There could not have been a more perfect evening here on Bowen. After a day of hosting juggling at the community school, we headed home for a bit and then decided to go down to the Cove for a barbecue dinner on the Pier at the Dallas Marina. This is one of my favourite spots in the Cove, tucked away between the little cliff on Snug Point and the quiet side of the little Cove which is the entrance to our island. The tide was so high tonight that the blackberry bushes growing in the seawall were underwater. Nancy, who owns a taco stand was laying out Greek shishkabobs and the retro tunes of Taunting Mabel - a band of, shall we say, refined older women - belted out the tunes. Lots of friends there and to quote my friend Tom Moynihan, everyone had smiles on their faces.

When an impromptu shower came down around 8pm the party broke up and we wandered up to the ballfield to catch the last few innings of a convincing Firefighter's victory over the Cruisers. When that ended we decided to head home but got stopped by a party happening on the north east corner of the crossroads. The owners of Cape Roger Curtis had purchased a lease on the ld gas station and turned it into a temporary gallery and they were hosting a party with more kabobs and beer and fruit and juice for the kids. I stayed for a while, caught up with more friends I haven't seen in a while and met some of the people involved in the project. They are putting up a good front and to paraphrase one friend, they seem to have finally realized that their development project is actually taking place in a community full of people. One hopes that they will quickly come to realize that these lowly burghers are in fact the biggest asset that the Cape Roger Curtis consortium has going for them. It is us, well fed and libated on this night that make the project worthwhile and easy. The land itself is the star player, but the biggest asset for the project is the community. They owners seem to be realizing this, but I'm not sure it has fully sunk in. When it does, something magical may happen down there. Until it does all that will happen there will be business. But tonight it was a hopeful gathering so let's take it at face value.

As a result of everything happening, the Cove was hopping and just looked really good. The village was dressed in its finest - a warm night a high tide, lots of music floating on the air, the sounds of groups of people enjoying each other and the smell of food on the breeze.