RAINBOW OVER GIBSON’S

On Wednesday, November 23, Ron gave a reading from The Defiant Mind at the Gibson’s Public Library. The reading started at 6 pm and was arranged by our friend and local resident, Michael Maser. Michael met us at the ferry, chauffeured us about, provided food and shelter, and the pleasure of the company of his wife, Lisa, and their dog, Chili. According to the Masers, Chili is the smartest dog in the world. When they ask him to open their front door, Chili raises one of his forepaws and pulls down the latch. When they ask him to close the door Chili simply wiggles his rump and pushes the door shut.       

One of the mysteries that I pondered during the many years that I lived on the waterfront of Nanoose Bay and looked across the strait to the Sechelt peninsula was: “why is that area called the Sunshine Coast?” While I and the residents of Nanoose Bay were soaked in sunshine, I would often observe dark rain clouds banked up against the mainland and I knew that Michael’s part of the coast was getting a soaking of a much different sort. When Michael met us at the ferry I immediately asked him about my meteorological observations. His answer was that, according to local lore, until the 1930’s, the area had been called the Rain Coast. (A logical name, I thought.) However, a prominent local realtor decided that this term was bad for business and he redubbed Sechelt the Sunshine Coast. For some perverse reason, the name has stuck.

The irony of this term is not lost on the indigenous population, many of whom, like Michael, are fungophiles. These hardy souls regularly don their waterproof gear, whistle for their dogs, and head into the forest to gather the mushrooms that abound there–chanterelles, oysters, lobsters, et al. (Yes, there really are oyster and lobster MUSHROOMS. I have tasted both kinds and they are fantastic.)

The Gibson’s Public Library is beautifully situated in the heart of downtown Gibson’s overlooking the waterfront and Molly’s Reach. The library was renovated during the summer and feels wonderfully fresh and clean. (In another life, I would like to be a librarian there.) At the moment Heather Evans-Cullen has this privilege and she welcomed Ron and me and Michael, and a small, but attentive audience of about ten people, to Ron’s reading. (The more readings that Ron does, the more confident he gets, and, by his own estimation, the Gibson’s reading was the best one he has given to date.) Normally the library closes at 7. On reading nights Heather keeps it open until 7:30 and by 7:45pm everyone has to leave before the security system engages.

The next morning Michael hosted a television interview with Ron. The interview took place in The MaryanneWest television studio at the Elphinstone Secondary School. The three cameras in the studio were “manned” by three of the students (Taylor, Lucas and Enriqua) who are taking the CPTV (cable production television) course at the school. The interview went “live to tape” at the control of Steve Sleep, the Producer of Coast Cable Community Television, who was outside in the Coast Cable truck. Unlike many BC communities, Sechelt still has a local broadcasting station and Ron and Michael’s interview will be shown on it a number of times over the coming weeks.

N.B. For those of you who might still be wondering about the origin of the title for this post, the rainbow (which I observed over Gibson’s from the Queen of Oak Bay on the day of Ron’s reading) was caused by the sunshine coming from Nanoose Bay.