Memories of Africa - again. Here is my latest nostalgic effort to recapture the images of Africa...my Lion Cub.
Cowichan Bay Low Tide Day (15 May 2010) and Spotted Prawn Festival
YUCK was the first thing I saw. A fisherman, who goes out into the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska to fish - guess what - Cod. Apparently they are still as plentiful as they used to be on the Grand Banks, Newfoundland, before the bottom draggers killed the fishery there. He is volunteering for the Prawn Festival (sell raffle tickets for a hand made wooden dinghy made in Cow Bay) whilst his wife is slaving away turning clay pots in The Mudroom, a local pottery store.
Yes there are prawns, and plenty of them, fresh from the boat at Fishermen's Wharf at the dock. Obviously a popular sales item, as the line up stretched from the boat, up the ramp and onto the main dock. Everybody waiting patiently for their plastic bag filled with live prawns.
Welcome, to the Wharf in Cowichan Bay...just keep your pet leashed!
Maybe closed to car traffic, but foot traffic was sure thick today. Kids counting critters on the exposed shores, people wandering around eating the famous Udder Guys Ice cream, others standing in line at the True Grain Bread store to purchase the best bread on Vancouver Island, others enjoying a leisurely lunch at Hillary's Cheese Store and Bistro, some others listening to Marimba Music put on by Bo, the resident Danish Marine Store owner, some waiting for the whale watch boat to meet up with the local sea mammal population.....and it is summery warm and sunny to boot.
And after all that wandering around - why not a Foot Rub? 5 bucks gets you one.
Wandering off to the little church down the road, where tulips and daffodils, iris and wildflowers grow wild in the shady parish cemetery.
A little peace from the hubbub in Cowichan Bay village.
On Saturdays, there is Milonga at 'The Temple'. During the week a young woman does alternative healing etc up here. But on the weekend, people young and old arrive from Saltspring Island, Victoria, Ladysmith, Campbell River and places closer to home to surrender to the sensuality and elegance of dancing the Argentine Tango. Of course, yours truly is practicing her ochos, ganchas and cicadas along with the rest of the tangueros.
And then there is Liski, my little equine buddy, who has not worked (except for his hay mastication machine) since months. I longe him almost daily, and climbed on a couple of times. And despite his bored and nonchalant look, he has more spunk than a Kentucky race horse. So I am sloooowly starting to ride him again.
