I have been mostly taking off the month of July, staying home, reconnecting with my kids and partner and spending a lot of time alone, reflecting and letting the lessons of the past year sink in. July is always a time of new practices emerging for me and this summer I have found myself on the water more.
It has taken me 11 years of living on an island (and 18 years living on the coast) to finally make friends with the sea. I grew up on lakes, canoeing, rowing and swimming in fresh water where there are no currents, no unpredictable waves, no dangerous rips. I have always loved swimming in the sea and snorkelling, but getting ON the water has been a challenge.
This summer though my mate Geoff Brown came to visit and got me up on a stand up paddle board and now I’m hooked. I have been out numerous times this summer, paddling the waters around my home island. Yesterday a friend and I went hard for about three hours, up around the north end of Bowen Island, where the view opens up to Howe Sound and Mount Garibaldi to the north. Along the way we were tracked and followed by seals, eagles and herons, and even saw a
Today, after a stressful morning of cleaning, ferrying kids around and missed phone calls, I took my canoe out for a paddle around Kilarney Lake, the largest lake on our island. I was after practice some solo techniques.
An early morning start from Bowen for a full day of work and travel. Off to run a full day Open Space for the Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC and then on to Naramata to work with the leadership program of the Federation of Community Services of BC.
A rainy day of warm air and misty tendrils and landscapes half revealed.
Entering the summer solstice. I crossed the Salish Sea today which provides this view of my home island and, today, a glimpse of two dolphins who passed us in a hurry, steaming their way north.
This is the time of year in the north when the light begins to wane. The time of the fullest and brightest days, the fulfilled promise of the winter solstice. For me it’s a time of waning fullness, letting myself empty out leading into some time off in the summer and a busy fall. I love the rhythm of waxing and waning, of light and dark, of ordinary time and non-ordinary time. A year divided into two forms of practice.
So I wish you a happy celebration of the fullness of promise, an honoring of the warmth and light, comfort if you need it and relaxation if it helps. And my wish for this six months is for a half year of good practice, putting to good use everything that has been learned in the winter and spring.
On Bowen when it closes is the right time.
Stunning weekend here on Bowen Island. Yesterday was 25 degrees and clear and Aine and I went walking along the south shore of Cape Roger Curtis, watching cruise ships sail and surf scoters dart by. Today it was a late brunch, some football at the artificial turf field and lunch at Artisan Eats with the kids and then relaxing on the sleeping porch in the cool afternoon breeze.
Nothing remarkable, and yet it is this miracle of stillness and relaxation that I live for.