Lilacs! They are often the last sign of a fallen old house in these parts. Finding a straggling broad clump of twisted thick shaggy trunks, still bravely ignoring lack of pruning and care to send a few flowers into the sun in spite of advancing spruce and fir is the sign that behind it will be a sunken foundation, full of brambles and goldenrod.

There is an ancient pathway in this province called the Acadian Trail. It was once the main road between the scattered Acadian communities, before the Expulsion, and parts of it are still discernible if you know where to look. Thirty years ago, a knowledgeable friend and I hiked into the woods to find a part of that trail, and walked several km. of it. Along the way, we found the barest dimples of old cellars, and in one small clearing, the oldest lilac I have ever seen, mostly dead, but still a few leafy sucker stems announcing that people once lived there.