CAPTURING SUMMER

Yesterday, my husband and a few of our respective family members cruised up and down the St. John River by motor boat. The land running along the river is reedy and tree-lined, with branches dipping over the shore-line and into the river. We tied up at old wharfs, maintained and protected by the St. John River Society, and jumped into the swiftly running currents that head downriver and flow into the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean, via the Bay of Fundy.

It’s a romantic part of the river, with its pastoral views and abandoned lighthouses nestled in the overgrowth on tiny strips of land that divide the river into creeks and coves.

From the early 1800s to the mid-20th-century, steamboats chugged up and down these waterways,

transporting people, goods and food. Today, networks of ferries now connect peninsulas to mainland, where scenic views of the Saint John River, also known as the “Rhine of North America,” abound.

Suffice it to say, we have unfettered access to one seriously untapped gem, little-known to those living outside of NB.

Summer here is really just beginning, and in the spirit of the season (and of heavenly, sun-drenched locals), here are my favourite images from the master of capturing summer in all its luxury, society photographer Slim Aarons.

As Aarons said, he captured "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."

Barbados Bliss - Ava Marshall with a book amongst bougainvillea in Barbados, April 1976

Hibiscus Flowers - Flowers in pool in Acapulco, Mexico, 1960

Palm Beach Pastels - Socialite Alice Topping by swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida, 1959

Jhelum River - The H.B. Cuddy Sark floating down the Jhelum River in Kashmir India, 1961

Adolfo de Velasco on veranda in Marrakech, April 1988

Giacomo and Stefanie Montegazza welcome guests arriving by boat to their villa, La Casinella, on Lake Como, 1983

Dolores Guiness

Barbados Beach - Mr. and Mrs. Nigel van Wieck walk along beach in Barbados, April 1976