"I can't leave anything alone," he said, before launching into a series of poems on opening night at Cates Hill Chapel.

McWhirter's memories as a small boy, seeing oranges for the first time washed up on a beach, set the scene for his poem "Overboard". While being bitten by a lady bug ("Twice!" he noted indignantly) morphed into "The Rouge and the Black."

Arts council executive director Jacqueline Massey, making the introductions, quoted one of McWhirter's previous observations: "A poem is anything you look at twice."

The Write on Bowen! Festival was the brainchild of Carol Cram and showcased a mixture of island poets, writers, and songwriters.

After a full day of workshops and panels on Saturday, festival goers gathered on Sunday to walk in the Lieben Lands, a legendary writers' retreat where notables such as Malcolm Lowry, Alice Munro, Margaret Laurence, and Eric Nicol worked and played.

Opening night was MC'd by the multitalented 17-year-old Calder Stewart. First up was author James Glave, who read an excerpt from his newly published book "Almost Green: How I Built an Eco-Shed, Ditched my SUV, Alienated the In-Laws, and Changed my Life Forever".

In one section, six terrified males - The Green Team Extreme - try to move The Tankosaurus", a behemoth rainwater storage tank, into position.

As a last resort, he's forced to back his golden-pearl premium edition Lexus RX-300 into position to help move the tank and save the day. It seemed serendipitous that the SUV he was trying to ditch should play a leading role, he said. "It was as if the Lexus and I had made our peace."

Lisa Shatsky read six poems, including "On Not Reading Newspapers" and "Tell Us Something Nice", dedicating them to Bowen's beloved Ross Carter, who died June 29 at the age of 79.

Songwriter Julie Vik performed two of her songs, closing with "Shudder", as an alder tree grasps for life.

Perhaps the spirit of the festival could best be summed up by one of Bernice Lever's poems, "Going For the Gold", which she performed Friday night. It notes that sports and science set their benchmarks. . .

"yet in the arts
world-class achievement glows forever:
a shine to spur others
to their own excellence
not to better or to bury others
but to achieve their own brightness"

About two months ago I was so enthused and positive about our adoption progress; Mark's employer had said that they were willing to let him work from Zambia, we were finding money to cover our adoption and travel expenses, we'd be away in summer, so we could sublet our house while we were gone, and it seemed that we would be receiving a proposal any day. ah those were the good old days...

Today I'm wondering how long it will be for international adoptions from Zambia to get going, and when they do, will it work for independent adopters? I have so much respect for those involved in adoptions in Zambia, working so hard to make sure that everything is done ethically. It's just taking a really, really, really long time!! Couple that with their 3 month fostering requirement, and it makes adopting independently from Zambia pretty tricky!! If we could afford to have no income for 3 months, we could do it. If we knew when we were going, it would be easier for Mark to line up a contract to work on from there. At this point, though, it feels impossible. We've devoted our lives, for the last two years, to adopting. Since last summer, our goal has been to adopt from Zambia, and all of our emotional, financial, and mental resources have been aimed toward that goal. It's really, really hard to let go of that, but at this point it doesn't seem like we have much choice, unfortunately.

Our whole family is really sad about this loss; those two little kids who are supposed to be in our family just might not ever be here. If we had less debt, we could pay an agency to complete a Zambian (or Ethiopian) adoption for us, but we have come to realize that spending that much money right now is just not really an option; it's not fair to any of us to come home to the stress of overwhelming money worries. So after several really depressing days, I have come out the other end in a more peaceful place, and I'm ok if this never happens. It's really, really sad, and I think we'll feel a gap in our family, but it's ok. If it never happens, we will focus our efforts on donating money and our time to NGO's in Africa, specifically organizations that help orphans and families. We will travel to Africa when the kids are older and volunteer our time and efforts. we weren't adopting specifically to save a child from anything, but now that Africa's people and problems have touched us we are forever involved.

We're also at a bit of a crossroads in terms of where we want to be in our lives; Mark really wants to tailor his career more to his liking, and since we send him off every day to work while we play, we want him to be happy there. We might like to head to New Zealand to work for a while, we may like to move to California to be closer to family and friends there, to potentially move mark's career in a more creative direction, to get out of this blasted rain. Bowen Island is an amazing place to live, and especially to raise kids, but with Mark commuting every single day we just don't get to see him as much as we'd like. We love the peace and quiet here too, but it does get a little sleepy during those long, wet, gray winter months...

...so we've had to scrap the idea of adopting right away, and we'll see what we want to do when we land on our next adventure... unfortunately there is no shortage of kids needing families, no matter where you go...

I want to thank everyone who has been on this journey with us, supporting us in so many different ways. It's hard to let go of such a beautiful dream, but I have faith that we'll get there one way or another, it just isn't going to be the path we thought it was.

Life really is all about the journey, and for the last two years we've been working so hard to skip to the destination.  I'm looking forward to just taking a deep breath and remembering how to live in the moment.  Until the next destination presents itself, anyway.

And what is the connection with the Salish Sea? It was written by Spider here, on Bowen Island.

Technorati Tags: Spider Robinson

CBC Radio One will be broadcasting a comedy in honour of the day , delivered by the "Almost Ready for Self Government' players.....great name and hope they are as funny as the gang at Dead Dog in the City (Dead Dog Cafe).  

Many Hoichka (thank you in Squamish but I probably spelled it wrong :D )

Technorati Tags: lawnmower, Snapper

That's Mt. Strachan, part of Cypress Bowl, on the left. The weather was mainly cloudy and from sea level it looks is if there is barely any snow up there. It feels like summer down here. The next picture was taken 3 hours later from the top of that line of snow...

Up here the snow is still deep and plentiful. There's my home, Bowen Island. [More pictures, including a rare one of me, in the next pane. Click the title if you cannot see them.]

Technorati Tags: Cypress Bowl, Bowen Island, Robert Ballantyne, ski, Mt. Strachan

The peak by my right ear is Sky Pilot. To the left, and in the distance is Mt. Garibaldi. The stony pillar is the East Lion. I think this is the best skiing of the year. I can ski in shorts, the days are long and often sunny, and spring corn snow is the best. I'd take this over short frigid dark winter days -- which is a high price to pay for a little powder. There were just a few hikers, snowshoers and skiers up there. We saw no one as we skied down through old-growth glades. Real wilderness, and we are still in the town of West Vancouver.

For the record: this year, on May 24th, there is snow all the way down to the parking lot (and Olympic Construction site).

We are near the bottom of the run, just above the level of the Howe Sound Crest Trail. Now it is a clear day without a cloud above. Compare the snow conditions with the same hill on June 3, 2006.

http://www.twitterlocal.net/show/Bowen+Island%2C+BC%2C+Canada/20

Since I spend many of my days at my computer, twittering should be easy for me. If I sound reluctant it is because I see something happening here with Twitter, but I know I just don't get it. If you do, please explain it to me.

One plus for Twitter is that with this blog I can have the RSS feed for my tweets appear in the sidebar. So, you can see my last 10 tweets at the bottom of the sidebar. That alone makes Twitter useful for distant family to see some very-current news about me.

While they were out, I got a chance to browse for books on amazon, and even made a wishlist, filled up a cart...and then they came home and I didn't get a chance to actually buy anything.   We're trying not to spend any money on anything right now, in anticipation of our trip to africa, and because mark's cheep motorcycle is now, of course, falling apart and in need of many repairs....it's always something, ain't it?   But even though we have a moratorium on spending, our children's bookshelf is in dire need of a little africanization, and of course, we need the appropriate adoption-themed books.   I'd make a cute little list of them, like some considerate and helpful bloggers do, but I've got to get to bed!   I'll link to my amazon wishlist so you can see what fabulous books my research led me to... http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/9J8ZJ8NTLC16 

I'm hoping to bring a few with us when we travel to africa for our fostering period -- do you think maybe having cutie little children's books will help the kids we're adopting to not wonder what the hell is going on, and where are these white people taking us??  that's what we're hoping too...

Well. 

First there was this guy, tearing all the bark off a tree in front of the house...

and then there were these creatures we ran into on our way to the beach...

all of those creatures together started hunting these creatures...

 and came up with handfuls like these...

Then of course, *snif* there was this little guy...

Sal. 

Ah, Sal, your time with us was brief, but your memory will live on. 

Some of us were VERY sad to see you go...

but with one last hug here...

and another last hug there...

we were able to stand together, amid cries of "I can't bear it!!" and release you back to your rightful place on this earth.  well, we actually upgraded you a little from the giant log we originally found you under, that would have squished your little melon if anyone rolled it over, to a more out-of-the-way treestump where you would live on, safe and well-fed.

and yes, there was a bit of snow that day, thanks.  

It is beginning to look like we will, in fact, hopefully, probably, be able to actually adopt from Zambia.  We're hoping to travel in late may/early june, or whenever they end the suspension.   We haven't been given a referral yet, so we don't know who will be coming into our family yet.  we'll let you know as soon as we do!!

And on a sadder note, Mark's mom, the wonderfully spirited Grandma Dodie, has left the building.  We knew it was coming for a long time, and made many trips to go see her while she could still enjoy the kids, and they could still get a little gramma lovin'.  Here's a photo taken last summer, of the kids harvesting veggies for dinner with grandma...

here's one of Dodie and Maurice (her beau) strolling in the woods here on Bowen in May '07...

She was surrounded by her loving family for her passing, and there was much love, support, and healing while we were there visiting.  Once we came home we really started to miss her, and Dexter has been propping up her photo so she can share in family fun with all of us.  He really wanted her to help with dyeing easter eggs, but he had to be content with her just watching and smiling. 

We've been enjoying the increasingly warm weather, with hikes and such.   We went on a big hike down to a beautiful beach here on Bowen.  Dexter had just cut his hair, and Lucy drew bonus freckles on herself, so the kids are lookin' extra good here!

our destination...

tidepools!

anemones!  anenomes?  whatever... please excuse the wierd cropping...

gettin' a little vitamin D...

and later I'll thrill you with the story of Sal, the roughskin newt (not a salamander at all, as his name would imply) who was in our home for a few short days, but will live in our hearts forever...

 off to enjoy the sunshine!!

The flowers are some of the forest canopy now growing on the forecourt of the Vancouver Art Gallery in the centre of the City. Last Tuesday, after several days of rain, the sky partly cleared, and I headed for the local hills. As the ferry departed Snug Cove, I could see the new snow up in the hills. The images are thumbnails.

An hour after I boarded the ferry, I was skiing up the hikers' route on Hollyburn Ridge. My ski poles showed there was about 8 inches of fresh snow. A bit of a crust 2" down easily supported the skis. I was on the top of the ridge in another hour and 20 minutes. The second picture shows a telemark skier about to make his second turn off the Summit of Hollyburn. Up there it was dark, overcast, and snowing vigorously. The cloud and the precip is a local event caused by the sea air flowing up the mountain.

The descent is always faster than climbing, so within a few moments I was out from under the dense cloud and could glimpse Vancouver and the Lions Gate Bridge. To find fresh snow I was making my own tracks through the glades. I was alone in this beautiful forest. Often the sun was shining.

The tour ends under a major power line just above the road. There are still dark clouds overhead, but a few moments after I started to drive down, I was in the sun. A beautiful spring day.

Technorati Tags: Hollyburn, snowpack, Snug Cove, Telemark

Bowen Island

Downtown Vancouver

Howe Sound

Mount Baker

Seymour Valley

http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html

...and while I'm on the subject of global sustainability, I'll post this link I just found today, which I love so much I'm adding it to my blogroll...

http://www.thebutterflytree.org.uk/pages/

c'mon now, peeps, sing it with me... "we are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving...."  (or, as in the case of the former video, just not buying in the first place...)

off my soapbox!

and in our own family's consumeristic news, we've stumbled onto a nearly free motorcycle that will cut mark's commute in half, but cause me to think he's dead on the roadside every single morning and every single evening.  fun.

The map on the left will work for 9 PM, mid-latitudes in the northern hemisphere, during the month of February. Click for full-size image. (It is actually set for the night of February 23 and the latitude of Bowen Island.) The map on the right shows the track of Comet Holmes. It begins on February 1. There are ticks for the position on Feb. 11, Feb. 21, and March 2. The track ends on March 5. If you have a telescope, and you would prefer some R.A. and Dec. data, there is an ephemeris posted here by the Institute of Astronomy - U. of Cambridge.

Technorati Tags: Comet Holmes, Sky map, star map

Technorati Tags: hummingbird, snow

Technorati Tags: Quadrantid meteors

The temperature was above freezing, and the Moon with Mars as a very nearby companion, emerged to light our way. Just about the time when folks were tired of walking, and feeling a bit cold, we returned to the host's where there was a huge pot-luck dinner, and lots more music.

Technorati Tags: caroling

After days of precipitation, we have a lovely clear evening. The temperature is hovering just above freezing. There is a brilliant moon near Comet Holmes in the sky. Shortly after 7 PM PST I went out to see the comet. Nothing. So, I took the time to become dark-adapted. Now 7:31 PM, and I have seen the comet. I used some software to make my computer screen dimmed red, and kept my dark adaption. On the computer I checked the exact position of the comet. Outside again, I used a tree so I could stand it its shadow (moonlight). On a line from Mirfak to Kappa Perseus, the comet was a vague faint cloud in the bluish (not black) sky, and at right angles “above” that line. I could see HIP13965 and HIP13713 (6th mag stars). The comet is at the tip of a long isosceles triangle formed with those faint stars. Actually, it fills lots of the space between those 2 stars and Kappa. It helps that the binoculars are hand-held. The contrast between the comet and the sky is so low that the comet is best seen because it is ‘moving’ in the field as a result of my unsteady hands. The sky map (above) looks much better if you right-click and open it full-size.

Technorati Tags: Comet Holmes, star map

Technorati Tags: Bowen Island, Horseshoe Bay, Howe Sound, Pam Rocks, Vancouver, YVR

I remember the first time I drove that road, in October or November of 1989. That autumn I thought I'd left winter behind, on the prairies.

Suddenly, there beyond the Sound, was a row of high jagged mountains, brilliant with fresh snow in the morning sunlight. I didn't know then how many of my adventures would begin by driving to a trail-head (or a place where there was no trail) somewhere in the land of those dramatic hills.

Today, on Bowen it is a mild, sunny, December day. The snow of last week is long gone. Checking the temperature at Pam Rocks -- an automatic weather station in the middle of Howe Sound, I can see that the temperature is 2º C (36º F). Nice. I may go for a walk on Bowen today.

This is what I find fascinating: at the airport (YVR) the temperature is -4º C, and has been dropping from 0º C since 10 PM last night. Today it is warmer in the Sound than in the rest of the Lower Mainland.

Often it is the other way around.

When the snow on Bowen Island began to fall in earnest last week, I called members of my family who were in Vancouver, to suggest that they head home or I might not be able to drive on the island hills to pick them up at the ferry. "Really? There is no snow falling in Vancouver."

I remember a night a few years back when there was a mighty gale blowing down the Sound, and BC Ferries decided to keep their boat safely tied up at the terminal. When I arrived in Horseshoe Bay to take the ferry home I saw the violence and tasted the salt in the air. I was stuck on the mainland. When I drove to Dundarave, in nearby West Vancouver, to telephone a friend to say I was his house-guest for the night, there wasn't even a breeze.

Last Monday the station at Pam Rocks reported a strange story. Between 1 AM and 8 AM the temperature gradually rose from 1º C to 4º C. At 9 AM the temperature had shot up to 12º C.

Over at the airport there was an constant increase in the temperature from 1º C at 8 PM to 10º C at 8 AM.

Was the temperature gauge at Pam Rock stuck?

No. All night Pam Rocks reported winds from the North or North-North-East 45 to 60 Km/h with gusts to 70 Km/h. Suddenly, the 9 AM report showed the wind was from the South at 37 Km/h with gusts to 69 Km/h.

I interpret this to mean that as long as the wind into Howe Sound was flowing down from the interior mountains to the north, the air was cold. When the wind shifted 180º to the south we were receiving a balmy breeze off the Pacific Ocean and the temperature shot up.

snow angels in the setting sun...

some scenery...

blurry photo of our little snug cove ferry at the bottom, the ferry to nanaimo, and the ferry to the sunshine coast near the top... 

and just as the rain came to wash all the snow away, I asked hairy-chested-pirate to stand in front of the snow for me, just to get a good measure...

For those of us who like snow... today it is here. Story in the next pane [click the title if you cannot see it...]

Technorati Tags: Cypress Bowl, hummingbird, snow, Snug Cove, Vancouver

There was rain, then sleet on Monday. When I took a ferry to town for meetings on Tuesday afternoon, Snug Cove was looking cold and frosty.

It has been a chilly week here on the Island.

And then some snow yesterday, then a big dump today.

These last pictures were taken today as dusk approached and it was still snowing. Not a great picture, but that is the best I could capture of the hummingbird at the feeder outside my office. The little bird made many visits this afternoon. These are all thumbnails, please click for the full image.

Technorati Tags: Geminid, sky map, Comet Holmes, meteor shower

The first map shows the whole sky for the month of December 2007. The the black stars on a white background make it suitable for printing. Everything will appear exactly as shown at 11 PM on the night of December 24. Note that on that night the moon is just a little past full, so there will be a brilliant waning gibbous moon on Christmas Eve.

The next two maps are identical, except the middle one shows white stars in a black sky. It shows the track of Comet Holmes during December 2007. There are ticks that show the position at 8 PM for Dec 1, Dec 11, Dec 21 and Dec 30. There is also a circle to show the approximate size of a binocular field. The trick is to use the all-sky map to find the star, Mirfak, and then use one of these close-up maps to locate the comet. The maps are for Bowen Island, but will work well for any mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Geminid Meteor Shower is on the night of December 14. This is right after the new moon, so if the sky is clear, it will be dark, and this should be the best meteor shower of the year. A single observer could observe as many as 120 meteors per hour that night.

Oh, about Comet Holmes... It is now so big that even in the telescope's lowest power eyepiece, it fills and extends beyond the entire field. The observer has to move the telescope to discover that the haze is really the comet, and you can see the edge of the comet and, beyond it, the real black sky. The explosive behavior of the comet makes this one of the most unusual observable events in astronomy during my lifetime

Technorati Tags: Comet Holmes, dobsonian, telescope

Below are printable maps of the current night sky and the comet's location. The first shows the features of the eastern sky tonight at 8:30 PM. The second shows the sky with a circle the same size as the field of 7x50 binoculars. The brightest star in the circle is Mirfak, the brightest star in the Constellation of Perseus. Click the thumnails for the full-size maps.

The telescopes should be ready for observing by 8:00 PM. I'd be surprised if anyone wants to continue much after 9 or 9:30 PM. It will be chilly.

Technorati Tags: Comet Holmes, map

Here's the funny thing about where I live...

All weekend long, we showed off our beeyouteeful island to grandma claudia and grandpa verne in the crisp autumn sunshine.  Here is my first attempt at a slideshow, to depict the gist of our weekend for you.  We had kids, grandparents, lollipops, driftwood treasure, and my pathetic beachglass artistry for entertainment... all in the sunshine!!

!!!

 ok, so imagine my surprise, when monday turned out like this:

and this one too, just because it's kinda purty...

I know!  Wierd!  Especially for a gal from california.  But exciting nonetheless.

To make things even more exciting, my normally acrobatic husband also leapt from a great height this morning at the foot of our walkway, so he wouldn't have to walk all the way around behind the aforementioned grandparents' gigantic car.  He was wearing his big boy backpack that he is always fussing about being so durn heavy, what with his big boy laptop in it and all.  Anyway, he leapt from a great height, tripped over his stylish converse sneakers (which we call hardsox around here) and twisted his ankle on his way down to the cold, cold ground.  My dad was taking a smoke break on the deck at the time, and came in to announce "mark is laying at the bottom of the driveway"....which concerned me, since mark is a diabetic, and though he's never passed out since I've known him, it's always a possibility.  Plus, sometimes people just kick off, you know?   One minute they're jaunting out the door with their heavy backpack, the next minute they're laying at the bottom of the driveway dead.  Stranger things have happened... 

So, I bolted out of my comfortable position eating cheerios, and raced down to aid him.   My dad and I helped him hobble back up our insanely steep walkway (which is probably nice and icy by now...) and he took up his position thusly:

We pushed our two couches together to make a nice place for an invalid, and he worked on his animation while we jumped rope in the house, played, and enjoyed the snow, then we watched the 'shallow seas' episode of the series 'planet earth' on dvd -- a series we're really enjoying...well, except for a few nights ago when Lucy was sobbing as a lion pride took down a small elephant...oh, and today when the great white sharks were torturing and swallowing seals whole... other than that, it's a great series!!  dang nature.

Now the kids are upstairs belting out 'hannah montana' songs, pretending to be Miley and Jackson... but I'm not sure I'm supposed to announce that on the worldwide web : ).

until we meet again, thanks for stopping by!