One GOOD thing did appear at the forum recently...this story of our local vets heroically saving a nursing doe from abroken leg.

We have pretty much moved out here for the summer. THis is our front porch which faces out over Mannion Bay and the Queen Charlotte Channel. In the fall and winter, this porch lies between us and the gales of the autumn, but in summer, the covered deck keeps the sun off and drinks in the cool air off the water. Even on days of 30 degrees or more, it's never more than 23 or so on his porch.

As a result, our lives have become focused on this space. We are all sleeping out here at night and as you can see from the foreground, the office has moved here too. Meals are eaten on our little teak table and we look down upon the garden and the sea and just relax into summer on this beautiful island.

And it has been a great summer. Weather has held steady and unlike last year, we've had hot and sunny days punctuated every couple of weeks with a burts of rain. We're expecting more this weekend, during the Men's Fastpitch tournament.

In news, the turf war is proceeding full on. The debate centres on the installation of artificial turf at the BICS field. Different groups of people are taking each other on over process, cost, environmental impact and the removal of trees. These four issues seem to be hot points.

For me, it's interesting. Many people I know and like are on both sides of these issues, and the thing that keeps me from getting involved is thatI'm hearing lots of personal comments and attacks against friends of mine on both sides. It's strange because the stories I'm hearing don't equate with my reality. So in general, in case you want to know where I stand, I'm with folks who are working on finding good information and working with each other to see what can come from co-creative planning and collaboration. I am put off by rants and people trying to convince me of the merits of their position, and I'm especially repelled by people who are just making up suppositions and implications about people I know. So if you're reading and you think I should agree with you, or line up against so and so, please hold your thoughts to yourself. If you'd like my opinion on how to work together, I can help out with that.

Our innocuous little forum has become toxic over the issue and I don;t even go there anymore. The link is on the sidebar. Visit at your peril.

Bottom line: at the end of the day we need each other. There is a mega earthquake scheduled for this part of the world at any time, and given that that might happen tomorrow or in 100 years, we need to be on good terms with one another. And anyway, this issue will pale to that one. There are many other things facing this island that need neighbourliness to be intact, ike affordability, sustainability and other good things. So my advice to the combatants in this is do your best to get a good resolution, but if you find yourself alienated from neighbours over this issue, put it in perspective. Bring them a gift of a jar of jam, or some fresh baked bread and apologize for offenses intended or otherwise, and remember what is most important here. Getting along is more valuable than any other solution to the turf war.

And that's my piece spoken. Back to enjoying the summer.

The Undercurrent is delivering great online stuff finally. Along with Bowen TV, we're rocking...

This weeks wrap up:

• Coverage of Ross Carter's memorial, from Lois, his wife, who write the Island Chronicles column.
• Controversy swirling about the installation of an artifical turf field at the school, and the subsequent loss of trees.
• Nice review of Canada Day.
• Our first annual writers and readers festival was a success!
• Bowen TV coverage of the forest fire.
• A tour of the Marina
  

The best of the loveliest of days. The weather is perfect, and we hosted a noice little party for friends this evening, capping a day in which I spent a terrific few hours hanging out with my friend Jeremy Hiebert from Summerland. Jeremy and I are old blog friends, and we get together every few years with that natural kind of "pick it up where we left off" kind of feel. Today I picked Jeremy up in the Cove, we came back up to the house for some beers and then we went for a little drive about, poking around Artisan Square and then hitting Hood Point beach for the nicest swimming of the year so far. Finn came with us and sniped at us from behind the big old tree there with a super soaker water gun. It has been a perfect summer so far. Not even the 24 small lacerations on my leg caused by an errant weed whacker have managed to make a dent in the vibe.

Lots of folks are leaving Bowen these days, many of them heading for Gabriola Island. Corbin Keep and Cindy Marsden left last week and Mara Brenner and Stu are looking at leaving soon as well. Our good friends the Hardin's are moving back to Manitoba next month.

I suppose it has always been like this - people coming and going - but it seems unfair that we are losing all of these good people. The economics of Bowen are not easy at all - it is hard to make a good living on island and commuting into Vancouver is becoming prohibitively expensive. BC Ferries operates now as a business rather than a public service and the fares increase once and sometimes twice a year. When I moved here in 2001 the price of a book of ten walk on tickets was $27.00 making a return fare to Bowen less than the price of a bus ticket into Vancouver. That same fare is now $5.20, with the commuter discount. Rents on Bowen are expensive and there are very few spots available for a family. The irony is that the economy is so high end now that the businesses like Tuscany Restaurant can't get the help they need to take advantage of the wealth in this market. With no affordable housing, service sector employees are coming to work from the continent, and with that ferry fare, they have lost a good chunk of their first hour or two of work just getting here.

I know lots of people read my blog here as they are deciding to move to Bowen, so my advice if you are thinking of it is to be careful about whether you can actually afford to live here. At this point the housing market is going a little soft, and you can get nice houses under $600,000, but in most of the rest of Canada, that would buy you half a province. So think about it carefully.

The economics are hard if you didn't get here when we did, when the housing market was cheap and interest rates were low. That's the reality, and I count myself as lucky that we are able to stay here, even as many of our friends head to more affordable and prosperous climes. It's funny to think of Bowen as so rich, we're impovrished, but that seems to be the case. Alas, we still have the great beaches, and good friends and sockeye salmon and veggie burgers to grill on the barbeque. Summer is what it is.

Summer time means things are dry. The Alska high has taken up residence in the Gulf of Alaska, funnelling beautiful weather our way. Yesterday there was a might northwesterly blowing -- all kinds of seaweed at Bowen Bay tonight -- and while we were overnigting it in Vancouver a small fire broke out on the mountainside not far from our house. James Glave, across the valley took some video of the water bombers that were called in to douse the flames, and they did a marvelous job. Everything is safe and sound, but for the love of humanity people...NO OPEN FIRES!

John Dumbrille posts a modest report about his team's successful defence of their University Master's World Cup title. This is a world class seven-a-side soccer tournament that John's team won last year as well.

Yeah Canada! Yeah Bowen!

Strange night last night. We had thunderstorms all night for the first time since I can remember being on the coast. It was a very Ontario kind of summer evening. The water was very still and the air got quite moist before it unloaded around 10:00 and kept going until dawn. A great soak for the garden.

The day before, Canada Day was a hit, with Morris Men and organic carrot cake from the Ruddy Potato and the firefighters soaking the crowd to end the festivities.

Summer is in full swing, and the garden is coming up beautifully, considering this is our first year. Today we ate the first two snow peas, and the tomatoes are coming along. Beans,, brussels sprouts, strawberries and blueberries are all promising. In the forest, the salal is turning from flowers to berries and the huckleberries are almost ready to harvest.