Greetings Creekers!
I missed last week’s column and the opportunity to thank the volunteers who came together to make Roberts Creek Daze happen. It morphs over the years and I have heard nostalgia for past Daze but the main event never changes, the gathering of community. I watched people, laughing, smiling, engaged in conversation, hugging and mingling with friends and neighbours with the mandala at our feet, the stunning backdrop of creek and ocean and I felt blessed to live here.
Creek Daze is also the “unveiling” of the mandala. For 26 years Robert Marion has been creating beautiful templates for us to paint on. A mosaic of small paintings come together to reveal an amazing “whole” that needs to be appreciated from above. This year’s design celebrates mycelium, fungi and the forest. I went there on a quiet morning and got lost examining all the individual paintings and then looked with amazement at the aerial photograph (for sale at Eco Freako) that brings it all together. Now is the time to go, before the weather fades it. If you see Robert, thank him for the creative energy and personal resources he puts into it and ask about ways to support his effort.
At Creek Daze, the Roberts Creek Community Association announced a new name that celebrates and recognizes the original shíshálh place name for Roberts Creek. Going forward the new name will be xwesam/Roberts Creek Community Association. Go to shishalh.com/culture-language/sechelt-language to learn the correct pronunciation.
There are just two more Slow Sundays to wander down enjoy live local music at the Gazebo. This week, the Ukulele BUGS will warm things up at noon and then at 12:45 p.m. it’s the folk rock quartet, Mel and the Other Guys. At 1:30 p.m. it’s Bellows and Strings featuring Anna Lumiere on accordion and Noah Ord on violin. I am so excited because the next group don’t know it, but I think they got together just for me! Graham Ord (sax) Anna Lumiere (keyboard) and James Law (percussion) and Heather Anderson (horns) are Carnival Paradiso and will be playing “gypsy- carnival - Fellini style movie and parade music.” Of all the genres, this is my music. I won’t miss it and you might not want to either. Also this week, there will be a special collection of donations to help those affected by the fires.
While you are at Slow Sunday, you could wander across the road and visit the Utopia Flower Shop. Housed in an old garden shed behind the Gumboot parking lot, this tiny shop features colourful, floral-patterned clothing, accessories and art by Ryley O’Byrne. Open on Sundays only from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., it closes on Sept. 3.
Of course there is music at the Legion. If you like rocking blues, then head down tonight (Friday) to listen and dance to Poppa Greg with Michael West and Tim Rannard. On Saturday night it’s Stephen Vogler and West Coast Front, a five piece band playing original songs. Drums, keyboard, trumpet and saxophone with female/male harmonies make this a band worth seeing.
So, I am writing about celebration while trying to comprehend the harsh and scary reality of fires, in B.C. and around the world. I am struggling with this and find it hard to reconcile with “life goes on” but it does. We need to be aware that a serious fire could happen here. So be vigilant. I am still seeing a lot of cigarette butts, many that have been tossed in the dry grass and in the dry fir needles on forest trails. If you smoke, please, please carry a container to put your butts in.
That brings me to water conservation. It’s not unrelated. Water puts fire out and fire fighters are dependent on hooking into our water system to put out structural fires. In my last column, I asked for people to send me the ways they are conserving water so I can publish a list of ideas to remind and encourage us all. Please continue and next week I will include them in my column. Please write to me. [email protected]
