between the events and adventures daily life is still happening and is just as sweet.

i feel so blessed to have both community here on the big island, and also on the wee island. i missed community in the peg and have been revelling in it since returning. i love spending time at denise and kurts, and i do believe she loves having gaggles of women over, so it all works out well. it’s so cozy and homey and welcoming there, i relish simply sitting and lounging and knitting as people talk and things do or don’t happen around me. rae and max have returned for the summer from europe where they are both going to school and are staying with d & k, so delicious time spent there is growing exponentially. max is also a connoisseur of volkswagen vans, so i have recently had the pleasure of riding in one again. the very first vehicle i ever owned was a 1970 VW when i was 17, and how i loved that unreliable darling….

a sparkly forest green dome-top that was all my own. i painted a moon (eventually) on the front of the dome and a star on the spare tire cover, and her name – ethereal – across the back door. the inside of the dome was plastered with photos of my friends, and i once crammed 19 of those friends into it and drove around the city during high school lunch hour. the things we do. so to ride in max’s van, sit on the bench seats, feel the putt-putt-rumble, imagine the gear shift in my hand, hear the sound of the door closing, and SMELL a volkswagen again – it brings me back. joy.

susanne and elliot came to visit from winnipeg for a few nights and we jammed in the beach, eating out, two different markets, two river trips, the mountain and a fast thrift store visit in the short time they were here. i used to live with them for the first couple of years of el’s life, and i love witnessing how she’s changed through the years. this visit she was fascinated with the tiny crabs at the beach and wanted to catch all of them after getting over her fear that they would pinch her with their tiny claws. then, after showing them the general area where i pee outside, she decided to fashion a “porta-potty” out of rocks and sticks and stumps, spending quite a bit of the evening on this project. she also has a fantastic voice, so despite her random strumming on the guitar, she was able to sing over it, making up the words as she went, and sounding good at the same time.

having the land now confirmed, i set about finding myself a truck for the wee island. after a whirlwind of looking and emailing and texting, in which all i really felt like doing was knitting or beading, dad and i went down to victoria and found what i hope will be the perfect truck. i need a 4×4 to get up the driveway on the land in the rainy season, but i’ve never owned, let alone used, a 4×4 before. so the seller brought us to a gravel pit and proceeded to tell me i could drive up what i would have previously considered an unclimbable gravel wall. holy shit! how cool was that!? it was at this point i fell in love with 4x4ing. i am starting to feel a bit like a red-neck because of how much i love my chainsaw, and now this incredibly cute new truck. it has warranted pats every time i walk by it since i bought it. oh, and i am now the owner of three insured vehicles. one of which i live in. you are not the only one who is not sure how to feel about that.