As the local orca family hunts sea lions, the resident bald eagles leave for a pre-winter feast of salmon
When you live in the coastal rainforest, you learn the natural indicators that presage seasonal change. The mornings are getting darker, the days are becoming shorter and the evenings are definitely cooler. We swam on Sept. 3 but the ocean was noticeably colder. And we spent less time out front going through our exercise routines…
The summer of 2018’s last trip into Desolation Sound ended abruptly, and not because the weather changed
On the morning of Sept. 2, we decided to take a last trip in our boat into Desolation Sound, the world-class boating destination that lies a mere half hour from our Westview Marina berth in Powell River. All summer we’ve been popping in and out of this destination, taking advantage of blue skies and 30C…
In the selfish era of Donald Trump, McCain’s life offered a shining example of how to serve with distinction
It’s hard for Canadian citizens to take the full measure of an American politician like John McCain, whose route to public service glory began in the combat of the Vietnam War. Our country doesn’t particularly valourize the military and those who serve, unless perhaps they do peacekeeping missions with the United Nations overseas. McCain’s career…
Right across Canada, dramatic signs of climate change are casting a pall on the landscape
The last five summers at Skelhp, on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, have been progressively drier. We’ve had one significant wildfire nearby, in Sechelt Inlet, which wafted ash in a big brown plume over our regional air shed. The smoke from this fire three years ago caused us to close all the windows in the July heat…
The author of War on Peace demonstrates the kind of qualities that suggest a political career in the making
War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence (2018) by Ronan Farrow is a prescient work in the sense that it was five years in the writing, predating the diplomatic idiocy of U.S. President Donald Trump by a good three years. Its opening chapters detail the initial steps to weaponize the…
Falling asleep with bat gear ready, you don't know what to expect. You just have that Boy Scout sense that you’re prepared
“There’s a bat in the house!” shouted our daughter, fresh off the plane from London, just as she was preparing for a restful night in her parents’ country house. My wife and I were prepared, to tell the truth. The previous night we had heard the telltale swish of batwings in our bedroom and in…
After more than a little high-seas misadventure, the Frankie finally proves seaworthy – and sanitary
Back in 2012, we had a dreamboat, an 18-foot Hourston Glascraft. It was brand-new, had a magnificent 150-horsepower Yamaha four-stroke outboard, and quickly became the envy of the Skelhp government wharf. We paid monthly wharfage dues all summer and used it to fish and cruise. We christened her the Francine, after my then 90-year-old Mom.…
I’ve become much more prone to analyze daily social situations on the grounds of age, ethnicity and gender
Being older (I’m 67 and increasingly told this is old), white and male is being pointed out more and more these days. In less than glowing terms. While Donald Trump is arguably the global archetype of the boomer personae I’m describing, the phrase “old white man” is getting more deliberate usage in different parts of…
So long, Indian Village. Welcome, Elbow River Camp. The Stampede spirit shines through to embrace reconciliation
As a member of a family who never missed a Calgary Stampede in 30 years of Calgary residency, I was made incredibly happy by Facebook pal George Brookman’s recent post. His announcement was simple, and direct: “A wonderful representative of the Indigenous people, Cieran Starlight will be the last ‘Indian Princess’ to represent the ‘Indian…
I've been alive to observations and anecdotes of climate change for years. I now have hundreds of them stored in my memory
Imagine drilling into the accumulated layers of ice on Mount Logan, the highest peak in Canada at 5,959 metres in Yukon’s Saint Elias Mountains, to extract ice-cores for scientific study. Dr. Gerald Holdsworth, expeditionary climber and climate scientist at the University of Calgary’s Arctic Institute of North America had been doing it for years when…
And a full dose of air-conditioned museum comfort certainly doesn't hurt the appreciation of Picasso
Last week, thousands of Montrealers began to experience what I expect will gradually become a new phenomenon in global art gallery visitation – viewing art to get out of the heat. The heat wave (CBC news referred to it as “a heat event”) really descended on the city on the previous weekend, with Saturday’s temperatures…
The human spirit has evolved over several hundred thousand years and will survive Trump's crude behaviour
More and more, Newton’s third law makes sense in my volunteer life: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For many of us, these are dispiriting times. Trade wars, trashing of environmental regulations, insulting of long-term allies, and validation of racist and crude behaviours emanating from our American neighbours aren’t the norm…
Putting the Frankie back in the water signals the coming of summer adventures. But first we must perform the ritual launch dance
The day we put the Frankie back in the water and moor her at the community marina is a day of ritual celebration at our house. The day symbolizes a return to some of our family’s favourite activities – cruising in the local waters of the Salish Sea, fishing for wild salmon, and swimming in…
How do we cope with a bully? We stand united, with balance and nuance, and a boxer's certainty in our responses
Over the last year, we’ve watched and listened as the new American president demonstrated his rules of combat. Donald Trump is quick to anger and engage, but doesn’t like to fight in an open forum. He prefers after-the-fact actions, which mostly involve his basic vocabulary and most often find form on Twitter. Twitter is the…
Forty years ago, it was a deserted ground, tinged in sadness. Today, the region is enriched with spirit and purpose
Forty years ago, in 1978, my wife and I agreed to cap our first year of marriage with an adventure. We decided to follow in the paddle-strokes of good friends who had just kayaked to what was then called the South Moresby archipelago of the Queen Charlotte Islands. We chose the first two weeks of…