This week, we headed to Vancouver Island.
Took the ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo. The plan was to spend two nights camping at Parksville and two nights in Victoria. Everything went pretty much according to plan.
Our purpose was to remind ourselves about the joys and limitations of living in BC. We stopped at Duncan, Sooke, Nanaimo and Brentwood. We camped at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park in Parksville.
On the ferry to Vancouver Island, I checked out BC Bookworld. I noted a review of ‘Love of the Salish Sea Islands: new essays, memoirs and poems by 40 Island Writers, by Mona Fertig (ed) and Gail Sjuberg (see page 24). I also noticed a copy of ‘The Nature of Canada’ edited by Colin Coates and Graeme Wynn. I resisted the temptation of purchase because I knew that there would be a time in Victoria to visit Munro’s bookstore, always a must when in the BC capital.
The splendour of the landscape, the BC outdoor lifestyle removed the desire to put my nose in a book. I can save my purchases for another time, another place.

However, at Munro’s, I did find Ground Work: Writings on Places and People, edited by Tim Dee.
“We live in an age where everything is being determined by the activities of just one soft-skinned, warm-blooded, short-lived pedestrian species. How then, should we live in the ruins that we have made? “
“These rich and varied essays bring together voices from diverse backgrounds and geographies.” Guardian.
Back in Walnut Grove, there will be time to savour both the British perspective (Tim Dee) and the Canadian perspective (Coates and Wynn).
“The Nature of Canada will make you think differently not only about Canada and its past but also quite possibly about Canada and its future.”
Wynn is Professor Emeritus at UBC in Geography and Environmental History. Coates teaches Canadian Studies and Environmental History at York University.
We have a week of ‘downtime’ in Walnut Grove: to enjoy family, the walking trails, community recreation centre. Tonight (Friday) we will attend the Jazz Festival at Fort Langley. Next week, we leave for Haida Gwaii. The joys are apparent: landscapes and people. The limitations are all questions of economics.
Acknowledgements
To Laurel, Nic and their extended family for logistic support. To Glen and Shelley for memories of Edmonton, and Royal Roads University, and advice on knee injuries. Heather for sharing the journey. Edward for his graphics contribution.
References
BC Bookworld. Volume 33, No. 2. Summer, 2019.
Tim Dee (Ed.) 2018. Ground Work: Writings on Place and People. Vintage Press.
Colin W. Coates and Graeme Wynn. (Eds.) 2019. The Nature of Canada. UBC Press.
In his essay ‘Two Minds’,

Before heading to Langley, BC via Calgary and Vancouver airport, there was time for some retrospective homework. On the plane, I had the time to read John DeMont
This resulted in a link between COGS and BIOTROP. We designed a program linking Information Technology to Resource Management. Canadian graduates were hired to effect the technology transfer of GIS and other software. I look forward to receiving an update, after two decades. Will the programs mirror the conversations on citizen science described at the Esri User Conference?
This week, between Canada Day and Independence Day, we went down to Brooksville, Maine to visit Andrew, Julia and family at Julia’s Mothers house. Besides the kayaking, sailing and beach access we discovered a part of ‘the back to the land’ history.
For those interested, check out the following web site
To get there is very simple. Take the Digby-St John ferry, drive to the Canada/US border at St Stephen/Calais. Take the Airliner, Route #9 towards Bangor. About two thirds along head south on #179 to Brooksville. Specifically, both The Good Life Centre and Four Season Farm are at Harborside.
This set the scene, giving us a biography of Buckler’s life. Later in the program, we listened to readings by Ken Maher, Anne Crossman and a play “A Glance in the Mirror‘, featuring Ken Maher, Gordon Keel and Gloria Saesura.
One last story, related to the event. On Friday, Heather and I were in Windsor to pick up a couple of rain barrels. We stopped at the Readers’ Haven, a second-hand bookstore in town. I found a copy of John DeMont’s earlier book 
Thursday morning at the Berwick Fire Hall, it was the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the 
Just stopped for lunch at the Paradise Corner Cafe, chowder and homemade meat pie. Their byline is:
Besides the celebration, we checked out the 


Next weekend, the
It is a dark, detective story, set and filmed in Iceland. Part of the attraction was landscape photography. This somewhat coincided with another Netflix offering
One idea came from a quick read of the first few chapters of the novel, “
Anne Crossman sent me the link to a ‘green interview’ by
One of Atwood’s action has been to contribute to the ‘
In preparation for the EBLES event on June 29th, we have been assembling a representative list of local books. This includes the work of Bob Bent, Marilyn Jones-Bent and Dianne Legard who are part of the Panel Discussion. It is truly remarkable the number of writers living in this part of Nova Scotia. Meanwhile, we are connecting with our invited guests: Whit Fraser and John DeMont.
With the increased use of social media, how is that impacting the quality of the reporting in the traditional media? At what point, do we stop purchasing the newspaper? If all your information arrives electronically, then you are subjected to a barrage of advertisements and other material that matches your ‘electronic profile’.
It is from another place and another time. We both grew up at 39 Hazel Close,