Notes from Everland

It is 17 degrees and wet on a cool rainy Friday, with more rain in the forecast for this weekend...possibly over the next 3 days which may affect the big Saturna Island Lamb Barbecue on Sunday. There was a Face Book notice of the birthdays of two friends and on one page I spent a long while going through the great photos of Cuba taken last year I think. On world news this morning is that many expatriate Jamaicans are being murdered there when they return to retire. Also in general there is an upswing in murders of Brits, Canadians and any Gringos on the island. The consensus among the crooks seems to be that Brits and Canadian are rich and therefore easy marks...i.e. as in it is just the price of Tourism these days . The Rasta Gods cannot be happy! But today is a money day for us…Chaya got her cell phone roaming charges reversed by Virgin Mobile as we only appear to be receiving the signal in the US due to the Gulf Islands’ proximity to it. Also we have finally receiv...

It is 17 degrees on a cloudy Thursday morning on Saturna with rain forecast for Saturday. There is also a bit of overnight rain for later in the week…possibly Monday night. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all unfolds. I have dropped my daily dose of Metoprolol now, after consulting with my island doctor. She thinks I will be able to let the Felodipine go in a couple of weeks too. Chaya just brought my coffee in…though I had to ask for it there is something about the way she brews it that makes it taste better than when I do it. She is home this morning and baking banana bread. She is taking more time away from the café to deal with her fitness classes and to spend more time here at home. Hubertus the café owner, is not happy but at the same time agrees she is doing too much there. I hear Dylan wailing in the background...school is out for the summer today, and this is one of the main reasons why Chaya needed more personal time. Dylan will need more of her from now until ...

It is now 11:36 and for a few moments it was clear and sunny on the deck so I went outside to bask in the sun. As I reclined in my chair I saw my first adult eagle soar past just below the periphery of my vision… That is my first confirmed sighting since I have been on island, although I have seen a lot of young eagles and/or Turkey Vultures soaring overhead. But this time the shining white head and tail feathers were unmistakable. Seeing the eagle today reminded me that I have returned home at last, it is not a hallucination. I am back in the land of Eagalic Music from which I left to return to the lower mainland. That was 20 years ago when we moved from our rented Allenby Road house just outside of Duncan. We loaded all our belongings into a small moving van and drove it onto a ferry to return to Vancouver. But being here on the island is like skipping all the gaps in between, and going straight back to the source of my original inspiration. Seeing that eagle today was a ...

It is a lovely sunny breezy Monday and I am inspired to write so here goes… Chaya was home this morning and she prepared a nice breakfast for us before she left…us being the two of us. Dylan is due back from the Mainland tomorrow and Chaya will be travelling over to meet the ferry in Sidney. Hopefully his visit with his dad went well…otherwise it will take a few days to re-tune the instruments. Chaya doesn’t seem worried though, and she needed a break for sure. Hanging her wash today, there was a big smile just below the surface.  She knows her beloved little explorer will be returning home. There is a big island festival in a few days, the annual Lamb Barbecue and I have promised Chaya to attend that with them all. It happens every Canada Day http://www.saturnalambbarbeque.ca/ The island doctor has also asked to see me on Wednesday...she is just checking up on me. Until then I am just breathing and being!

At 7:56 a.m. it is partly cloudy and 19 degrees. There is rain in the forecast for Sunday and a 30% chance of rain tomorrow but last night there was a big windstorm that has littered the deck I swept clean yesterday. I searched the news for items of interest but could only find that Trump is bowing to pressure NOT to separate immigrant children from their families. In this land of the free and the home of the brave why would pressure have to be applied to begin with? I just finished a breakfast served by Judith that was passed on from the Islands Trust conference to us by Chaya. It was lukewarm but consisted of scrambled eggs and bacon…very tasty to my pallet. I would not touch the sausages though, as my last encounter with them left me feeling ill. I have restarted my computer after a recent shutdown to test my settings. I am back up to speed after a wobbly start. I am not sure why. Chaya refilled the hummingbird feeders last night…it amazes me how she can remember to do so ma...

Yesterday morning Chaya posted to her Face Book page. The image was of the bay we look down on from our little house on Saturna Island. What had caught her attention were the 4 little sailboats anchored and linked together. We have seen 2 linked this way many times but 4 are unusual. Do you think it is family visiting relatives I asked her? Her reply... Pirates …meeting my gaze evenly with no change of expression.

It is a 9 o’clock on a sunny Monday morning and already 23 degrees if Google is right. I have my heater turned off in anticipation of a summery day. And I feel no chilly air on my back…a good sign. Chaya was still home this morning doing some community book-keeping. She brought me coffee and then prepared cereal for us both. She just came in to let me know she was leaving to lead her fitness class…the first of 2 today. This is heaven being home with my oldest daughter. I am waiting to wake up! Yesterday I attended Charlotte’s birthday party at the home of her parents Matt and Meghan. It was the biggest event on the island…a who’s who of the island’s most important citizens. Apparently the party went on long after we left…Chaya and me. Charlotte is her son Dylan’s best friend and she turned 5 yesterday. Chaya told me today that people from boats moored in the bay and even tourists came up to celebrate. Dylan never left but slept over at the house of his best friend little Char...

It is a mostly sunny Monday in the forecast and 12 degrees on the island. More cloud for tomorrow and then light rain for Wednesday. After that the sun prevails and with luck, maybe more seasonal temperatures. At 8:31 I woke late but I appear to be the only one up. The past couple of days, we have had a few difficulties agreeing on and sorting out our schedules. At one point, I even asked if they would like me to move out. Chaya jumped in immediately. "That is not an option", she shouted...indicating that whatever might happen I will have someone in my corner. Last night I had more of the wee hours’ drama about the lymphoma beating me. I was having trouble breathing and swallowing but I am still kicking today. Then at 8:53 Chaya came in with my coffee and so my day officially begins. I am still having a bit of difficulty swallowing, so I am not exactly kicking ass just yet but there is a hopeful glow on the horizon. I see this tussle as an arm-wrestling match, whi...

It is a cloudy morning around 14 degrees at 10:18 today but to climb to around 17 later in the day. I finished a breakfast of sugary cheerios and a half banana...served by Judith as Chaya was busy upstairs doing her assigned chores. Judith said we were out of the Nature's Path flakes I usually eat, but half way through my Cheerios I saw her waving a jar of the missing flakes. Not out at all. It was too late to change by then. I am looking out over the bay from my computer desk and in my little studio room. It is just a bedroom with a small window to a great view. In the door to my room is a stained glass mural of an orca with her calf. It is leaded glass with geometric patterns alternating between diamond and square, 16 all tolled in the outer circle. The Orcas are cental to the image and smim / play in a sea of deep bluegreen ocean / glass. In the background are the hills and cliffs of the island in a deep russet brown. At night the light from the kitchen stove bleeds thro...

Last night I was just drifting off to sleep when I saw the shining face of my big girl Chaya with a fresh picked bouquet of forest daisies for her dad. This morning when I started work at my desk, there was coffee waiting and the flowers too. Love my job! Tonight we are all going to a baseball game and a burger bbq!

Notes from Everland Foreword: Pilot project inspired by my blogs Whirld Dervish and Eagalic Music. Concept started with the word Chronicles…and I found it had been used…as in Raincoast and Narnia Chronicles…and too old fashioned anyway. Then I thought of Letters, but that too is not accurate as these chapters will not be in the form of letters. Lying awake last night I mused, what does a musician produce…and the word notes seemed to fall right into place. I had been toying with the idea that for me this island is like Never Land from Peter Pan. As a home for me, it was Never meant to be, but now Is. Thanks to Karen and Chaya who encouraged and then had me shipped me over here when they saw I was dying in Vancouver. As I sit in my new room which is really like a small studio, overlooking the bay, I can’t help but think that the little boats anchored there are reminiscent of Pirate Ships. And so...at long last I have returned to my childhood dream: Never Land, like Michael Ja...