Galloping Geezer
 
"Photo Credit to Julie Ann Biggs out on the Mekong River, Cambodia Vietnam Border."
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Jack Downey Comments on Canadian Issues to Inform and Amuse.
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Sunshine Coast, Old Dogs
and Ebb Tides
Photo by Marvin Cooney
There is something primeval about the sea, it causes perfectly sane people to wander along, completely relaxed, turning over rocks to wonder at the life on the shoreline. I have often wondered why the Creator built the shore so near the ocean. So much is happening that one could spend forever watching the tide rise and fall, the waves and currents in constantly changing, life and death. But the sea is neutral. In the depths of primeval time, life began here. We instinctively know this was the birthplace of all flora and fauna; the place where weather is developed that controls all of our planet's seasons and environments. The sea is the great mother of all earthly things.
Recently I took the Lady Saskatchewan Flatlander to the BC Sunshine Coast for a coffee at Molly's Reach and to meet some dear friends who reside out there in BC's pearl of the Sechelt Peninsula, the town of Gibsons. My Lady Sask. loved the flowers and my friends' great hospitality, but could not understand why they had not cut down the trees to improve the view. She felt that the people of BC were lazy in not leveling out the mountains to get straight roads and to be able to see the lights of Calgary let alone Regina. She was gracious enough to allow that the Pacific Ocean was the biggest slough she had ever seen, though she did notice that all around the edge were a lot of logs Nick, "the Beach Comber " and Relic should have tidied up. Trees are offensive to the Flatlanders and dead trees littering the edge of the sloughs can easily damage the combine. Lady Sask. is charming and intelligent, but she is also determined that the whole world should look like Saskatchewan and be put under the plow. She has developed a plan to improve BC by first cleaning up the pacific foreshore and getting it ready for seeding.
To understand the Lady Sask Flatlander, one must know some of her history. She was raised believing: that Saskatchewan is "the World's Garden of Eden"; that the Provincial flower, the Tiger Lily, is the loveliest flower that blooms; that -40 F with out a wind is invigorating and with a wind nippy; that horses and dogs are nicer than humans; and that if you can't see for at least a hundred miles in any direction you're going blind. Here is her plan.
Plan A:
- Recruit one of the house-hold dogs 'Rascal' the Lab- Border Collie cross bitch to show me the way down to the ocean and back.
- After every one is finished the BBQ and gone to bed, wait for the first light of dawn and sneak out very, very quietly with Rascal.
- Borrow the hostess' red gumboots in the front hall.
- Hike to the beach and first off get rid of all that litter of wood so we can plow and harrow up that ugly non-productive area and get a crop planted.
- If all goes well we can get back before Brunch and the BCites will at least have some land that looks like Saskatchewan to use as an example of how to improve the rest of the province.
Lady Sask.'s plan was sound except she did not take into account her compatriot Rascal's predisposition towards water and sticks. 'tis true Rascal loves Lady Sask and is totally devoted to pleasing her, but hundreds of years of selective breeding is not easily set aside, especially for a chubby black pooch who has never been to Flatland Saskatchewan. Love is one thing but selective breeding is another.
To understand Rascal you must know that she is a pet in a two dog and two boy household who wants to be the 'Queen of the Silver Dollar' but has ended up as the 'Queen of the Brass Looney' and so will sell her soul to any one who makes much of her. Lady Sask Flatlander became Rascal's angel from the east and they would spend their lives adventuring together. Two ladies on the prowl, ain't love ever so grand?
Plan A- Execution:
After gumbooting down the hill and around several winding miles, our heroines arrived at the beach. The tide was near finishing the flood as Lady Sask put her head down and started pitching sticks out into the slough. Rascal's Labrador instincts came to the fore and off she galloped and into the briny sea to fetch the thrown stick. She had no sooner brought one back than four more were chucked out into the gentle waves. She tried ever so hard to keep up, but it was a losing battle, for every one fetched back Lady Sask heaved out a dozen or more as her stick chucking rhythm improved. Rascal soldiered on, but you could see in her eyes that her heart was breaking at not be able to keep up with Lady Sask.'s pitching arm. Thankfully, the flooding tide brought all the sticks Rascal missed back to shore. Lady Sask finally came to the rocky headland and turned around only to see Rascal recovering sticks and the waves returning all the others to the beach. At least they now were in a windrow and could be dealt with later. Right now the big logs were the major threat to cultivation and the tide had changed to an ebb tide. Lady Sask rigged up a harness for her and Rascal to skivvie the logs down to the shore and out to sea where Nick and Relic could boom them up and take them to the mill for processing. Later they could rendezvous at Molly's Reach to split the profits. Right now Lady Sask.'s hosts would be getting up and preparing brunch. Back home was a hearty jaunt up hill and both Rascal and Lady Sask were too pooped to make a glorious entrance. Eventully, they stumbled onto their hosts' deck to be greeted with amazed looks by the family and myself. Rascal had gone from chubby to a svelte, almost Greyhound like, figure and Lady Sask. was a shadow of her former self. Together these beautiful ladies had made a place flatland tourists could go when visiting BC, to remind them of home.
On Lady Sask.'s next visit she and Rascal intend to cut down all the trees and replant them with Saskatoon berries. (I can hardly wait)
The Ballad of Rascal and Lady Sask
Sing, sing, sing to the song of O Red River!
From this coastline they say you are going
We will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile
For they say you are taking the sunshine
That has brightened our path for a while.
Come and sit by my side if you love me
Do not hasten to bid us adieu
But remember the charming West Coasters
And the Rascal who loved you so true.
Won't you think of the beach you are leaving
Oh how lonely, how sad it will be?
Oh think of Christina's red gum boots
And the grief you are causing to me.
As I wait here out by the ocean
May you never forget those sweet hours
That we spent together chucking drift wood
And the fun on Sunshine Coastline.
© Jack C. Downey CD
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