THE ELEVENTH HOUR FOR OLD GROWTH
The Beaufort Range sits temptingly in our backyard. If you’re a backcountry skier, then you’ve probably gazed at ...
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BUSINESS IS BLOOMING
Have you ever noticed that the flowers you see in local gardens—maybe even in your own yard—are rarely available ...
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TUNING IN TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES
I first heard of silent disco headphones while working in Toronto’s music industry several years ago. When the ...
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ALWAYS HERE FOR US
No vegetable family is as diverse and versatile as the brassicas. While you may not know the word, you’re ...
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THE COOL OF CURLING
Curling saved my life. Sounds like an outrageous statement to make, but in 1999, the year I first threw a curling ...
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FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: LUC ANTAYA
Luc is a transplant from the prairies who made his way to the Comox Valley seven years ago in search of the ...
FEATURED ARTIST: SHANNON FORD
Shannon Ford is inspired by the magic of discovering beauty in chaos: “Walking up to a huge, empty canvas is pure ...
ELDER VALLEY: REFRAMING REST
In the natural world, winter is usually considered a season of rest as many plants and animals become dormant once ...
LITTLE VALLEY: THE QUIETNESS OF THE SEASON
The dictionary says rest is “to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.” ...
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A BENEFIT FOR ALL
Except for Indigenous people, Canadians are settlers—immigrants themselves, or the descendants of immigrants. ...
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A TALE OF TWO WOODLOTS
There are two basic ways to look at a forest you manage—as a tree farm or an ecosystem.
To see the difference, ...
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STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Homelessness can happen in many ways: job loss, injuries and accidents, mental health issues, and substance use. ...
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A THEATRICAL FORCE FOR GOOD
Music and theatre provide an environment where, through collaboration, we are encouraged to celebrate diversity, ...
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THE GIFT OF LIFE
In the early morning hours of the winter solstice, December 21, 2021, my life and health changed forever. I was ...
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FAREWELL TO THE DENTAL BUS
Things are often done a little differently on the Gulf Islands. Partly by necessity, partly by inclination, these ...
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THE FLYING DUTCHMAN
The legend of the Flying Dutchman, a ghost ship doomed to never enter port, has been told and retold since the ...
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GOOD AS GOLD
I first became drawn to mead because of my Scandinavian heritage: mead plays an important role in many of the ...
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BY DESIGN
While some of us were out celebrating Valentine’s Day this past February, Eugen Sushko was feverishly drawing at ...
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BETTER BULLETINS
Colin Garritty has an enviable job. Four days a week, all winter long, he gets paid to ski and snowmobile the ...
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FORAGING FOR FLAVOUR
When we think about hunting and gathering, the season we usually think of is fall. For many of us, there’s nothing ...
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CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
My husband and I moved to the Comox Valley four years ago. From the start, we’ve enjoyed navigating our way around ...
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GIVE IT A REST
When I was a kid growing up in the ’70s and ’80s in Montreal, stores were closed on Sundays. Every single store. ...
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FEATURED ARTIST: LAURIE MARTZ
Laurie is a “late in life” painter who moved to the Comox Valley after retiring in 2015 from a busy career as a ...
FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: JIM WHYTE
Jim is a fifth-generation Comox Valley resident, born and raised here. His interest in photography began in junior ...
FOLLOW THE MOUNTAIN HOME
It is usually late May when I embark on the first mountain trip of the season. In this particular year I was ...
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THE COAL BENEATH OUR FEET
Starting in 1888, a vast labyrinth of extraction tunnels was carved beneath the village of Cumberland, the old ...
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DINNER IS SERVED
Eating local is a popular concept in the Comox Valley, with its long growing season and wealth of farms producing ...
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MAGIC IN THE DYE POT
When I was a kid growing up in the northern boreal forest, my mother took me and my siblings out foraging for ...
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EVERYTHING WE KNOW IS WRONG
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
– Søren Kierkegaard, 1843
I don’t ...
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WERE IT NOT FOR THE BIKE
This past January, I received an email from the organizer of the BC Epic thanking me for my registration.
Which ...
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ELDER VALLEY: RETIREMENT REDEFINED
I spent most of my career trying to demystify things. Working as a civil servant in both Ottawa and Victoria, my ...
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LITTLE VALLEY: DAKOTA BLOMGREN
Hi, my name is Dakota Blomgren. I was born in the Comox Valley and I am nine years old. I am a proud member of the ...
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THE DAY THE PRINCE CAME TO TOWN
Over a century ago, on a Monday in late September, crowds of young and old thronged Vancouver’s sidewalks. Mothers ...
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ALTERED LANDSCAPE
My first home in Cumberland was on Camp Road, in a row of rough cabins that were built in 1888 when the coal mine ...
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FEEL LIKE A KID AGAIN
What an ugly night. It’s dark, pouring rain, and there are still remnants of slushy snow melting in the driveway, ...
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WHALE BREATH AND ANGEL WINGS
You don’t need to be an oyster farmer or sport fisherman for the daily ebb and flow of the ocean to impact your ...
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JUMP SCARES AHEAD
Decades ago, I was sitting in a cinema seat in Toronto, gripping the armrests as the tension heightened, and ...
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A DOORWAY TO HOPE
When David and Angela Mackenzie open the door to their new home, they will bring with them an unwavering ...
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SUNSET AT SMITH LAKE FARM
As I pull through the gates of Smith Lake Farm, I’m greeted by the sounds of chickens clucking and disc golfers ...
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MISADVENTURES IN BAKING
Back in 2013, I started shopping around for healthy nutrition options to supplement my gym goals. I’d never given ...
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