Weeks since I last posted here. We have had two weeks of beautiful spring weather, marred only in the last few days by the fog and rain of late winter...the herring rain that falls when the herring are running on the coast. In First Nations communities up and down the coast, the winter ceremonies are ending and the food seasons are beginning: herring, oolichan, salmon, shellfish...The berries are showing life, with the salmonberries starting to shoot. They'll be followed by the thimbleberries, huckleberries, salal and finally the fat, juicy non-native Himalayan blackberries which will end our summer with purple stains and sweetness.

All of this promise is at hand. We even have foreshadowing of what is surely to be a summer of drought. After the storms of this winter it's incredible to see the creeks already receding.

A time of palpable change.