Technology

The leaves here have turned from green to orange to brown in the weeks that I have spent up in Saltspring. I had forgotten how beautiful Fall is in Canada, and had definitely erased the memory of being cold. Funny, because I never used to find this weather cold, and played rugby most of my life in conditions worse than it has been. That’s what happens when you move to the tropics.

Fishing has been slow, although yesterday I managed to hook into a decent size salmon only to have it throw the lure. Up here, we use barbless single hooks to make catch-and-release easier for the fish...but it also has the effect of making fishing much more difficult when you are fighting a beast that jumps into the air to when trying to escape.

Work has been keeping me busy, and it’s really great to have 3G wireless and a BlackBerry. Unfortunately, I have become too used to the technology and must resolve the fact that I will be back in Costa Rica soon where internet connections are sketchy at best. The great thing though, is that I will be back working out of my office and keeping regular hours again rather than being available 24/7. I just don’t get the mindset of people demanding replies immediately. Something like this:

Start the clock

Rob emails me a document.

T + 2 minutes

Rob text messages me, “did you get my email”

T + 5 minutes

Rob text messages me, “are you there? you aren't answering your texts”

T + 6 minutes

Kyle texts me, "Are you awake?"

T + 7 minutes

Silvio (Rob ’s Partner) texts me, “Did you get the email from Rod?”

T + 10 minutes

Rob phones me, “did you get my texts and my email?”

T+ 12minutes

Silvio phones me, “Did Rod get a hold of you?”

T + 13 minutes

Kyle calls me, "everyone is looking for you"

Meanwhile, I have just woken up because it's midnight on a school night and have had to go pee before looking at what kind of person would be so desperate to get a hold of me. Notwithstanding, have you ever tried to digest a legal document with the sandman on your shoulders?

It will be great to be home and not have that availability. So, for all you reading in North America, I will be back to market hours again soon!

The thing that I am missing most is the warm water, and of course, surfing. Hope to see some of you out there! (ps – November’s best spot to surf is between Grande and Casitas...a place called Palm Beach or Marker 26)

Saltspring BC

It’s pretty cold in the mornings here on Saltspring Island, a small socially active “Green” community located between the southern mainland of British Columbia and Vancouver Island.

The first thing I have to do at 6am before the sun rises is to light the woodstove for heat...quickly followed by plugging in the kettle to make some hot java!

Jasmine isn’t liking to cold too much, and manages to pull the covers over herself and wait for sunrise at just past 7am.

Kate too, bundles herself up waiting for the warm glow of the Autumn sun to rise from the East where the big city of Vancouver waits.

Allergies have kicked in, and I’m not sure if it’s because of the dust and cobwebs that have accumulated in the cottage over the years. Today, Sunday, is cleaning day.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and have spent the first couple of days buying groceries, supplies and launching Duggan’s boat so we can harvest crab, prawns and maybe, if the sea Gods smile upon us, a salmon or cod. Yesterday, the outboard engine holder almost fell off the transom of the boat, and I had to pull the engine back in lest it plunge overboard. I managed to get to the hardware store before it closed, bought some stainless steel bolts and a wireless drill. Found some good pieces of wood, and re-set the mountings using the timber as a bolster to the stern of the vessel. Today will be the big test when I go and check the crab pots.

Saltspring, like the rest of the planet, has changed in the twenty or so years that I have been visiting. But surprising less than most places. It still has its unique hippy charm, lesbian activists and active retiree population. What was once frowned upon as being a fringe element of society, “socially active environmentalists” now call places like the Gulf Islands their bases, and those newbies who are looking to understand sustainability, now flock to the Islands like some sort of Mecca.

I think of myself as one of those who waxed eternal the importance of environmental stewardship, learning it equally from my parents, the Boy Scouts and the Duke of Edinburgh Awards where I achieved the Gold Medal. As a person who loves to fish, I only keep what I will eat, and ALWAYS, return those species that are too small or too few. Recently, I have become very involved in a number of projects relating to Clean Energy, and am in the midst of launching a solar power company.

It all starts at home though. My parents taught the importance of composting and recycling at a very early age. They still take used envelopes and put blank white stickers on them so they can be used again. My grandmother used to count how many sheets of toilet paper she used, and collected all sorts of things like pieces of string and wax paper. These generations learned from living during the Wars and Depression. It wasn’t that they were being consciously ‘Green”. They needed to survive. But their necessity evolved into what has become a mainstream doctrine in the West.

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