FINISHING OUT 2007

Summer came to Cape Beale with the arrival of our annual July 1st visitors. I had only just returned back from Vancouver the day before but I had plenty of time to get the spare house ready for everyone (including chocolates on the pillow).

The first to arrive was Captain Rick and his crew on Rick's new 19' cruiser. With Captain Rick at the wheel - his crew consisted of Kathy, Mike, Jen, Tia and Warren. They were accompanied by the Bamfield Lifeboat crew who were bringing out some of my belongings that the gang had kindly brought from town with them. The original plan was that I would be coming from Vancouver with them but an emergency on another station had sent Ivan there to do relief and myself to come home by chopper.

Two of the Tomahawk's crew Brian and Roger, had opted to hike the Gumboot Trail from Bamfield to Beale and they would hack and slog their way through the forest to arrive just in time for the evening happy hour. When they arrived they reported that there were at least 30 trees obscuring the trail in one way or another from Topaltos alone. Their machetes were dull but their spirits were up.

The next day two more members of the motley crew, Mary-Jean and Larry(welcome aboard first timers) hiked their way through a slightly more cleared but still as difficult trail to make the July 1st cast complete. Although it was a smaller group on deck for the July 1st ceremonies it was none the less memorable. As done in past years there is always a twist of sort to the ceremonies - remember the year of Minnie Patterson showing up??!! This year to celebrate our favourite pirate - Captain Jack Sparrow, we were issued by Captain Rick Jolly Roger tshirts and we were instructed to be on deck in uniform the next day. I took it one step further and in memory of Will's father aboard the Flying Dutchman came a little more decked out with a starfish (dead) on my face. The weather was sunny and the day as usual celebrated well.

It was a quiet visit with the Tomahawk's crew but as always we enjoyed each others company, as all guests sought their own amusement by going off in different directions, hiking, reading, fishing (which was quite productive - if I do say so myself), napping and of course crabbing - not so productive in that department. In with the theme of Pirates it was decided that there were Pirates on the coast and it was possible they were helping themselves to the bounty of the sea from the crab traps. Oh...we can't forget the food - always great food. We had a Mexican night to celebrate MJ's 5oth (Surprise!!!) and a special dessert for Captain Rick and First Mate/Chef Kathy for their 25th wedding anniversary.

No sooner had the Tomahawk's crew left when a new group landed thanks to Brian and the Michelle Diane. Instead of their usual May long weekend visit, Michele and Bruce delayed their annual trip to Beale so that Lisa and Karen could come along. Arriving at low tide and not wanting to slip and slide over the slimmy rocks they threw their bags to Norbie in the dingy and jumped over the side of the boat into thigh high cold salty water. What a sight as four "townies" dragged themselves up the slipway to the dock. But once they had recovered from the 164 stair climb from the lagoon to the station and changed into dry clothes we settled down for 4 days of serious visiting. After an early dinner first timers Karen and Lisa insisted on going back down to the lagoon with "treasure" bags in hand searching for whatever caught their fancy like sea birds on the ebbing tide hunting for dinner. Both ladies returned to the station satisfied with the hunt - including a moon snail each (thank goodness for that).

Another day we went for a grueling hike to "Cedar Bay". The trail was the worse I have ever seen it, with large mud ponds and fallen trees from the winter storms. Lisa holding up the rear of the group found a bear claw which the rest of us had walked over - good eyes Lis. We spent two hours at Cedar Bay collecting treasures, snacking and enjoying the quiet before we headed back to Beale. In celebration of making the hike there and back a couple of the group decided that a dip in the frigid waters of the lagoon was required - count me out.

Day 3 early morning brought two very excited ladies down the ramp into my kitchen. Karen and Lisa arrived chattering like a pair of magpies. As they walked into the house Karen went into a dialogue about a series of "hauntings" which had happened to her during the night. Karen related to us (and hopefully I retell it close to her story) that the first of the evening's three hauntings woke her up to a feeling of someone or something choking her and she felt as though her bed was slowly tipping forward. She said she tried to scream but couldn't get the noise to come out. It was several minutes until she could shake the feeling of being choked and the bed moving. Terrified she lay there deciding whether or not to wake Lisa in the other room (Michele and Bruce were in our house). In the meantime she heard Lisa (she assumed it was Lisa) walking down the hall to the bathroom and closing the door. After waiting for a considerable time for Lisa to come out of the bathroom she became concerned and decided to get up and check on her. There was no one in the bathroom!!! She quickly went down the hall to Lisa's room and woke her up - when she asked if Lisa had just gone to the bathroom - yeah you guessed it the answer was NO.

By this point Karen decided that the light in her room was staying on and she was going to read herself to sleep. She opened the bedroom wide and due to settling in the house this door can be jammed open and then would need to be pulled to unjam it. There sat Karen in her bed reading, lights on. A movement at the door caused the already nervous house guest to look up - and of course you know the rest - the door was slowly closing. Hence the anxiety level the next day for Karen was quite high. The girls decided to share and room the next night and the next morning they reported that the night was uneventful.

Oh please note .......it was only after they were on the ferry home that Lisa admitted that the last night was not uneventful for her as she had woken up to the feeling of pressure on her chest. She decided that whatever it was wouldn't harm her so she went back to sleep. So did the ladies have that "haunting" feeling or did they have vivid imaginations. I'll leave it to you - as for me I know what I know.

Soon it was time for our friends to leave and they once again boarded the Michele Diane and sailed into Bamfield after a tour of the Cape in time to board the Frances Barkley to Port Alberni and home to the Big Smoke.

Our final guest of the summer was my daughter Jac. She had planned to bring her fellow along for his first trip but Alvaro was unable to get away from Yellowknife due to a work emergency.

Jac flew in on the 212 and our week long visit was filled with talking, walks, talking, cards, mojitos (Cuban rum), talking and just great bonding times. Oh and mustn't forget her favourite foods. Her visit meant so much to me even though we had only just seen each other when I visited Yellowknife in June. The visits I have with my kids at Beale are filled with each other time - without the distractions from the rest of the world. No other place to go or people to see - just us. It gives me a chance to cook their favourite foods and kiss and hug them goodnight. It rejuvinates my soul having these visits.

Before we knew it the visit was over and the time to go to town was here. Off the three of us went to await the birth of our first Grandchild. Norbie, Jac and I arrived ahead of the due date but as that date came and went (babies have a way of doing that) Jac had to leave to return home in time for the beginning of the school year and her little kiddiewinkles.

After of few days of "Is it false labour?!" the doctor decided to admit Liz into the hospital and get the labour going. Friday night moved into Saturday which seemed to move ever so slowly. Chris's Dad and Step Mom had come up from Portland thinking the baby would have come by then (the due date was around the 25th of August) so they were there waiting too. So there 5 of the 6 Grandparents sat (Liz's Mom was helping Chris support Liz). While away from the hospital I kept checking my cell phone to make sure it still was working.

On the Saturday evening on our way home from dinner with Karen and Derek we popped into the hospital and Chris told us that they may be looking at a Csection as the doctors were now thinking that the baby may be breech.....we left the hospital to go home and wait. Finally after a restless few hours sleep we got a call from Chris to announce the birth of our little granddaughter Elora - September 2nd, 2007. She had finally decided to enter the world via Csection as coming out butt down was not working for her.

It's a strange feeling realizing that you are a "Grand"parent. What is the meaning of the grand? Does that word give you the right to an opinion as to how the "kids" raise their children? I hardly think so!!! Does it mean life is GRAND because you get all the joy of this little critter without the sleepless nights, dirty diapers, mounds of laundry, expenses, nights coming home late, learners licences, school years, broken hearts.....etc..... It's an interesting word 'Grand'. I decided because there are three Grandmothers I dumped the Grandma and asked to be called Gammer instead. Norbie is Opa but I just couldn't wrap my head around being Oma. My kids vetoed Nanny as that was my Mom's title so looking for something different we went to Hobbiton and decided if Gaffer was Grandpa - Gammer would be Grandma. So Gammer it is.

As I write this Elora is into her fourth month, had her first cold, rolled over by herself and is the most beautiful baby ever - sorry kids!!! Everytime I see her or pictures of her I am amazed how much she has changed. Being an absentee grandparent has alot of downs. Especially for Chris and Liz as I am sure they get very tired of having the "out of town" grandparents trying to cram all the time away from baby into the few days when they are in town disrupting the daily routine of the household. Oh well one day we will be able to bring Elora to our house for visits and give Mom and Dad down time. Already we are planning trips of discovery along the beaches out here on the coast.

On the Thanksgiving long weekend after much (sometimes frustrating) long distance planning I managed to pull off a surprise 30th birthday party for Chris. Jac came down from Yellowknife for the weekend under the guise to see her neice for the first time.

The theme of the party was to be Star Wars. Those of you that know Chris are aware that he is a connaiseur with all things Star Wars. Being that 2007 was also the 30th anniversary of the release of the first movie one would have thought that you could find all sorts of party things with the Star Wars theme - NADA. I found a Darth Vadar cake pan - in Langley - which I could rent for a night!!! I decided that was a bit far to go for a $2.00 rental so I went off on a mission to find something - after several bakeries and stores with no luck I managed to find a cake at Save On Foods - sorry Chris not the Darth Vadar one of your childhood - why did I get rid of that pan!!!! Without the party napkins etc. I went with a black, white and silver theme.

Next project - pictures. I had gone through all my albums that I had at the station and pulled out about 80 pictures to make a life photo board. But because Murphy is a relative of mine when I pulled out the pictures to sort through I realized I had brought the wrong envelope from home. A few emergency phone calls and emails later I had a good collection of pics. Unfortunately, the ones I received from Chris's Dad didn't work at London Drugs as they were too small to print. But we managed to get enough pics together to make a good life board and gave us all a few laughs.

Finally the big day arrived - it had been a tough week of deceit and and excuses but the 30 guests arrived and then along came the birthday boy. SURPRISE!!! and he was. It all played out well. Thank you to everyone who played a part in the day - a big thanks to Dave and a really HUGE thanks to Shell for donating her home, her catering skills, floral design and on and on - as usual. And also to Brent, Jackie and Chad who came dispite the passing of their Gran that week - you are true friends to Chris.

As I sit writing this by my livingroom window, the rain is pouring against the window as if someone is standing with a hose shooting water at it. Winter began here in mid-October and hasn't let up. We have had two good snowfalls - a rare occurence out here and leads to hours of shovelling the helicopter pad and long slick ramps. The ramps become a problem when the shovel gets caught in the chicken wire which has been nailed on it to avoid slipping - lovely. For those who have shovelled driveways in flat Richmond try to imagine shovelling on a slippery sloped ramp. Builds character.

The wind storms have hit us one after another like a chain smoker lighting one cigarette off the other. When the wind howls walking on the beach means ducking tree branches being flung like swords - imbedding themselves into the ground - widow makers.

When a nice day does make an appearance one rushes out to clean up after the storm only to move back inside with the next storm to watch your labour be wiped out. During the winter months all surfaces take on a lovely green - as the moss and mold soak up the moisture and grow like science project gone wild - and still the rain comes down. Today I have a swimming pool in the back garden area.

So that was 2007 - and already 2008 brings changes to Cape Beale - a new FEMALE Assistant - Ivan has moved up in the Coast Guard to be the Principal Keeper at Scarlett and the Assistant Keeper from Scarlett has moved here. A new beginning at Cape Beale - Beale's first (official) female Assistant. We are thrilled to have Karen and her husband Kyle here. Kyle will be working for the Bamfield Lifeboat. I am sure all of you that make your pilgrimage to Cape Beale in the coming year will enjoy meeting Karen and Kyle. Hey guys take it easy on her!!!!

Until next time - we'll keep the Light on.