My daughter's sixth birthday today, and things are very much as they were six years ago, atmospherically.



It has been warm and calm here the last couple of days. Sun beating down on the beach tempted Aine and Finn to venture in waist deep at Tunstall Bay yesterday for the first official swim of the year. They reported near hypothermic temperatures, but still: they notched May 11 as opening day in the great Bowen SkinnyDip Quest 2003.



My parents have been visiting over the past week from Ontario. They are staying down the road at the Rosebank B&B, home of 1998 Bowen citizen of the year Angie McCullogh. The guest cottage there is about 120 years old, and Angela is an amazing woman. She is pure indominatable spirit, being the driving force behind many efforts to improve care for humans and animals, including CAWES (Coast Animal Welfare and Education Society) and a food bank set up in the foyer of the United Church.