As BC’s COVID numbers started to rise, the government recommended a halt to non-essential travel. We felt good about having committed to a place to call home in a self-contained apartment in the rural Cranberry Valley on Salt Spring Island. We arrived at a spacious basement apartment with two bedrooms, full kitchen, bathroom and living space. The kids were thrilled to have their own beds in a shared room and Ben and I were definitely ready for our own space too.
We fell easily into a daily routine of slow and relaxed breakfast and hot drinks, reading books, and playing LEGO. We would pack a trail lunch of peanut butter and jam wraps and explore a trail that we found on our AllTrails app. We lived right in the valley between Mount Erskine and Hwmat’etsum (Mount Maxwell Provincial Park), so those two areas were our priorities. We managed to explore the well marked trail systems at each of these beautiful heights of land; on our original walks we were greeted by walls of thick fog. Our bodies soaked up the rich green forests and zoned in on the mushroom world popping out of everywhere. The sun was setting quite early these November days making our return home naturally occur around 4:30 or 5 pm. We’d get dinner on the table and settle into reading, writing, and screen time.
Con got really into making pancakes for breakfast, and Kai got really into eating them. In true pandemic spirit, we baked some bread too. I’m finding it pretty easy to live in other people’s spaces, but the kitchens are the ones that mess with my head the most. What can we use in place of a cookie sheet? Where do we store the leftovers? How important is a big mug to me? We stopped by the Thrift Store pretty early on in our stay and I picked up a tea infuser and a cozier sweater.
When we explored the commercial area of Ganges, we also found an awesome bike park, frisbee golf course, and an outdoor story walk put on by the library. The kids really wanted some bikes and the magic of Salt Spring Island Exchange found some for us. About this time, we had started discussions about staying on the Gulf Islands in January and February, so we felt good about getting some bikes for a few months.
Moss, one of my lovely friends from the Bronte Creek Project (high school) lives on the island and shared her garden with us. We helped her plant some garlic and cover the beds with straw. Luckily, our kids love greens and were eating handfuls of kale, parsley, brussel sprout leaves, and whatever else was offered. We toured the other community farms and headed off with a handful of greens for our dinner. Thanks Moss!
Raven, a friend from the days in Algonquin Park, who has found his home on Salt Spring Island for many years now. Living in community at the Salt Spring Centre for Yoga, we got to see the quiet winter/Covid outdoor parts of the center. We saw the tent platforms, rich forest, and temples. He introduced us to some great hikes, beautiful beaches, and to the joy of the kids, road hockey. We really got into playing hockey at until sunset.
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