Well, I finally got away from it all for a good amount of time. It’s back to the grind now, but it was great to relax.
We spent several weeks dodging the excessive heat out here (BC’s record is now hotter than Las Vegas) and ran up to Hornby Island. The weather was wonderful. The tides were relatively large and as the waters rolled in they heated up over the exposed rock which made swimming quite pleasant. The sand beaches were also nice, even at low tide as the bay is quite sheltered. It wasn’t busy at all compared to most years. We tended to get up early (thank you children who think 0630 is sleeping in) and down to the beach around 0900 and then return in the evening after supper for a pre-bed swim.
The tides are decent that far up the Strait of Georgia, about a 5m (16.5 feet) range, and brought up a bunch of interesting things for the kids to interact with. There were a tonne of Bald Eagles looking around the shoreline. There are nests near the home, but this year there were more than usual. There were also a large group of ravens. They scared off the crows and hounded the eagles a bit, but generally waited their turn on the trees when the eagles were on the reef. We did see the remains of a fight between an eagle and a Canada Goose, which is kind of surprising, as our geese are also known colloquially as “Cobra Chickens” as they’re very aggressive and large. They are a right pains in the petard so I don’t think many tears were shed.
Adding to the fun of seeing eagles up close (within 10 feet if we stayed still and there was some fish being cleaned) the bones of a seal that had washed up in the spring were mostly undisturbed. In fact, the only thing missing was the skull. It was great for the kids to see.
Another interesting thing was the massive die-off of small invertebrates. We normally get mussels, abalones, oysters, etc. This year the mussels were washing up, dead, by their thousands on the exposed reef. The crabs were loving it, but it really drove home that the water temperatures are far higher than usual. We’ve not had many sea-stars for the past several years after the Blob (an abnormally large patch of warm water) sat off our coast and helped spread some sort of wasting disease. Hopefully this heat event won’t result in the loss of other creatures.
Despite the die off, the reef was a wonderful place to swim and explore (click for larger).
Looking towards Tribune Beach 
We didn’t get any rain (despite the promising clouds sometimes). The grass was pretty dry, but the garden was looking good.
The lower garden at the place on Hornby 
Arbutus trees near the ocean
Upon our return home, my youngest (just under 2 years of age) decided that they liked to march in a parade with my 7 year old. With stuffed dragons in hand for both of them of course. This, my youngest has decided is called, “Huppa chew” which is chanted as we walk, err march around the house. My youngest’s favourite marches are Men of Harlech, the British Grenadiers and some Prussian marches, while my eldest enjoys Victoire est à Nous and the Chanson D’Oignon. I feel like the 100 Days Campaign is going to be played out in my hallways soon.
On the gaming front, I’ve received my order of Italians from Perry along with a large order of armour from Blitzkrieg Miniatures, and will be working steadily on getting things sorted for the Isola Pisily Campaign. Additionally, we’re getting ready for Caesar’s Camp. I’m hoping to put up a campaign post later this week. Now to find the time to paint!