The first two weeks on Bowen Island

On November 24th, 2023 we arrived on the island in the dark - that's not difficult at all, since the sunset here is around 4:15 pm - I was first enchanted by the many large trees - which appear mystically in the cone of light on the side of the cul-de-sac Spotlights appeared and finally this beautiful house owned by Rich and Rachel. In the coming days, we first sniffed around and quickly realized that we have different slang and that we should ask more often so that we understand each other properly. We collected mushrooms, the annual event "Light the Bowen" and the " Experienced HandsCraft Market together at school, visited the school in Madison - here is the link to the school: Welcome - Island Discovery Learning Community . Here, a lot of emphasis is placed on the connection between children and parents/teachers. The headmaster invented the school because he didn't agree with the system at the time (but had school-age children) and took his cue from Gordon Neufeld and created an entire school network in BC. So there are 3 days of attendance at school and then a lot of homeschooling. I don't know if everyone likes that, especially after the experience during Covid times, which weren't all nice everywhere. Here it is part of the understanding of education and therefore definitely worth considering. So Tuesday doesn't mean getting up early, but rather singing in the morning and piano lessons in the afternoon, with the piano teacher basically standing in the door. There is no ringing here - doors are not locked, not even the car doors. In terms of cuisine, I kept the children afloat with small energy balls using the following recipe: 1cup cashew3/4 cup dates3/4 cup dried coconut1-2 tbsp peanut butter/ Tahinipinch of salt and us adults with the recipe here: The Daily Struggles of the Domestic Un-Goddess: peanut butter cookie dough bites from Oh She Glows (definitelynotmartha.com) These are often included in the diaper bag, which also comes with a double change of clothes always somehow a little bigger, for quick energy on the go. A shared Costco experience was also up for debate. Starting with a hot dog and a very sweet soda (also known as pop here), we went to a store with pack sizes no less than 4kg. Absolutely crazy and overstimulating. The island also has a lot to offer in terms of landscape.
Mt, Gardner (yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssinging out the proximity to my last name) at 758m has two access routes - the southern and the northern via the entrance to Lake Kilarney. The southern one is considered the more strenuous but shorter version. If you're just setting off in the afternoon, then the shorter version is definitely your first choice! On an island like this, everything can quickly become very cloudy and then clear again. So I'm still on the way up to the viewing point at 600m where I was rewarded with a view of the clouds and luckily a clear view 100m further up. Conclusion: The hike was strenuous and great at the same time and finally I was able to see a beautiful sunset! In a family life like this in November in the northern hemisphere of the world, one or two germs are not far away. So I was blown away twice in two weeks of family time. Once I got sick and the following week I got cold feet, fever and this strange feeling on the skin and this sensitivity to noise when even listening to the water running hurts. Not recommended - but not the biggest surprise either. A slightly bigger surprise, however, is that Rich is the first man to cross Canada on inline skates. Here is the link to his 2007 adventure Rollerblade Across Canada | Rich Ralph (seetheend.com) Created as a fundraising idea for lung cancer research because a good friend was diagnosed with it at a very young age.