| Bowen Island Journal |
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Bowen Island is 20 square mile chunk of rock lying two miles off the west coast of Canada. It is home to 3000 people, three mountains, two valleys, four lakes, about 15 beaches, two species of salmon, one village and me and my family.
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September 05, 2006
There is a tradition on the GulfIslands that the last ferries to leave on Labour Day are accompanied by a terrifically robust send off by Islanders. It is the time when the mainlanders and summer people ae sent home with a cheerful wave,and a sigh of relief. Summer is such a busy time on these islands that the Labour Day weekend is a relief to everyone. And to capture the spirit of the fact that we have our island backm, but only the winter to look forward to, I penned a song which we have been singing around Bowen for a couple of years. Every year, some of us sing it to the ferries as they leave, and this year, a small and hardy band of three of us met to sing off the 3:00 ferry. You can hear an mp3 of this particular performance here. And here are the lyrics for "Our Island's OUrs Again" aka "Farewell to all you Mainlanders", for your amusement: Our island’s ours again (Tune of “Rolling Down to Old Maui”) On the first of May of every year They come by boat and plane The ferry starts to overload And the traffic is a pain All summer long down in the Cove The shop doors open wide The rest of us head for the hills And find some place to hide Chorus: Farewell to all you mainlanders And welcome to the rain So raise a cheer, the autumn’s here Our island’s ours again! Their money spent, the continent Will accept them in its fold The beaches are available Though the water’s freezing cold Once more we can find our favourite seats On a barstool down at Docs And the women who run VONIGO Can replenish all their stock Chorus Now the nights are cool, the air is brisk Mount Gardner wears a shroud The wind has swung southeast again And the Sound is full of cloud For the next eight months we’ll hide away And slowly go insane But what care we, we’re finally free Our island’s ours again! Chorus The Squamish winds will blow for days And the breeze will chill our bones But the firewood’s stacked and the pantry’s packed And we’ve battened down our homes We’re done with yard work, cleaned the eaves And there’s nothing left to stain Let winter send its best at us Our island’s ours again! Chorus |