In his book Sea Room Adam Nicholson describes meeting John MacAuly, a Hebridean boat builder who has just built a boat for him to sail across the Minch to the Shiants. “And do you think I’ll make a good sailor of her” “If you had another life,” John said. “Ah yes,” I said reeling a little. “I suppose one needs to know these things instinctively.” “No,” he said. “You need to be entirely conscious of what you are doing and why you are doing it.”
Another two friends died yesterday. They were well known men in our community and both part of the hosting world on our little Bowen Island, integral to providing experiences for visitors that allow us to provide well hosted learning experiences for people here. They didn’t always do it loudly, but they left legacies that are so important to what we are able to do here. It has been a really strange few months with 9 deaths of people I know to various degrees; from close friends to intimate strangers. Two from suicide, one from a heart attack, the rest from …