I had a moment that stopped me in my tracks.

Right by the Howley town sign — the same place I’ve passed a hundred times — a moose stepped out of the woods. Quiet, calm, and towering. It didn’t run. It didn’t flinch. It just stood there, like it belonged. And it does.

What makes this encounter special is something not everyone knows: Howley is where the very first moose were introduced to Newfoundland, back in 1904. Just a handful, brought over from New Brunswick. Nobody could have guessed how much they would change the island.

Standing there, looking at that moose in the same place its ancestors might have first set foot… it felt surreal. Like I wasn’t just looking at an animal, but at living history. A bloodline that started here, right in this quiet little town in the middle of the island.

We often rush past places without knowing what they’ve seen. Today, Howley reminded me to slow down — because sometimes, the past still walks among us.