Our home is on the edge of a huge continent.

We live among the embroidery of her outskirts.

This land of mountains, valleys, rivers, deltas,

beaches, cliffs, bays, reefs, currents

and beautiful treed islands, beckons you.

It is a paradise, a splendid living eco system,

a play ground for boaters, a place of wonder for

a Biologist, a field of amazement for visitors.

Vancouver Island welcomes the gentle seeker.

 

With it all, the added joy of wild animals who

live and flourish in wild places as well as in

the gardens and orchards of towns and villages.

Our own delight the deer and otters, the raccoons

and squirrels. The shy cougars and grizzlies,

there but hidden from sight in the wilderness.

Beware the Tenderfoot, this is not as zoo!

 

A beach of crushed shells; an ancient place of

welcoming. Oysters, clams, crab rockfish or salmon,

take your pick and quench your hunger, joy!

The sun beats down and the rocks are warm.

The brave venture into the cool limpid water, bliss.

Your face mask a living TV set.

These waters replete with creatures to meet,

to learn about, to wonder at, to leave alone.

Store the moment in your memory.

How bright that memory will remain.

 
 

David Garlick, British Columbia, May, 2009