Long Time No Blog

It's been a pretty busy time in recent weeks, let me try and hit the highlights for you.

Bethany's pregnancy is progressing smoothly, we've had some key test results come in and have had a second meeting with our midwife in Comox. That was actually my first time meeting her, and we're clearly going to be in good hands come delivery time. She's calming and comforting, very knowledgeable, and spoken of highly by other mommies around here. We got to check on baby's heartbeat, and it is strong! It's like a whooshing pulse sound, pretty amazing. Next up is an ultrasound next week, that will be my first look inside. Bethy is doing SO well at preparing for this experience. She's keeping fit with walking, yoga, good nutrition. She has a wee bit of a bump starting to show now. This is, of course, our highest priority and we're pretty happy with how things are coming together.

We've been involved in some big events here on Denman in the past month. Bethany did three weeks of work with the local kids -- a two-week drama camp and a three day rock camp! Both went over big-time, and will be highlights of their summer for sure. The drama camp was a joint effort by Bethy (the music teacher at her school last year), Lily the drama teacher, and a local artist/mom who oversaw the costumes and decor. The production was the well-know Lion Witch and Wardrobe play, and the kids ate it up. They soaked up the enthusiastic guidance of their leaders and cranked out a fantastic play that moved some of the parents to tears. I must admit I got the same rush of feeling that I had while watching a big-time Broadway-class production of the Lion King in Toronto years ago -- not to compare the two at all, but watching what a group of people can be capable of gives me a rush that I would compare to the tingle of hearing a great song. So that was a real treat, I was so proud of Bethany and everyone involved. I was actually supposed to be in the play myself as the Lion, but I got called to work on performance day.

The very next week was the Rock Camp -- a three day crash course in becoming rock stars. Many of the same kids from the play were back under Bethy's invigorating guidance, and she had some help from three of the older Denman kids who were in her band the past school year. Julian, Dylan and Cedar have been getting their own rock band going over the past year, so it made perfect sense to have them help teach the youngsters the basics of guitar, bass, drums, rock fashion and attitude. Bethy and I had a jam session with those three dudes a few days before the camp to learn five of the biggest rock songs: These Boots are Made for Walkin', I Love Rock n' Roll, I Wanna Be Sedated, Tutti Frutti and Hey Jude. It was a tall order to teach a handful of guitar chords to the ones who hadn't picked up the instrument before, but they pulled it off. Each tune had maybe a half-dozen gutars, and the rest would be singing, or on drums/bass (14 kids in total). The show on day three was awesome! Some had their hair spiked, funky outfits, shades, wacky shirts, kickass boots, and they blew through those songs with reckless abandon! Again, the parents in the crowd were very proud and grateful for the experience. Seems these arts camps would happen on Denman sometimes during the summers, but they've never had the Bethany factor thrown in before. She couldn't have done the rock camp without the help of those three guys, they were great sports and it was nice to see them get an unexpected paycheque for their troubles.

After the camps, there was no rest at all before we were into the first annual Biffy Games! That one is a long story with many photos so I think I'll leave it for a future blog entry.

I should say a bit about myself to go with all this gushing about my talented wife: I've been getting some work on the ferry lately, a shift here, a shift there -- I'm feeling quite comfortable on the ship, and know the routines pretty well by now. I had my first taste of the night watch the other day, being the lone person aboard overnight doing janitorial stuff, staying in contact with other night-watchers in the fleet, watching out for alarms on board, taking 'soundings' (fluid levels in various tanks and spaces), and the biggest role comes when there's an overnight ambulance call. If someone needs to get off Denman or Hornby, I'd call out the duty crew and we'd take it across to Buckley Bay. That happened once during my training, but I've only done the one night watch on my own so far -- no ambulance. I have a few more of these odd shifts booked towards the end of August.

In late July, we had a nice visit with some VicTown buds, Mike and Tracey came up for a couple nights. They go to Hornby every summer, so they built in some Denman time this time around. They took our scooter to do their Hornby day, and had an ol'fashioned Scoot Hoot. We had a nice BBQ in the front yard, and as luck would have it, they were here on a Monday night -- Jam Night! Bethany's band, Sharks of the Air*, has their weekly practice on Mondays, and including M&T, we had a good contingent of fans on hand that night -- it almost felt like a small intimate show. The players were really into it, and got lots of hoots and cheers. Quite a memorable night, that was.

* -- the potential band name has yet to be approved by all members, but it's so awesome I've been using it since its innocent birth one Monday when Randy (vox/guitar) was lamenting those pesky wasps as such.

Bethany joined this band early this year, bringing her trumpet and French horn into their rock solid mix of bass, drums, and two guitars. Those who've known and loved 'The Randy Duncan Band' for a long time have been saying they're sounding even better now with the brass in the mix. They're preparing to record an album shortly, and will have at least one big Denman gig in the fall.

Once again, my blog entry has spilled well down the scroll bar -- thanks for making it this far. I'm hoping to keep better on top of things so these stories will come in more digestable servings. Hope you're having a great summer!