It has been probably one of the driest Octobers on record here. The fall storms have not yet arrived in any volume, and, in fact the last couple of days have felt like we made the switch to winter. It has been colder and sunny with strong Sqaumish winds pouring down the Sound.

Winter is clearly coming to the north, as today I saw scaups, hooded mergansers and pied-billed grebes on the Lagoon. We don't have nearly enough water in the creeks yet for the salmon, but a rain storm last Sunday put some flow to the weir. Still, no chum yet, no snow on the mountains. We're two weeks behind. It's all making for a really nice Hallowe'en night though.

Despite the strange climatic dynamics, things are moving along on the Island. Gin has moved Tha Happy Italian coffee bar from his space beneath the pub to a space beneath The Ruddy Potato, across the road. He has renamed it “The Happy Isle” as a nod to Bowen's past, and he's now the first coffee bar on Bowen to be doing latte art.

Up the hill, in Artisan Square, our Bowen Island Taekwondo dojang has moved into a new building next to the Galley, and the Galley owners have opened a small movie theatre above the restaurant. Down the road a little a phenomenal art show has opened at the BIAC gallery. It is a show of art produced in chocolate sponsored by Cocoa West and the Bowen Island Arts Council and it is the perfect blend of the enterprise and art that is bubbling right now at Artisan Square. It seems that the square is really coming into its own now.

And so we get ready for Hallowe'en tonight and I'm hard at work preparing the October edition of Island Time which will have more audio about all of the above. In the meantime, enjoy these photos of a crystal clear autumn day on Bowen.