Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Our traditional summer high has crashed and let the cold northern low pressure masses in. It's pouring rain right now and pretty cool out. No change expected for a few more days.

Took the recycling over to the new depot today, even though the hours are Thursday to Monday, 8:30am - 2pm for now. It's amazing. Nice clean concrete floor and tons of space. They are taking tetrapaks now.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Look what I discovered today: Bowen has a disc golf course!
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.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

It was 38C in the shade yesterday, but the ocean was so cold I could only manage a dip.

Yin-Yang.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

It is as hot as it ever gets around here. Last night was unusually sticky, and sleeping outside was really the only option. Even still, a hot wind came up in the night - a warm Squamish - and provided some air movement, but it wasn't much cooler for the breeze.

We've been doing all kinds of summer things tha last week I've been at home. Swimming and eating at the beach, playing music down on the Pier, picking huckleberries (which are not a great crop this year) and trying to stay cool. It's fantastic. Lots of tourists around but only in the Cove and the trails and forests are surprisingly empty. Fire ban has taken effect, so no more burning in the new fire pit and the water ban is sure to follow soon.

We are transforming the outside of our house, with the new woodshed, which is what I am calling the walling in of the understory of the house. We're going to rip the deck off the front and replace it with a fenced in patio and raised beds for growing food. To make it easier to get to we'll add a set of stairs off the front porch. It's al back of the envelope at the moment, but it will completely change the property.

All around us, property is also being changed. The last remaining uncleared lots on Seven Hills have been sold and logging has started. And across the Channel, there are frequent huge explosions from the crews blasting apart Black Mountain to make the Horseshoe Bay by-pass. There is an atrocious scar there now across Eagleridge, and within a year or so four lanes of traffic will be happily winging their way to Whistler.

Monday, July 9, 2007

It is "baby seal left alone on the beach" season again here on Bowen Island.

Every summer, mother seals give birth and then put their babies on beaches while they go fishing. Baby seals don't have much stamina, so they rest and wait for mom to come back and nurse them. While they are waiting they kind of loll around alot and sleep. It seems that every year, a seal gets left on a public beach where it naturally attracts the interest of humans, some of whome think the lolling around and sleeping part means the seal is dying.

Baby seals left alone on beaches are generally just fine. If you see one LEAVE IT ALONE. If you are wondering what else to do call 604-258-SEAL for instructions. That is the number for the Vancouver Aquarium. Unless a seal is bleeding, it is fine. Even if it is making little "pleading" mewling sounds, it is fine. If it closes its eyes it is not dying. It is sleeping. If you remove it from the beach and the mother returns, you will orphan it. If their babies are gone, mother seals will not go looking for them. They will simply disappear and get on with their lives. Removing a baby seal from the beach will certainly orphan it and will likely kill it.

So here's the drill: if you find a seal on a beach leave the seal alone, keep dogs and well meaning humans away from it and call the Aqaurium, CAWES or the vet before you do anything else.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Just trolling around the BC Ferries website this afternoon and discovered a humorous little page of strange but true ferry stories.

Monday, July 2, 2007

Six years of blogging here at Bowen Island Journal. Thanks for reading along.

It has been a great long weekend here on the island. Yesterday had a great Canada Day celebration at the picnic field, with authentic Tex-Mex music (alright, wtf?) and the traditional kids vs. adults tug of war which I am pleased to say the adults won after getting our asses spanked the last two years by the little rug rats.

Summer. Awesome.