Blog of the Plague Year(s)

  9, 23 October A return to the Englishman River Estuary after a ten day absence.  After three years living beside it, I still find the ERE endlessly fascinating.  There's always something new to see.  In my absence, October has definitely arrived.   The deciduous trees aren't yet in full glory, but there are patche s that simply gleam. Grandma Maple seems to be turning earlier this year. Last year, for reasons I don't understand, she was the last of the maples to turn. It was a high tide, and with the recent rains, the river is beginning to rise. Hearing sounds of construction upstream, I made my way along the bank to investigate.  No fresh outrages seemed to have appeared, although the area that will be under development certainly warrants monitoring.   I hadn't seen this tree before.   It looks to be a pair of maples, one of which has died, and become a resource for pileated woodpeckers, and the other half continues to grow into...

  A short visit to Cluxewe Resort.  The name Cluxewe has two meanings in the Kwak'wala language:  "Place of the changing river mouth", and "Place of refuge."  After the manner of estuaries, the river mouth does indeed shift from time to time.  And, yes, it's a refuge--a place of peace and beauty and restoration for many of us who visit.   The Kwakiutl, who own the land and the resort (and have done so for all time), tell us that two or three centuries ago the area that is now a resort was a thriving community of about 2000 people.  It still has a very settled feeling to this day, definitely as though it has been home for people for thousands of years.  I think that's part of the "refuge" quality that the word "Cluxewe" refers to.   The campsites along the shore offer a beautiful view of the Broughton Archipelago.   The beach, which follows the Cluxewe Spit, is pristine, free of the inevitable styrofoam debris that defiles ...