Vancouver Island has its own brand of cowboy.
While not the type to don chaps and spurs, like those from the Interior and beyond, Island Cowboys are fantastically skilled in making a career of reckless outdoor pursuits while remaining, rather undeniably, emotionally unavailable.
Here on the Island, our cowboys are as varied as our landscape. At sea, we find kayak guides and tour-boat captains. Deep in our forests and torturous cutblocks are wildfire fighters and tree planters. Then, my personal favourites: those who dependably flock to the mountains as climbing and ski guides.
United in their weathered clothing and inability to sit still, Island Cowboys bewilder wide-eyed and open-hearted lovers at every turn. Affairs burn as bright as rampant wildfires and bluebird morning sunrises, if only for a season. Or, more aptly, a shoulder season.
Neither cowboy nor lover is unaware of the possibility of a future parting, though there’s no way to fully prepare for it. The familiar call from crew bosses, with the promise of a bank account top-up, pulls them from a priceless embrace back into the depths of non-existent cell reception—running hurriedly towards chaos for near-minimum wage.
The ping that uncertain eyes inflict following the inevitable “see you soon?” during a final parting has lessened with repeat exposure. Experience has taught me to see an Island Cowboy for who they are: easy to love and hard to hold.
Despite this awareness, I remain true to their consistent inconsistency—no doubt adding to the array of grey hairs appearing on my mother’s head. To further expedite that biological process for her, I’ve recently become somewhat of an Island Cowboy myself—a Cowgirl, rather. Not to delay a looming goodbye, but to welcome the immensity felt in following the seasons, far from civilization, in the company of similarly excitable peers.
My relationships and my career may not always be easy or conventional, but the most important parts of love and life are seldom much of either.
May we all follow our hearts—even if it breaks them.
