This summer, John and I have had the distinct pleasure of hosting Moose (aka Mr. Moose or Moosie), the approximately 8 year old, 90 lb chocolate lab that used to be John’s but has for the past several years lived with his son, Anders, in Vernon, BC. Anders and his mother have been away from Vernon this summer so Moose came to live with us here on Galiano Island, which is pretty much a dog paradise. It’s been awhile since I’ve lived with a dog… Read More »Marvelous Moose
One of the aspects of living on an island is that it requires more self-sufficiency than is generally required in the city. In addition, islands attract those who already tend toward independence, which includes those who look askance at rules and regulations. This fits right in with John’s view of things as he isn’t a big fan of following rules and was thrilled to hear that there are no police and thus no enforcement of traffic regulations, though the many bicyclists and walkers provide a… Read More »Island Independence
I have been stuck for the past several weeks, unable to write my blog – I am getting this in just under the wire before the end of the month. I had planned, after writing about the history of Japanese Canadians and the charcoal kilns (and after that great clickbait title), to write next about our more distant forbears on these islands, the indigenous people who were here well before the white population arrived. Steve, my neighbor, had me over to see his incredible collection… Read More »Colonial Amnesia
I figured I’d better start with a graphic in order to explain my title. I have never heard anyone here on the island refer to Galiano’s shape as a long, crooked male member. However, I don’t really see how one can miss the obvious. Maybe this says something about me and John that we immediately viewed it this way. In fact, I was talking about our being on the testicles and it took John’s veterinarian friend, Rick, to correct me and point out that we… Read More »Life On the Scrotum
Yesterday, I received an email from an old friend that explained why she couldn’t come for a visit to Galiano this summer. She patiently listed her upcoming trips, her hosting a very large party in early July, her C-level full-time job with possible travel to China, her positions on various boards of directors, and a variety of other activities I won’t go into. It made me laugh out loud to realize the contrast between her existence, based in London, and mine here on a rather… Read More »What Am I Doing Here?
We are settling in to island life and getting accustomed to new patterns. In this blog, I share three lessons of living on Galiano Island that we have come upon in our first two weeks of residence. Lesson #1: It’s all about the view! John thought our love affair with the view might be temporary but it seems that he may be wrong. We are so smitten with the outlook, the changing weather, the wildlife that we can see from our decks and our living… Read More »First Impressions
I’m just recovering from a bout with Covid, having managed to evade it for over 3 years. I contracted it on Mother’s Day when my stepmom, Gail, started feeling rocky toward the end of brunch. She went home, tested herself, and found out she was positive. Three of the six of us other than Gail at the brunch were infected. I had a difficult several days and then rallied quickly, even without Paxlovid, but am left with no sense of smell and a reduced sense… Read More »Galiano Here I Come
I split my time between Berkeley, California, where I was born at Alta Bates hospital, and Galiano Island, British Columbia, where my husband, John, and I have a house. I love to travel and have also lived many other places. I have two grown children, my daughter, Kelsey, who is a surgical resident in Portland, OR, and my son, Fraser, who is a data engineering manager in San Francisco. Kelsey is married to Garet and Fraser is partnered to and lives with Jae. All of… Read More »About April
Tomorrow, I will be flying back to SFO from Kelowna via Vancouver. I feel slightly terrible to be getting on a plane the day before Thanksgiving as virus cases escalate everywhere but I had always planned to come home at this time so I figure if I don’t come back now, it’s not clear when I will be able to. I’m packing my own lunch to eat in the Vancouver airport and will be masked, wiping surfaces, and spraying my hands regularly along the way. … Read More »Berkeley Bound
After the election, I received at least one thank you for having helped Biden squeak out a win by our not staying in Vancouver that night and risking a repeat of 2016. John and I were happy to make the sacrifice of heading to Whistler and are gratified that it worked. We had a nice couple of days despite some rain on day two and three. The Nita Lake lodge, where we’ve stayed once before, is a gorgeous retreat at any time of year. It’s… Read More »Whistling from Whistler