
The Beaufort Range sits temptingly in our backyard. If you’re a backcountry skier, then you’ve probably gazed at ...
Words & Featured Photo by
Andrew Findlay
Gallery photo by
Chris Istace

Have you ever noticed that the flowers you see in local gardens—maybe even in your own yard—are rarely available ...
Words & photos by
Lydia Jackson

I first heard of silent disco headphones while working in Toronto’s music industry several years ago. When the ...

No vegetable family is as diverse and versatile as the brassicas. While you may not know the word, you’re ...

Curling saved my life. Sounds like an outrageous statement to make, but in 1999, the year I first threw a curling ...

Luc is a transplant from the prairies who made his way to the Comox Valley seven years ago in search of the ...

Shannon Ford is inspired by the magic of discovering beauty in chaos: “Walking up to a huge, empty canvas is pure ...
Words & Artwork by
Shannon Ford

In the natural world, winter is usually considered a season of rest as many plants and animals become dormant once ...

The dictionary says rest is “to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.” ...

Except for Indigenous people, Canadians are settlers—immigrants themselves, or the descendants of immigrants. ...

There are two basic ways to look at a forest you manage—as a tree farm or an ecosystem.
To see the difference, ...

Homelessness can happen in many ways: job loss, injuries and accidents, mental health issues, and substance use. ...

Music and theatre provide an environment where, through collaboration, we are encouraged to celebrate diversity, ...

In the early morning hours of the winter solstice, December 21, 2021, my life and health changed forever. I was ...

Things are often done a little differently on the Gulf Islands. Partly by necessity, partly by inclination, these ...

The legend of the Flying Dutchman, a ghost ship doomed to never enter port, has been told and retold since the ...

I first became drawn to mead because of my Scandinavian heritage: mead plays an important role in many of the ...

While some of us were out celebrating Valentine’s Day this past February, Eugen Sushko was feverishly drawing at ...
Words by
Vivian Dean
Photos courtesy of
Supermod

Colin Garritty has an enviable job. Four days a week, all winter long, he gets paid to ski and snowmobile the ...

When we think about hunting and gathering, the season we usually think of is fall. For many of us, there’s nothing ...

My husband and I moved to the Comox Valley four years ago. From the start, we’ve enjoyed navigating our way around ...

When I was a kid growing up in the ’70s and ’80s in Montreal, stores were closed on Sundays. Every single store. ...

Laurie is a “late in life” painter who moved to the Comox Valley after retiring in 2015 from a busy career as a ...

Jim is a fifth-generation Comox Valley resident, born and raised here. His interest in photography began in junior ...

It is usually late May when I embark on the first mountain trip of the season. In this particular year I was ...
Words & photos by
Claire Gordon

Starting in 1888, a vast labyrinth of extraction tunnels was carved beneath the village of Cumberland, the old ...

Eating local is a popular concept in the Comox Valley, with its long growing season and wealth of farms producing ...

When I was a kid growing up in the northern boreal forest, my mother took me and my siblings out foraging for ...

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
– Søren Kierkegaard, 1843
I don’t ...

This past January, I received an email from the organizer of the BC Epic thanking me for my registration.
Which ...
Words & Featured Photo by
Dave Nowak
Gallery Photo by
Gary Egli

Over a century ago, on a Monday in late September, crowds of young and old thronged Vancouver’s sidewalks. Mothers ...

Decades ago, I was sitting in a cinema seat in Toronto, gripping the armrests as the tension heightened, and ...
Words by
Mac Newton
Illustration by
Ian Adams

When David and Angela Mackenzie open the door to their new home, they will bring with them an unwavering ...
Words & Photos by
Karen McKinnon

As I pull through the gates of Smith Lake Farm, I’m greeted by the sounds of chickens clucking and disc golfers ...
Words by
Sara Kempner
Featured photo by
Meredith Rose

Back in 2013, I started shopping around for healthy nutrition options to supplement my gym goals. I’d never given ...

Do you laugh when you hear the word sasquatch? Do you believe that sasquatches exist? Do you think that a ...

I’ve occasionally yearned to wear a Davy Crockett-inspired coonskin hat. The reason I don’t isn’t that I fear I’d ...

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon as I make my way through Alex Blais’ yard, following the sound of laughter toward an ...
Words & Photos by
Sara Kempner

Our new Cumberland home came with a view of the crisp Beaufort Range mountains, Mount Apps standing tallest above ...

The very first time I dipped my paddle into the Salish Sea, wedged awkwardly in the belly of a dragon boat, I was ...

On Friday, May 13, 2022, a group of paddlers from many backgrounds made their way, in two interconnected voyageur ...

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon as I make my way through Alex Blais’ yard, following the sound of laughter toward an ...
Words & Photos by
Sara Kempner

Like most woodworking spaces, Sandpiper Studio is an organized-but-dusty collection of equipment designed for the ...

I-HOS GALLERY
K'ÓMOKS FIRST NATION
Owned and operated by the K’ómoks First Nation, I-Hos Gallery showcases a ...

Hi, my name is Darragh Tormey, and this is my love essay.
Love can mean a million things, and it means ...

K’ómoks First Nation (KFN) members Sean Frank and Trevor Hardy, assisted by master carver Joe Martin of ...

The Comox Valley in the 1960s was remote, beautiful, and serene. It was also secluded, with no major highway ...

Glean (v.): Gather (ears of grain, etc.) after the harvest.
I recently attended an inspiring symposium hosted ...

Some of my dearest early memories involve water. My dad would tie a rope on my sister’s and my life jackets as we ...
Words & featured photo by
Erica Keen

Marianne Enhörning is a West Coast Canadian artist. Born in Sweden, she split her work life for many years between ...

As an adventure, wildlife, and sports photographer based in the Comox Valley, Nick chases the thrill of unique ...

Every day, we hear and say, “I love this.”
And this. And this. And this. And oh, that over there, too.
We toss ...

In 2008, novice paddleboarder Norm Hann hatched a plan to travel by stand-up paddleboard (SUP), with boat support, ...

We’ve all done it. Bragged about how we used to go somewhere when it was still cool and undiscovered, before the ...

Deep in the heart of Utah Mormon country, in a place called Temple Square, sits an unusual statue known as the ...

The ferns have their fresh, feathery leaves and everything in sight is electric green. This is Vancouver Island in ...
Words & Photo by
Jennifer Jellett

Two “very pregnant” cats. That was the delivery at the door of the Kitty Cat P.A.L. (Prevent-A-Litter) Society at ...

In 1992, an eclectic group of local artisans joined together to form The Potters Place Gallery. “There was already ...

There is a natural intimacy to be found at the Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival. Readers, writers, ...

Land is on my mind a lot these days, as a dad and freelance journalist. I recently interviewed an old Findlay ...

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably driven past the community halls north of Courtenay along Highway 19A ...

My dearest Yarden, It wasn’t just one of your plants that snared me. Nor did my love for you hit all of a sudden. ...

Bark! Bark! Bark! We are an hour and a half into our wilderness validation search; Rudy has already found two ...

When LOVE was suggested as our summer theme, I jumped on it. I planned to write an inspiring intro that would ...

One of the most iconic locations in the Comox Valley is Goose Spit, a long finger of land that shields Comox ...

In 2021, I decided to travel across British Columbia with my bike and my skis—or, more accurately—with my skis on ...
Words & Photos by
Damien Jannet

“Restoring land without restoring relationship is an empty exercise.”
– Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, ...

Born and raised on British Columbia’s West Coast, Christian grew up with a deep appreciation for nature, thanks to ...

We meet in the shadows and plan our route for the late afternoon, prowling the alleys, neighbourhood by ...

Wi'yugwa̱mala dłuwa̱n, - Baby with me,
Łax̱wa̱lanukwa̱n tłus. - I love you.
Mu'la̱n gax̱a'aḵus. - I’m ...

Eighteen-year-old Morgan, a Comox Valley resident, started taking photos with a smart phone when he was 12 and ...

One of my earliest memories is playing under my grandmother’s quilt frame while she and her friends sewed a quilt ...

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 ...

A lone modular office building with blue vinyl siding rests at the end of a gravel driveway on the edge of Homalco ...

Last year a friend messaged to let me know there was a promotional Walking Dead backpack at one of the thrift ...

Most of us gain confidence when our skin looks and feels good, and this sometimes reflects how we hold ourselves ...

If you stand on Saratoga Beach and look out at the water on a calm day, the Salish Sea appears silent, steady, and ...

JIPSI TREE
It all began when JoAnne McElroy simultaneously left both her teaching and tree-planting ...

When you enter the Gardens on Anderton, you are greeted by a volunteer host who offers a smile, an orientation, a ...

When we invite young people to visit the engineered landfill at the Comox Valley Waste Management Centre, we ask ...

When Kermit the Frog said, “It’s not easy being green,” he wasn’t talking about investing, but he might as well ...

I don’t remember the summit of Mount Colonel Foster.
I know I stood on it with my friends, Chris and Sean. I ...

Not long after I moved to Cumberland, when it was easier to get lost in the forest, I was riding my dirt bike down ...

“Expect mountain bikes, hikers, runners, dogs, children, and elders on these trails.”
—excerpt from the Interim ...

Seaweed is a food resource long celebrated by traditional coastal peoples across the globe, including throughout ...
Words & Photo by
Angela Willard

In a field next to the ruddy red barn of the Black Creek farm owned by Margaret Douglas and Fred Hinz, a group of ...

If you’ve ever spent time with a toddler, you’ll know they ask “Why?” about seven thousand times a day. When my ...

Born in Hay River, NWT, Shelley has lived in Edmonton, Switzerland, and five Canadian provinces.
Her work, both ...

Originally from Poland, Ania of AniuEmilia Photography has lived on beautiful Vancouver Island for 30 ...

Most people are shocked when they learn our family of five lives in a tiny home. “How many square feet?” they ask ...

SCOTT BELL
Scott Bell is an outdoor adventure filmmaker who has a commitment to capturing the beauty of the ...

The beginning of winter, with its transition from warmth to cold and from growth to decay, is a reminder of the ...

Not many people know this about me, but I’ve got a real penchant for fine, stiff Italian boots. This confession ...

Like many Vancouver Island folk, I’ve made plenty of happy memories in Strathcona Provincial Park. In the summer ...

My name is Ava, and I am ten years old. I was born in Vancouver and moved to Cumberland with my mom and dad when I ...

If there is one truth the pandemic has disclosed, it’s that, as humans, we yearn for connection to the elements. ...

Growing up in the Comox Valley, Mal Irvine, who uses they/them pronouns, often felt uncomfortable. They were ...

Hornby Island local Jake Berman first encountered onigiri while visiting his sister in Japan in 2006. This ...

Every poem tells a kind of story, but poems are not short stories. They are a unique medium which is concerned ...

In 2015, on his way to Whistler, Duncan Hague flew over the Rocky Mountains and peered out the plane’s little oval ...

We’ve all heard the adage “It takes a village to raise a child.”
Now imagine we’re talking about your child. ...

I respectfully acknowledge that we are on the unceded traditional territories of the K’ómoks First Nation, and I ...

When I wrote The New Brewmox Valley for the inaugural issue of this magazine in 2014, I told a hopeful and ...

Imagine noticing smoke in the distance, then, less than ten minutes later, your property is fully consumed by ...

I pull up to Kelsey Epp’s Merville farm, and, before my feet hit the ground, the silence of the long, verdant ...

May 31, 2021: “Hey, Meaghan, we’re thinking if some restrictions lift this summer we might try to book some shows ...

In case you haven’t noticed, the Comox Valley has been experiencing a population boom of late. Newcomers choose ...

The first time Tom (not his real name) had someone call the cops on him was in the winter. He was several blocks ...

This is a tale of resilience. A tale of how, if your resolve is true, you can make it to your destination.
Even ...

Everyone remembers the first time they met Thomas Dunn. He was a rare individual who made an impression—mostly ...

Does the thought of walking in the forest at night make you feel uneasy? Does it sound strange? And if you were to ...

The ashen moon hung low that brisk October night. Despite the obscuring fog, I could see my breath. The chill cut ...

Curtis was born and raised in the Comox Valley, where he pursues a number of hobbies and seasonal interests, ...

t’s 7:30 a.m. and my 11-year-old daughter skips out to join our 74-year-old neighbour for a sprightly walk around ...

Sharon Lalonde has been creating all her life, using all forms of artistic expression.
The medium she chooses ...

Etched into the fabric of Comox life, the Northeast Woods are considered by many locals, especially newcomers, to ...

For over 5,000 years, the written word has carried knowledge and information to readers, supporting the ...

MY DELIGHTFULLY DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY
AUTHOR: LORAINE HARTLE
GENRE: MEMOIR
A fascinating and engaging story ...

I am age nine and go to Miracle Beach Elementary. I have a younger brother who’s eight named Callum, and we have ...

On a sunny summer evening, Janeth Recinos served up delicious pupusas filled with shredded pork and fresh salsa ...
Words by
Andrew Findlay
Photo collage courtesy of
Sue Rambow

After the year that was 2020, we’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel—a return to the way life was ...

Things are changing in the Comox Valley: our population is growing as more people move here in appreciation of the ...

For British Columbians, whether or not we are directly involved in the industry, forest products are us.
When I ...

If you take a moment to reflect upon the immense amount of organization, dedication, and perseverance required to ...
Words by
Kevin Flesher
Featured photo by
Jim Whyte

BECAUSE I AM QUEEN
I wear a crown of many eyes
that sees right through your bullshit lies.
My ...

for S’ólh Téméxw (the traditional territories of the Stó:lo-)
out in the valley
plump drupelets fall into ...

Born and raised in Quebec, Françoise is a self-taught wildlife/landscape photographer. Her first career was as a ...

A member of the Taku River First Nation by birth, Brian was adopted as an infant by Linda and Perry Jessop and ...

In August 2020, I travelled to a magical corner of the world where there are more glaciers than anywhere outside ...
Words & Artwork by
Tracy Kobus
Photos by
Malcolm Johnson

In 1845, Henry David Thoreau went into the woods of Massachusetts and built a simple cabin beside Walden Pond. For ...

Fighting the urge to crawl back into my warm bed, I force myself to grab my camera bag and head into the chilly ...
Words & photo by
Sara Kempner

March 4, 2021: “This is not good. I’ve just gone to look at the area. The flagging starts about 50 meters beyond ...

My parents were notorious collectors. On any given Saturday, they would pack up our silver E150 Ford Econoline van ...

It’s better to burn out than to fade away? Not always. New alternatives to cremation allow bodies to return to the ...

Bannock: a simple quick bread made with a few ingredients most people will have on hand. But bannock, for all its ...

Watching John Waters scramble up a rock face is like watching a monkey climb a tree. A moment ago, he stepped off ...
Words by
Ryan Stuart
Featured photo by
Sara Kempner

I’m so glad you’re here. As many readers know, each issue is part of a cycle with four linked themes.
COVID-19 ...

When Sarah McLoughlin passed away on February 10, 2021, at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver—her husband ...
Words by
Kerry Hale
Featured photo by
Susan Healy

We moved to the Comox Valley a little over three years ago. I spent most of my childhood living in Nelson, BC, ...

You pretty much can’t have a conversation anywhere in the world today without one of our global crises popping up ...

Imagine three siblings—Cumberland, Courtenay, and Comox—who tolerate each other, but aren’t exactly brimming with ...

North Island College’s (NIC)’s Indigenous language courses are bringing together students and building a community ...

A few years ago, a fog rolled in on me, gradually placing a dim, grey mist over my view in all directions. I ...

Urban agriculture can mean a number of things depending on who you ask and where in the world it’s occurring. To ...

What separates SOS Gear from other outdoor stores is not what it carries, but what it doesn’t.
Like most gear ...

The secret’s out regarding Vancouver Island and its amazing mountains. While all alpine environments are ...
Words & Photo by
Shane Johnson

There’s no real place to start this story of sailing. I never would have predicted that I would be writing this ...
Words by
Judith Wright
Featured photo by
Jenn Dykstra

A few years ago, there was a local kerfuffle because a new sign on the Inland Island Highway proclaimed: “Welcome ...

For over a year, we’ve all been dreaming of getting away, and perhaps Island adventures will once again be ...

One of the most iconic summer activities in the Comox Valley is tubing down the Puntledge River.
There’s no ...

At the end of a dirt road, minutes from the sea, sits an idyllic farm.
Youthful alder, fir, hemlock, and pines ...

I remember well the pitter-patter of tiny toad feet on my lawn when I was a child growing up across from the swamp ...

At the end of a meandering gravel driveway tucked among lush cedars stands the Deep Bay Marine Field Station, a ...

After so many months of navigating an ever-changing pandemic landscape of worries, warnings, restrictions, and ...

THE TIME OF THINGS
A masked woman reaches toward the fabric hanging on the art gallery wall.
“Don’t!” ...
Words by
Glen Sanford
Featured photo by
Kyle Little

I enjoy the practice of traditional karate for many reasons, including what it teaches me about Japanese and ...

Behind every non-profit there’s at least one driven, talented founder willing to make sacrifices to chase their ...

Haida art is internationally recognized as part of the Indigenous artistic tradition of the peoples of the Pacific ...
Words by
Keisha Everson
Featured photo by
Zac Whyte

1. Field’s sawmill
A burial site with ghost bodies
on platforms in trees
retaining walls at the river’s ...

Michael was born in Campbell River and currently resides in Fanny Bay with his partner Anna and cat Sophie Bean. ...

Living on a Gulf Island is a dream come true to Shannon. Slowing down her lifestyle has allowed her the time to ...

Your recent travel plans may have gone down the toilet, but was there ever a better time to start planning another ...

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 ...

The Comox Valley has long been home to an impressive array of local restaurants that have made highly valuable ...

“We so rarely get second chances,” says whale researcher Jackie Hildering, the co-founder of Port McNeill-based ...

Often in an instant, an acquired head injury can change everything. How do you make sense of so much loss? Where ...

Editor’s note: Rick Zyvitski, now retired, used to fly fighter jets out of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Comox. We ...
Words by
Rick Zyvitski
Featured photo by
Sara Kerr

There are many ways to spin a wheel. Even within each discipline of cycling—BMX, mountain and road, to name a ...

“Hi, I’m Sam. I’m trans.” I start quite a number of conversations this way, and although it’s an unfortunate ...

There’s money in honey (sometimes), and for several beekeepers in the Comox Valley, keeping bees is a full-time ...

It is no secret that the Comox Valley offers us a unique opportunity to work, play, and revel in the natural ...

Sarah Wilson always loved her veggies, even as a kid. She attributes the craving to growing up in Rivers Inlet, a ...

Welcome to the 25th volume of our ongoing love letter to the Comox Valley.
In 2014, Ross Bodenmann had the ...

My adventures used to involve adrenaline. Like the time I hitchhiked from Kamloops to climb Mt Forbes in Banff ...

Famed feminist leader Gloria Steinem is quoted as saying: “Revolutions that last don’t happen from the top down. ...

It began in a small kitchen on a small island, with peanut butter, honey, and oats.
It was 1993 when Trish ...

I never know what to expect during our visits. Often, she is not home; her tiny body is present in a mobile chair ...

I’ve been intimately involved in the ground-source heat pump (GSHP) industry for 20 years. I began with mud up to ...

Katherine Kirk suspected the roof of Forbidden Plateau’s day lodge was going to collapse. “One day, a woman in the ...
Words by
Mike B.
Featured photo by
Lindsey Pattinson

I began to write this letter on a rainy, blustery day in early November—possibly not the best time to reflect on ...

Would you be less frightened of a ghost if you were able to greet it by name?
The Comox Valley contains many ...

Many can say they have travelled to countries and continents around the world, tasted food from the most exotic of ...
Words & photos by
Ben Neufeld