listen in to what moves me most: open.spotify.com/playlist/1W7...
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
MAKES OF ME I've never thought about mortality more than now. When I was young, death was often on my mind, but in more of an external sense. Mostly religious notions I'd been... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 20, 2026 Springfield, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6857 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
BY WAY OF WONDER Wetter weather than usual this August has brought fungus out in force. Everywhere I hike, they sprout and spread their fruiting bodies, making the most of rot... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 20, 2026 Springfield, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6857 of my daily journal.
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Steve Skafte @steveskafte.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
HERE AND OUT Almost every hike in August waits till after 4:00 PM. I'm on hold for the dappled light, when shadow tips the balance, claiming slightly more ground than... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack] August 19, 2026 East Margaretsville, Nova Scotia Year 19, Day 6856 of my daily journal.
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