December 2024
Greetings, dear friends and family!
How quickly the year has come around again, to an end and a beginning. Life is a flash of memories and we’re grateful for this year past, and all our forty-five years of good challenges that are life in these outer islands. The every day natural beauty is sometimes overwhelming and always nourishing. Real community goodness is another special part — even while human craziness is undoing way too much of what makes life on earth such a wondrous gift.
This year, our First Nation neighbours are helping guide a conservation effort that feels like real reconciliation. And we realize that in the end, it’s human friendships and simple persistence that keep us charged.
We are blessed with a garden that feeds us well — so much kale! And hydroelectric from the creek that keeps us warm and brightens the long dark of winter. We love and hate the internet but it’s amazing and ties us to the wider world community.
Coast Mountain Expeditions and Getaways at Discovery Islands Lodge continue, with son Albert at the helm and us as maintenance crew tasked with summer time boat driving and kitchen duties. Ralph is making good use of his tractor and little excavator: we have some wonderful new trails and he brings (unfortunately many) dead/dying trees to the sawmill where he produces beautiful wood for all kinds of projects. I’m enjoying quieter days and struggling a little with the new online bookkeeping. We both have ambitions and lists that seem to grow longer even while we accomplish things – but we might need to admit that perhaps we’re just a little slower than in our more youthful days? There is so much to be done and we’re extra glad for help from friends and “wwoofers” in trade for island experiences.
We’re thrilled that daughter Emily and her partner Coady are settled nearby on Quadra Island, where she is able to work from their home for a nonprofit doing watershed restoration and Coady uses his sailboat for fishery and other eco-monitoring projects. Coady’s daughter Salix (16) is good company when she’s not at the CIA (Cortes Island Academy 🙂 an alternative public high school next-island-over. Hazel the dog rounds out that household.
Albert and Kate and Koda (5) and Shiloh (3) are at home in beautiful Nelson, BC. This is unfortunately a long journey over several mountain passes so our visits are infrequent – and very special! Koda is gobbling information and thriving in kindergarten just down the road from home, and Shiloh is a treasured kid at Waldorf daycare when parents get to their work. They have a sweet new rescue dog named Nova.
Dogs, dogs… and we’re so glad we still have Cedar, our faithful 12 year old buddy. He’s in good shape and continues to love forest bushwhacking more than just about anything — and so do we! We’re also glad for each other and togetherness and good health that allows us to have lots of fun times.
We’re growing our settler community’s relationship with the Homalco First Nation, the people of swift-moving waters whose traditional territory includes Read Island. We have a new conservation-stewardship agreement and are working to achieve a large protected area with healthy living forests and associated biodiversity. We’re delighted to be joining with the Nation — becoming friends, learning about their needs and interests, finding shared values and working together towards goals common to both our communities…
Life is full and rich and beautiful and we also are blessed with so many amazing people who continue to keep us in heart and mind. We love you each and all, and we wish you a healthy happy satisfying year ahead!! Thank you for doing your best to cause change for the better, and for battling when good fights are the only way. We hope you also have many opportunities to savour peace and celebrate love.
We’ll love to hear from you if you have time!
Ralph & Lannie