Back from Maui to nice cold winter weather. Seems that we missed some pretty decent rain while we were away, and a good windstorm or two. There were snow flurries today.

It's nice to be home.

It has been a lovely Christmas on Bowen again this year, with snow and fog and rain and a colder start to winter than we normally get. I have upgraded my camera and now am the proud owner of a Cannon Sure Shot 720 with which I have resumed documenting life around here. And so here is a recent set of photos from today and yesterday, walking around the island. The highlights:

• Moss on an alder
• Sword ferns
• Snow on the mountains across the channel in the afternoon sun
• The trail from Deep Bay to the Lagoon, slipping away
• A logged, blasted and cleared lot down the hil for us. This wasteland can be yours for $300,000.
  

Cool weather the last few days. We had a bit of snow mid week and then yesterday high southeasterly gales. Aine and I were crossing to Horseshoe Bay and she spotted some foamy white spray on top of the water in the lee of Bowyer Island. As we watched water rose up in swirling clouds off the sea, more like huge dust devils than tornadoes. It was only the second time in my life I have seen these things in the Queen Charlotte Channel although they aren't that uncommon. We should have a local name for them...suggestions in the comments.

It is a beautiful still morning. The sun has just risen above Eagleridge on the mainland. THe water is the colour of a summer sky and the sky is the colour of a robin's egg. It's cold and yet there is no hint of a katabatic breeze, meaning that overnight all of the cold air has sunk to the valley bottoms and the creek beds where rocks will be coated with a thick layer of frost. Juncos and chickadees are the only noise makers outside, except for a deer which has taken up temporary residence beneath our house where it empties out the chicken feed we leave for the neighbourhood chooks.

Much is happening on a Bowen Saturday. Thinking about chopping some wood this morning, taking the recycling out, going to juggling club and then witnessing friends testing for their blackbelts before heading to the annual Tir na Nog Christmas party. But for now, I'm sitting before the fire, tea in hand, eye on the rising sun.

Currently in the midst of what passes for a blizzard here on the west coast. The snow is falling heavily and has been all day. The winds have been strong at times, with the Squamish blowing at 75km/h this morning out at Pam Rocks. The island is coated in snow which is melting a little on contact with the ground and then freezing, so it's very slippery out on the roads.

I have to head out to Phoenix tomorrw, which will be a nice escape, but I have no idea what will happen with my flight. And poor Caitlin, Aine and Finn will be left alone here to fend for themselves. Lots of split wood for the stove and a big pot of soup on the boil for the inevitable power outage.

We have had a relatively tame November thus far. Only one big wind storm some rain and a 15 cm snowfall earlier this week. But mostly it's been clear and cool with lots of sun this week and the mountains sporting their coat of white down to the 1000 meter level.

The salmon have been having hard time of it this year. Only seven chum have shown up and no coho yet. That's the poorest return in all the years I have lived here. It doesn't necessarily mean anything - salmon are notorious for being unpredictable - but it's a little sad nonetheless.

Stats from yesterday's storm are in. We received more than 60 mm of rain and the winds gusted upwards of 90km/h, which was my guess.

Today is beautiful, a crisp and clear fall day. Finn and I went down to the golf course to play his first ever full round. I shot a 56 despite bogeying two holes (I'm not shy! Tough greens again...), and he beat me on bingo, bango, bongo by one point. That's where you receive a point for the first on the green, closest to the hole and longest putt. With three points available on each hole, it doesn't matter much what your stroke score is. He beat me on the ninth hole when I misread the distance and lofted a six iron over the green. He had a beautiful 30 yard approach shot end up about 15 feet from the pin. I pitched on, closer than him for the point, but then missed my putt by a hair. He putted out with a six incher and won the game. His short game is pretty good for a seven year old and he hit his stride with his five wood on the fairway.