Dead whale on Rose Spit

Yesterday I drove to Rose Spit with guests Bruce and Kathy Fielding from Ontario: a dead grey whale had just washed up on the end of the spit. Sea-lice clinging to its sides, and barnacles still breathing. A single tear leaked from its closed forever eye.

Mary (Deepthie) Rajapakse

Deepthie came to stay last week, to visit David’s grave in the Masset Cemetery (someone has left him a jar full of butter, something he could never resist, and a Haida Watchman to watch over him) where she played her flute while I shook a rattle. Deepthie made a curried salmon (she brought her own curry spices) for a dinner at Copper Beech House on Friday night, and Geoff made the best tarte tatin ever.

Deepthie took some photos of Copper Beech House early in the morning when the light was at its best.

Copper Beech House, May 2011

Spring doings

March and April. I have been off Island since April 6, launching a new book of poetry, Origami Dove. Last night (April 21) I read at the Robson Square Bookstore in Vancouver and one of my recent guests, Jen (pictured here with brilliant blue hair) turned up and made the whole room shine! She has taken some fabulous photos of Copper Beech House and of Haida Gwaii, and I am going to post some of them here, with her permission, and when I can figure out the technology.

Jen travelled up to Haida Gwaii with Ross, who writes:

Nice meeting you this week. Jen and I are enjoying Queen Charlotte City and our workshops are going well. Thanks again for making us feel comfortable at Copper Beach B&B.

Here is the link to our Out in Schools website:

http://outinschools.com/

You can view some of the youth-made films and PSA’s there, with links to our Youtube channel and Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/editprofile.php?sk=picture#!/outinschools

Joyce VandeGriend, a nurse and art therapist who has illustrated everything from the premature babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at B.C. Children’s Hospital to courtroom scenes at the Air India trial in Vancouver, stayed with us in March, also.

Lots of other activity around (and outside) the house.  Jeska Slater (who ran the business for David when he was sick a few years ago) stayed for four days in exchange for working in the garden, and now we can see the garden without the weeds (so many hundreds of bulbs coming up!). Tom Arnatt, of Sangan Drive (wonderful artist who did the mural on Atwell’s in town, thus transforming Masset’s downtown core…I am hoping he will allow me to have some of his prints on sale soon at Copper Beech House) has continued where Jeska left off.

KC has replaced the rotten upper deck with untreated cedar. Michael cleaned out the gazebo (huge job) and KC installed a small woodstove. Now KC and Michael are working on the roof, and covering the walls inside with pine. (The gazebo will be Michael’s quarters this summer. David always planned to have a small antique store there and I am thinking of something along those lines as well. Ideas, anybody? Maybe work by local artists – Tom comes to mind, and so many others) plus oddments. A Masset mishmash mélange.

A Guests asks about Wildlife Viewing

March 26, 2011

My question is: BEST MONTH TO VIEW WILDLIFE? ANY WHALE WATCH DAILY TOURS? CAN U GET BY WITH NO VEHICLE?

Hi Catherine:

Thanks for your enquiry.

As far as wildlife goes, it depends on what kind of wildlife. There is something to see at all times of the year, though the bears usually disappear from the end of November until the beginning of April or so. In Gwaii Haanas, the National Park (South Moresby) I’d say from May until the middle of October would be a choice time.

We see whales a lot of the time just by going to the beach. A bunch of us helped save a baby whale a few summers ago – not too far from Copper Beech House – out on North Beach. As far as I know there aren’t any daily whale-watching tours but you could contact one of the following companies and make enquiries.

http://www.moresbyexplorers.com/

http://www.butterflytours.bc.ca/

It is difficult to get by without a vehicle. There is no public transportation on the island.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Kind regards,

Susan Musgrave

Joelle Rabu

More interesting, amazing guests. Joelle Rabu and her brother Michel Rabu. And Joelle left me with this, my favourite quotation of the day/week/month/maybe-even-year: “Perception is 99% of the flaw.” (It’s her own, by the way.)

Joelle Rabu – check out her upcoming performances and her website, please. And, Joelle: come back so we can share  more than just breakfast together!

A Guest Writes…

Emails from Pierantonio (Paullo, Italy)

March 22, 2011:

Dear Susan

can I ask you some info about what to see in Haida Gwaii?

We are mainly interested in natural parks and Haida history and I saw some

tour operators in the qcinfo website.

Is there someone you know better than the others?

Is it possible to book a guided tour directly on the island or do you think

that is better to make an earlier booking?

Thank you very much…

Pierantonio

March 24, 2011:

Hi Pierantonio:

If you have a chance to take a tour in Gwaii Haanas (National Park) I would recommend that. You would probably need about a week or so. I would recommend booking ahead of time because the summer is the busiest season here. The two companies I have worked with (and have had good reviews from guests who have booked with them) are:

http://www.moresbyexplorers.com/

http://www.butterflytours.bc.ca/

There is a lot to see around the Masset area. Tow Hill, North Beach: if you like crabbing it is crab season! You walk on the beach, wade out in the water, and scoop your limit in a matter of minutes.

As it says on my website – just get yourself here. The Islands will do the rest. (To a certain extent you have to trust that life will unfold here in mysterious and magical ways. It is hard to plan ahead, though when your time is limited I know you want to make the most of it.) There’s a wonderful serendipity here, and synchronicity! But if you like kayaking, and want to see the south islands (lots of whales, birds, spectacular sea-life) I would recommend a trip to Gwaii Haanas.

Ciao!

Susan

March 25, 2011:

Hi Susan

thank you so much for all your advices, they’re all welcome!

A week is too much, we booked just 4 days, so probably we won’t have the time to visit Gwaii Haanas but only the Provincial Park.

Anyway we are so excited to visit Haida Gwaii and to run away(even though just for a couple of days) from the frenzy of our normal lives.

I think we will enjoy a lot the serendipity and the spirituality of the island.

Thanks a lot

Pierantonio

March 25, 2011:

You have precisely the right attitude for visiting Haida Gwaii: an open mind, and an open heart.

And yes, our lives are frenzied all right. Here there is a respite from the everyday chaos of living well!

Travel safely, Pierantonio. (How do you say that in Italian?)

Kind regards,

Susan

Home

Home to my beautiful luminous house on the banks of the Sangan River – my home away from my home at the Copper Beech House.  Smoke from the woodfire, sun filtering through cedar. And tea steeping in the pot.

But that’s not the whole picture; it never is. The windows need cleaning and my daughter, Sophie, is lost on Vancouver’s downtown eastside and I am about to file a Missing Person’s report if I don’t hear news of her today. How many ways does the heart know how to break? I would count them, but it would take all the days of my life.

Why I am Not a Buddhist

I have read this poem five times today (we’ve arrived on the ferry from Port Hardy in Prince Rupert) and I will probably read it again.

WHY I AM NOT A BUDDHIST

by Molly Peacock

I love desire, the state of want and thought

of how to get; building a kingdom in a soul

requires desire. I love the things I’ve sought-

you in your beltless bathrobe, tongues of cash that loll

from my billfold- and love what I want: clothes,

houses, redemption. Can a new mauve suit

equal God? Oh no, desire is ranked. To lose

a loved pen is not like losing faith. Acute

desire for nut gateau is driven out by death,

but the cake on its plate has meaning,

even when love is endangered and nothing matters.

For my mother, health; for my sister, bereft,

wholeness. But why is desire suffering?

Because want leaves a world in tatters?

How else but in tatters should a world be?

A columned porch set high above a lake.

Here, take my money. A loved face in agony,

the spirit gone. Here, use my rags of love.

Missing: One PVC Straight Jacket

Today I drove with Toni Smith (in the truck she bought from a high school student who’d spent two years fixing it up in Nanaimo) to Port Hardy. The truck is laden with supplies for Haida Gwaii – for Copper Beech House and Toni’s Beach cabins (beachcabins.com) including two large raven and eagle masks, a cedar bark rain hat and a cedar bark berry-picking basket (made by my partner, Stephen, at William Head.) We also have olive oil for Charley – a gift from Angie who has relocated to Lake Cowichan. The only thing I couldn’t find (at my house in North Saanich) was my PVC Straight jacket. I intended to wear it to the next auction put on by Funk It. I figured it would save me money if I couldn’t raise my hands.

To Feast or Die on Haida Gwaii

Douglas Coupland came to stay at Copper Beech House a year or so ago and David wasn’t feeling well enough to cook. My daughter, Charlotte, was working for David at the time, and she volunteered me for the job. “Mum would love to cook. I’ll help…”

One of Doug’s guest was Gordon Smith, the Canadian artist. It turned out he had given my mother and father one of his earliest paintings as a wedding gift in 1949. Mum had worked as a secretary at the courthouse in Vancouver, and they had become friends.

It also turned out that Doug prefers macaroni and cheese to 17-course feasts. (Honestly, so do I. Most of the time.)

TO FEAST OR DIE ON HAIDA GWAII*

*With a little help from other islands, including Vancouver Island, Lasqueti Island, Salt Spring Island, the Greek, the Spice and so on…

IN HONOUR OF DOUGLAS COUPLAND AND HIS HONOURED GUESTS

Gordon, Ian, David and Curtis

 

Appetizers

Roasted Organic Lasqueti Island Pumpkin Seed and Sun-Dried Tomato Pate

with choice of Raincoast Crisps:

rosemary, raisin, pecan or fig and olive

 

Menage a Trois de Smoked Salmon

with Hand-Cut Sun-Dried Tomato Chips

accompanied by Musgrave’s famous Red Pepper Jam

Rosemary Garlic Foccacia

 

Soup/Salad

Banana and Butternut Squash Soup

make from Tlell-grown organic bananas and Masset non-GMO squash

Rick Grange’s Tow Hill Road Mixed Leaves  in Frico Cups (don’t ask)

 

Main Courses

Farhad-fairly-caught-fillets-of Wild Halbut

with sesame breadcrumb topping

Served on a bed of Sangan River Sea Asparagus

 

Roast of  Vension

prepared by Archie Stocker, authentic Haida National

(in other words, authentic Island cuisine)

 

Chipper’s $5000 Venison Surprise:

Name the Ingredients and win $5000 Award

 

Vancouver Island Kentucky-Blue Green Beans

Dominic’s Tow Hill Road Carrots-in-Their-Infancy

Gourmet Potato Salad with Caramelized Onions by Charlotte

 

Desserts

Miss Wyoming’s Mango Fandango

Peach-Huckleberry-Almond Torte

Hand-Flagellated Cream infused with Orange Flower Water

 

Cheese

Comox Camembert with Sangan River Coulis of Thimbleberry

Soft Surface Ripened Moonstruck Organic Baby Blue

English White Stilton with lemon

French Morbier

 

Daniel’s Organic Impressively True to Nature Dark Orange Chocolate