This is my last column for The Undercurrent. I’ve enjoyed being part of this mighty little community newspaper. It’s been a satisfying adventure – a wonderful opportunity to get to know my island home even better, to interview the oldtimers and the newcomers, a dandy soapbox to air my ideas and explore new ways of looking at the world.
Thanks to the many readers who stopped me in The Cove, in Crippen Park, at parties, to tell me how much they enjoyed my column, how they agreed or disagreed with what I wrote, how it gave then something to think about. It’s always gratifying to know that my words have reached a few minds and touched a few hearts.
Special thanks to those who took the time to come and have tea and answer my questions so I might share their wisdom with the rest of the island. The research and writing helped me deepen into the heart and soul of my chosen community – something I experienced ten years ago when I created the Voices in the Sound Festival and wrote the musical to celebrate Bowen, which we performed in the meadow in 2005 and 2006.
There were many perks to this job – spending time with lovely people such as Cathy Bentall at Rivendell; Soren Hammerberg and Kathy Bellringer of the Bowen Island Community Foundation; chatting with my friend Chris Corrigan about conversation; interviewing the delightful young women at the Yoga Studio; writing and singing a forage fish song for Ramona de Graaf - Queen of Smelts; popping into the Undercurrent Office on Wednesday afternoons to help Meribeth and Maureen proofread the next issue, as well as debrief from the last one; attending the Howe Sound Forum in May as a member of the press, which has launched me on another writing project; and last but not least, lunch with Bruce Russell at the Cup Cutter.
I’m especially grateful to Meribeth who approached me 14 months ago and asked me to write a column on community. At first, it was to be a summer gig. When she liked what I was doing, Meribeth suggested I “just keep writing until it’s not fun anymore.” Well, it’s been fun – every minute of it – still is fun, but I have two big writing projects needing my attention. I will miss Meribeth’s passionate presence as editor of The Undercurrent, her quest to find the stories that needed to be told, her investigative instincts, her fair-mindedness and her beauty of spirit, as she moves on to her next big project.
So it’s time to sign off, to turn the heat down on the Community Cauldron. One last word or two: my wish is that my column may have inspired you to fall more deeply in love with Bowen Island and Howe Sound, our spectacular inlet. That’s what writing the column did for me.
See you at the beach!
Pauline Le Bel is an award-winning novelist, Emmy-nominated screenwriter and the author of Becoming Intimate with the Earth.
