Between the madness of early morning birdsong, the braying of neighbor’s donkeys and peacocks, the pink-gold sunrise streaming through the forest into my bus, and the intermittent hot flashes where I wake all sweaty, mop down get chilly bundle up and go back to sleep — odd and intense dreams keep me entertained. Sleeping in …

The surf scoters have arrived. Burly black sea ducks with fat orange beaks and bold white mohawks, they dive one by one in rapid sequence and then pop up again like arcade ducks. They cluster above the sandbar and swallow mussels whole. A few sleek grebes dive with them and sometimes they surface with little …

One of the perks of my Hollyhock hosting gig is, I get dinner. Dinner at the Hock is a big deal. It is gorgeous mostly-vegetarian fare: breads fresh from the oven, organic vegetables from the over-the-top garden. Sauces and spices and flower-topped salads tasting of earth and heaven, tempting to gluttony and abandon. Last night’s …

In the heat of the afternoon I rode my bike to the K’was Park trailhead. Into the shade of the boreal rainforest I hiked through deep fern valleys and dense stands of fir and cedar, watched over by old-growth giants miraculously spared. The sunlight marbled through the cool canopy, footsteps soft and slow, grateful now …