Hey Hornby, it’s summer! It’s also kinda cool and damp, and that is a wonderful thing. Every morning I turn the heat on indoors, I celebrate. When it rains, I whoo hoo! It makes me so happy after the dry heat of the past few summers, and the gardens love it. It would be great to get through a whole summer without a fire ban, as we did back in 2018. By this time last year, fires were already verboten. Now, the island is damp, lush and sweet, and that’s glorious.
Life is full here–there are so many happenings it can be overwhelming! When it’s not overwhelming, it’s still quite whelming. The further we get into summer, the more I am whelmed. This weekend is our Pride parade, and I will have to miss it, as I am leaving the island for a few days. This timeof year, there simply isn’t a convenient time to leave without missing something fun, important or amazing. The lesson is this: you can’t do all the things. At least, I can’t. Some people seem to be everywhere, in every photo of every event. Who are these supernatural beings?
A couple of recent highlights: Phil Harrison’s work at the Hall last weekend, organized by his daughter Emily Harrison, was an journey into primary colours, form and movement. Some of the paintings were so big you could walk into them. Some were small, precise drawings made with a pen with a tip so fine it was stunning. There were intricately crafted wooden ships with working engines, and much more. It was a beautiful tribute to a lovely and talented human who sadly left us in 2022. It was also the first art opening of the season. Art openings are my favourite thing about summer (among other favourite things, too many to list).
Speaking of beautiful tributes, filmmaker Hollie McGowan premiered her documentary about Tempest Grace Gale, “Calling All People,” at the Hall a few weeks ago. It was unspeakably moving and so well crafted. I was one of those interviewed for the film, and when you are interviewed, you tend to talk and talk. I tend to talk without thinking and some of what I said was bound to be inappropriate. There was none of that; the editing was sensitively done, I was happy with what she left in. Also, I had a perfect suntan. Nice. The other interviews were all well crafted and presented. We all showed up as a wise, caring and generally awesome bunch. I am proud to have been included; my big screen debut!
The spirit of Tempest, her passion for life, her irrepressible effervescence, her inspiring effect on the world around her, came through without distortion, her story framed and presented so well, it was like she was in the room with us, and she was pleased it was so well done. This project has been a long time coming and we are all proud of what Holly has accomplished. The film has been showed in a few festivals with hopefully more to come. If there is any justice in this world, it will be seen and lauded by many. This story needed to be told, and she took up the torch and said it very well. Wonderful. Tears were shed.
Hornby has changed greatly since Tempest first stilt-walked and declaimed her poems at the market, and so have we. Many more changes are coming to this island, not all of them wonderful. The Co-op’s rebuild, for example, will lack a downstairs and the hardware selection will be drastically reduced. How can we live without the downstairs hardware store? Noo! I protest! Alas, I shall adapt. I suppose over time I’ll come around. Maybe it will be an improvement in the end. I sincerely hope the building will not look like a soulless box. Please make it Hornby.
The changes being made, and planned, to Big Tribune Provincial Park are way less acceptable. The raised-highway effect of the gravel pathways are a shock to the system, though they do make the park more accessible for wheelchair users. But heaven forbid they go through with this current plan of trucking in hundreds of truckloads of gravel crush to create 40 campsites in an environmentally sensitive wetland. These are described as ‘walk in sites’ and were supposed to be low impact. The plan we are being presented now with is far from low impact. It will include a new parking lot as well as 40 campsites with raised raised-gravel beds. This is certain to be devastating to the forest ecology.
I don’t remember any public consultation about this, do you? Shame on you, BC Parks. There is a letter writing campaign underway, you can find more information about that in the current First Edition, in Hornby Community Connections and other places as well.
I’ve got my Farm pass for the Festival this year, and I’m looking forward to that in the first week of August, always a fabulous time with great music. And there is so much more, I can’t possibly mention all the things in a single column! I’ll check back into these pages now and then, with thanks to the Grapevine for welcoming my intermittent presence.
As for me, my CD arrives this Friday (finally!) so I will have them in hand and available if anyone wants one. Honestly, I have no idea what my next steps will be. I made the thing, and now I need to figure out how to get a grant to make another one. I very much want to keep recording, it’s about the most satisfying thing I can imagine. I would love to perform as well, but I haven’t done anything about organizing that. I am way too whelmed. I regretfully turned down their kind offer to play again at Hornby Heart Vineyard this summer; it wasn’t the right venue for my sort of thing. I would prefer something intimate, like my living room. Or yours. Who knows? I’m open to possibilities and opportunities but not pushing it. Music is for fun and happy-making, not stress.
I’m writing on my Substack, and having a great time with that, at https://phoenixbee.substack.com/. You can subscribe for free and columns will be sent to your email address, no effort required. You can, if you choose, pay to subscribe, like a couple folks have (thank you!), but you don’t have to. Substack is an eclectic and talented community of writers, artists, podcasters and all sorts. I have a friend in Hungary who regularly posts videos of his art there. I spend more time there than on Facebook these days.
If you would like to hear my album without having to buy a CD, or if you don’t have a player (most people don’t, these days, including me), you can find it at https://phoenixbee.bandcamp.com/ or on Apple, Spotify and YouTube, just look up “Phoenix Bee Late Bloomer.”
That’s what I think. What do you think? email me at phoenixonhornby@gmail.com.
