THE TAIL OF THE KITE
“Deputy Minister Department of Mines offers services of H. M. Laing of Comox [to] accompany Expedition … to act as ...
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ALL Spring
INSPIRING RECOVERY
In 2017, I attended a Soldier On ski camp at Mount Washington that changed (and maybe even saved) my life.
It ...
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IN SEARCH OF OUR INDIGENEITY
We live by stories. By stories we understand the world, and ourselves. Each culture has its cosmology: an ...
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BLACK AND RURAL
As a Canadian living in Hong Kong in the late 1970s, I was regarded as a gweilo, a “white devil.” Even though I ...
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ALL HAIL THE MAY QUEEN
The merry month of May is highly anticipated in the Village of Cumberland. Since 1888, Villagers have gathered on ...
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FRASER CAIN’S UNIVERSE
Many people might be surprised to learn that one of the most successful astronomy news sites on the Internet is ...
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THE SURROUNDING BLUE
I first sensed how landscape affects us while studying writing at the University of Saskatchewan. The ...
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ADVENTURES IN PADDLING
As we rounded the northern tip of Nootka Island, we were struck with sizable swell, wind, and refracting waves ...
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MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
Strolling through Macdonald Wood Park, with its giant trees and verdant flora within town boundaries, is one of ...
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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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CHANGING TIDES
One of the most iconic locations in the Comox Valley is Goose Spit, a long finger of land that shields Comox ...
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THE SNOWLINE
In 2021, I decided to travel across British Columbia with my bike and my skis—or, more accurately—with my skis on ...
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A LOVE LETTER TO WATER
“Restoring land without restoring relationship is an empty exercise.”
– Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, ...
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FEATURED ARTIST: CHRISTIAN GEISSLER
Born and raised on British Columbia’s West Coast, Christian grew up with a deep appreciation for nature, thanks to ...
NOSY NEIGHBOURS WELCOME
We meet in the shadows and plan our route for the late afternoon, prowling the alleys, neighbourhood by ...
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FEATURED WORDS: I’M LEARNING
Wi'yugwa̱mala dłuwa̱n, - Baby with me,
Łax̱wa̱lanukwa̱n tłus. - I love you.
Mu'la̱n gax̱a'aḵus. - I’m ...
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FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: MORGAN NORTH
Eighteen-year-old Morgan, a Comox Valley resident, started taking photos with a smart phone when he was 12 and ...
COMMUNITY, CARE, AND QUILTING
One of my earliest memories is playing under my grandmother’s quilt frame while she and her friends sewed a quilt ...
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LITTLE VALLEY: MYLA BEHZAD
I’m 11 years old and I’ve lived in Cumberland my whole life. I LOVE art. It’s one of my favourite things to do. I ...
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TUNED TO THE COMMUNITY’S FREQUENCY
A lone modular office building with blue vinyl siding rests at the end of a gravel driveway on the edge of Homalco ...
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THE THRILL OF THRIFTING
Last year a friend messaged to let me know there was a promotional Walking Dead backpack at one of the thrift ...
MIND YOUR SKIN, NATURALLY
Most of us gain confidence when our skin looks and feels good, and this sometimes reflects how we hold ourselves ...
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THE SEA IS RISING
If you stand on Saratoga Beach and look out at the water on a calm day, the Salish Sea appears silent, steady, and ...
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STYLE AND SUNSTAINABILITY
JIPSI TREE
It all began when JoAnne McElroy simultaneously left both her teaching and tree-planting ...
A GARDEN FOR EVERYONE
When you enter the Gardens on Anderton, you are greeted by a volunteer host who offers a smile, an orientation, a ...
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BURNING QUESTIONS
When we invite young people to visit the engineered landfill at the Comox Valley Waste Management Centre, we ask ...
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GREENING YOUR MONEY
When Kermit the Frog said, “It’s not easy being green,” he wasn’t talking about investing, but he might as well ...
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WHY WE RISK
I don’t remember the summit of Mount Colonel Foster.
I know I stood on it with my friends, Chris and Sean. I ...
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NEITHER SEEN NOR HEARD
Not long after I moved to Cumberland, when it was easier to get lost in the forest, I was riding my dirt bike down ...
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FELLOWSHIP OF THE FOREST
“Expect mountain bikes, hikers, runners, dogs, children, and elders on these trails.”
—excerpt from the Interim ...
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SEAWEED, SVP
Seaweed is a food resource long celebrated by traditional coastal peoples across the globe, including throughout ...
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THE TEACHING THAT NATURE PROVIDES
In a field next to the ruddy red barn of the Black Creek farm owned by Margaret Douglas and Fred Hinz, a group of ...
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ALWAYS ASKING QUESTIONS
If you’ve ever spent time with a toddler, you’ll know they ask “Why?” about seven thousand times a day. When my ...
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RETHINKING ONIGIRI
Hornby Island local Jake Berman first encountered onigiri while visiting his sister in Japan in 2006. This ...
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SCENES FROM CVAG, 2020
THE TIME OF THINGS
A masked woman reaches toward the fabric hanging on the art gallery wall.
“Don’t!” ...
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LEAVING OLD ENMITIES BEHIND
I enjoy the practice of traditional karate for many reasons, including what it teaches me about Japanese and ...
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SMASHING BARRIERS WITH SIP
Behind every non-profit there’s at least one driven, talented founder willing to make sacrifices to chase their ...
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ART AND MENTORSHIP IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Haida art is internationally recognized as part of the Indigenous artistic tradition of the peoples of the Pacific ...
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FEATURED WORDS: KUS-KUS-SUM
1. Field’s sawmill
A burial site with ghost bodies
on platforms in trees
retaining walls at the river’s ...
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FEATURED ARTIST: MIKE SAVAGE
Michael was born in Campbell River and currently resides in Fanny Bay with his partner Anna and cat Sophie Bean. ...
FEATURED PHOTOGTAPHER: SHANNON KAY
Living on a Gulf Island is a dream come true to Shannon. Slowing down her lifestyle has allowed her the time to ...
THE POOP ON CUMBERLAND’S AMBITIOUS NEW WETLANDS PROJECT
Your recent travel plans may have gone down the toilet, but was there ever a better time to start planning another ...
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LITTLE VALLEY: OLIVIA KLASSEN
My name is Olivia. I am nine years old and I adore art. It is one of my favourite things to do. All of my family ...
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PEDDLERS OF DELICIOUSNESS
The Comox Valley has long been home to an impressive array of local restaurants that have made highly valuable ...
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SECOND CHANCES
“We so rarely get second chances,” says whale researcher Jackie Hildering, the co-founder of Port McNeill-based ...
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FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT
Often in an instant, an acquired head injury can change everything. How do you make sense of so much loss? Where ...
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SUPERSONIC MEMORIES
Editor’s note: Rick Zyvitski, now retired, used to fly fighter jets out of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Comox. We ...
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THE RISE OF GRIND
There are many ways to spin a wheel. Even within each discipline of cycling—BMX, mountain and road, to name a ...
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PERCEPTIONS, PREJUDICE, AND PRIDE
“Hi, I’m Sam. I’m trans.” I start quite a number of conversations this way, and although it’s an unfortunate ...
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THE SEASONS OF BEES
There’s money in honey (sometimes), and for several beekeepers in the Comox Valley, keeping bees is a full-time ...
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THE NATURE CURE
It is no secret that the Comox Valley offers us a unique opportunity to work, play, and revel in the natural ...
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PLANTING FARMERS
Sarah Wilson always loved her veggies, even as a kid. She attributes the craving to growing up in Rivers Inlet, a ...
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RENEWAL AND COMMUNITY: A COLLECTIVE LOVE LETTER
Welcome to the 25th volume of our ongoing love letter to the Comox Valley.
In 2014, Ross Bodenmann had the ...
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NATION OF STAIRS
My quads burned. I stared up the seemingly endless, brutally steep stairs, then I glanced back down the valley and ...
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THE EGG EQUATION
I’ve always loved eggs. Hard-boiled. Scrambled. Sunny-side up. Anything but poached—well, unless they’re smothered ...
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EASY, BREEZY E-BIKES
How many times have you thought about how nice it would be to drive less? Maybe you want to reduce your carbon ...
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LITTLE VALLEY: SAM GOLDBY
My name is Sam and I am 11 years old. I love to go fishing, play basketball and ride bikes, but my very favourite ...
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FED UP NO MORE
We got together in the living rooms of cabins, converted barns, half-finished homemade houses. We ate date ...
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FEATURED ARTIST: JO PAYNE
Jo is a Comox-based artist with a passion for exploring colour, texture, and light. Using primarily acrylics, ...
FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: MATT NEWFIELD
Nature has always been a key part of Matt’s life. Growing up on Vancouver Island has given him countless mountains ...
BELTANE
Curled against you under the night sky
your touch reminds me
that my flesh is made
from the spark and dust
of ...
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ON THE SHARP EDGE
A rare beam of sunshine reflects off a long steel blade, catching the eyes of a pair of observers who press their ...
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AIMING FOR ZERO
One of nature’s fundamentals is the way matter flows in loops, supporting life as it transforms from one state to ...
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THE CURVE OF TIME
I grew up in a house where bookshelves reached the ceilings, with cascading spider plants tucked in among the ...
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TURNING DOWN THE TEMPERATURE
The second in our series imagining how the Comox Valley’s communities could look 20 years from ...
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THIS PLACE IS FOR THE BIRDS
Soft whitecaps glisten atop cresting waves, tall green grasses dance in the wind, an eagle swoops low across ...
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THE ART OF THE ARCHTOP
Musical wizardry is something I’ve always admired, and after meeting Comox Valley luthier (guitar maker) Wyatt ...
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NO FEAR OF FALLING
Throughout history, humans have been fascinated–even obsessed–with the art of flight. From Leonardo da Vinci and ...
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LEARNING TO FLY
As the sun breaks through in a brief respite on a day of steady rain, the 11 acres of the MARS Wildlife Rescue ...
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HOME IN THE HILLS
I'm inching along the narrow ridge leading to 5040 Peak, a ski on either side of the crest, mushy spring snow in ...
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IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL LAND
When my kids were younger, I logged long hours at the Rotary Skypark, going half-dizzy as they performed endless ...
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DOWN IN THE PIT
Air. When it’s good, we often don’t notice it. Think of a spring hike through Paradise Meadows: we may be aware of ...
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BLANKETED IN HOPE
History was made recently at Kumugwe, the K’ómoks Bighouse. On October 16, 2019, a ceremony was held marking the ...
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BREEZING INTO SPRING
Ah, spring. It’s the time when the light begins to spill over our valley again—a little longer every day—and the ...
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IN SEARCH OF THE SIMPLE LIFE
No matter where I’ve ended up on this journey, the coast has always called me back and the surf has kept me sane. ...
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CURIOUS CREATURES
Once upon a time, my grade seven teacher took our class on a road trip from our interior town of Kamloops to the ...
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FRIENDLY COMPETITION
The 2014 annual general meeting of the Comox Valley Road Runners (CVRR) was winding down when something ...
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LITTLE VALLEY: JUSTIN YARETZ
My name is Justin, and I am a very active boy who loves the outdoors. My favourite summer sports are BMX racing ...
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FEATURED ARTIST: ALEX MAERTZ
Alex Maertz is an illustrator based on the west coast. Born a stone’s throw from the woods, she instinctively ...
FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: PAIGE OWEN
Paige Owen is a photographer and graphic designer based in the Comox Valley. She takes inspiration from her ...
SUPPORTING THE NEXT GENERATION
We live in an incredible rainforest. Part of the wonder of our local geography is the amazing old-growth trees ...
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IN HER ELEMENT
Take a moment and listen to your breath. Inside it is the cadence of the ocean, the push and pull of an endless ...
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PROTECTING THE BALANCE
The Baynes Sound herring spawn in March is a spectacle, and the largest of its kind. About 38% of all the herring ...
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THE RETURN OF GIANTS
For the past 15 years, I’ve spent summers working as a kayak guide leading multi-day trips, mostly in the waters ...
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CRUMBLING CANNERIES
It was the 1880s and “The Great Salmon Industry” was in its golden years on the British Columbia coast. Entire ...
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AQUA MAN
His name is Kumugwe (pronounced “koo-moo-gwee”). He lives in a mansion made of precious metals, is revered as a ...
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CURRENT DEMAND
The red embers of cigarettes glow through a thick fog. It’s 6am and workers outside the processing plant at Mac’s ...
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A LIFE THAT BENEFITS OTHERS
The life of a Tibetan Buddhist monk is often assumed to take place in a remote monastery with complete detachment ...
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ABANDON SHIP
At one time she was probably a sporty trimaran, moored inside Comox Harbour. Then, during a fall wind storm her ...
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IN THE FIELD
ERIC RUSH: EXPLORER
To put it mildly, Eric Rush is pretty fond of road biking. A member of Courtenay’s Riverway ...
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UNLIKELY SHIPMATES
I’m tied to the dock as a gale grows outside the protection of the bay. Snow is piling up on the sailboat, but ...
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HOME BASE
Under the steady gaze of the Comox Glacier, looking east to the Strait of Georgia, the airfield at Canadian Forces ...
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INTO THE GREAT WHITE OPEN
Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest of earth’s continents. Though it’s a region of extremes, it’s much ...
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TREE OF LIFE
Every second week, a group of adults varying in age and background meets at the beautiful Abbey Studio, a ...
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GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE
Eric Greene’s mornings are different from most people’s. The New York city-based 36 year-old wakes before dawn, ...
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BAR CART BOUNTY
For many, spring means decadent chocolate Easter eggs and sunny daffodils. For others it’s the first taste of our ...
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SPIN IT TO WIN IT
When the days grow short and the nights grow long, the foggy village of Cumberland starts to slow down. But in a ...
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DEATH OF A WORKER’S FRIEND
Near the end of July 1918, the blackberries were just starting to ripen, a welcome development for the hungry ...
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GRAVITATIONAL PULL
Though the Comox Valley leaves little to be desired for the Island’s mountain biking community, our excitement ...
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LITTLE VALLEY: TAYLOR GRINDE
At 11 years old and growing up in the Comox Valley, I am lucky to be exposed to a lot of culture and experiences. ...
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THE PEACOCK BEAN PARADOX
Both of my parents emigrated from Europe to Canada soon after WW2. People of the Netherlands, like other ...
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THE TROUBLE WITH WOLVES
A herd of Roosevelt Elk browses willows in a bog near the Mount Cain turnoff. Nearby, a pack of wolves lie hunched ...
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FINDING YOUR SPARK
Blissful, haunting, enchanting, and tranquil are just words on this flat piece of paper in black and white. ...
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HOME VIDEO
We’re familiar with boom and bust on the west coast, with the effect of a fluctuating economy challenging us all. ...
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BRIDGING THE GAP
American sociologist Matthew Desmond said that housing is absolutely essential to human flourishing. These days, ...
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A WILDERNESS RETREAT, REIMAGINED
High on the verdant slope of Forbidden Plateau rests a craftsman lodge overlooking the Salish Sea. Though the area ...
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THE NATIVE SONS HALL
Long known as “the cultural heart of Courtenay,” the Native Sons Hall is the most historical and iconic building ...
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TUNING THE VIBRATIONS OF WELLNESS
Bowen Technique involves a gentle yet dynamic system of muscle and connective tissue moves, which balance the body ...
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STRAIGHT AND TO THE POINT
A barefoot walk in the soft moss, slowly and with intent, senses heightened, just to witness the scampering of a ...
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THE DIRTY AND THE DEDICATED
To some, it’s the Village in the Forest, to others simply “Cumby.”
But to those of us who crave the mud ...
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CHOSEN ROADS
Do I love my mountain bike or dirt bike more?
When I was four years old, I saw a dirt bike in a book and became ...
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LETTING IN THE LIGHT
Open. It brings to mind not one singular definition but a refusal of its opposites. Stubbornness. Inflexibility. A ...
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MERVILLE ORGANICS
Merville Organics is a food grower cooperative made up of several Comox Valley farms including Amara Farm, Ripple ...
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RAINWATER HARVESTING 101
The principals of rainwater harvesting have remained the same for centuries: collect and contain clean ...
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IF I HAD A HAMMER
In the 1980s, I was living in a subdivision in the suburbs just north of Toronto. On any given Saturday afternoon ...
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THE ROOT OF INDOCHINA
Tucked away in the northwest corner of Vietnam, with China to the north and Laos to the west, is the frontier town ...
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LOSS OF THE COMMONS
You know the expression, "Never trust a man with a moustache?" Well the same goes for a wealthy man in a top hat. ...
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LIVING LANDSCAPES
Daffodils, snowdrops, pussy willows, and crocuses are popping up madly, desperate to attract the attention of some ...
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CAMPBELL RIVER
Do you love walking along the ocean while the tide ebbs and flows? Are you a fan of sunsets pouring spectacular ...
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FIELD NOTES
The idea of market farming became a possibility for us after visiting the Comox Valley and falling in love with ...
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SID WILLIAMS THEATRE
It doesn’t feel like there are 500 seats inside the fairly boxy, grey, glass building at the corner of 5th Street ...
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PAINTING WITH FIRE AND SODA
The kiln has been firing for six hours. Brilliant orange light is emanating from every crack in the brickwork. The ...
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NATURALLY AWARE
With stunning visuals and captivating words April Bencze is reconnecting humans with the natural world. Her ...
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FOREST TO FAUCET
“Man must make himself small and humble to live in [nature] rather than a ruthless giant to conquer it”
– ...
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LITTLE VALLEY: VIJAY HOWE
Ever since I can remember, the Comox Valley has been growing and expanding, but it’s only in the last four or five ...
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COMOX VALLEY TRANSITION SOCIETY
Comox Valley Transition Society started in 1987 with one employee and a small group of volunteers. Today, in its ...
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COAL HILLS BMX
Before the Coal Hills BMX Track in Cumberland opened in 2007, my loving parents shuttled me to Nanaimo several ...
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OUTRIGGER CANOEING IN THE COMOX VALLEY
What is that? A question often posed by onlookers as Comox Valley Canoe Racing Club (CVCRC) members cart a 44ft, ...
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TASTING ROOM ETIQUETTE
We’re spoiled for choice when it comes to high-quality food and beverage producers in the Comox Valley. ...
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HEIRLOOM SEEDS
The first time I ate an heirloom tomato I had my doubts. I was never a tomato lover.
I’d seen too many sandwiches ...
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IGNITING A SPARK
When I moved to the Comox Valley as a new-ish parent, thinking about things like good schools felt far off. Since ...
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FREE-DIVING, WITH A CATCH
I hold my breath, feeling a trickle of cold that distracts me for a second; there must be a hole in my suit from ...
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