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 is artistic. That’s where I get it from.
I love living close to downtown Courtenay. One of the great things about our downtown is that the businesses are not run by big chains. Instead, they are run by people in our community. Some of my favourite stops are Whale’s Tales Toys (of course), Edible Island (for popsicles), and Blue Spruce Ice Cream. It is also fun to visit the library and art gallery.
Walking the alleys downtown is especially intriguing because there are lots of murals which are always changing. Sometimes I go to the mural walk in Vancouver and it is really inspiring to see colossal murals on the sides of buildings.
Lots of the big buildings going up in Courtenay have no colour to them. I think that new buildings could be more creative. I also like to imagine playgrounds and how they could be way better than the plastic ones. One of my ideas is to create a nature playground. When I get older, I want to be an architect so I can work on these sorts of projects. For now, I’ll just keep building things out of LEGO and cardboard!
On my way to and from downtown I walk through the community garden, where people without gardens get to have a garden plot, which is wonderful for those who live in apartments.
Across from our house there is a park. It is quite big, but it doesn’t have much in it. I drew a map and added what I imagined would be good additions to the park. Then I sent a survey to my neighbours to find out what they would like to see in our neighbourhood and added these to my drawing. The map was used in the City of Courtenay official community planning sessions for Harmston!
We have a back alley which is great for connecting with neighbours. I especially like seeing the train of daycare kids walking by. They are so cute. It is important to have many different types of people in a neighbourhood because you can learn from each other.
I love going to my school, École Puntledge Park, because it is right next to the Roy Stewart Morrison Nature Park. In the fall, the salmon go up the stream and we learn about the spawning cycle. The forest behind my school is one of the prettiest places. Sometimes my family goes down there for walks. My class named a gigantic tree Fernie because there are ferns growing all over it. It has an epic rope swing which is enjoyed by multiple kids and maybe some adults, too! Morrison Creek is also home to the endangered western brook lamprey.
Living in the Comox Valley is fun. I don’t think I would want to live anywhere else.
