Take a walk with your love...
From "Heaven On Earth" on the Sleeping Dogs album
As always you can find my upcoming tour dates for the upcoming midwest US, southern Ontario, and more, with links to info and tickets below
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Check out my view above as I write this newsletter/blog. I’m on a plane right now, heading to Columbus, OH. I’ll get to see the American side of my family before heading out on a 10-date run through the midwest United States with a couple of those gigs in southern Ontario. I’ll head back to Vancouver Island for 5 days with a single band gig in Victoria, BC about three hours or so south of where we reside. Then later in October it’s back to my other home of Texas for a whole month of performances, radio interviews, and recording.
Now then — here’s where I was yesterday, walking through one of the most beautiful places I know. It’s called Beaver Lodge Lands in Campbell River, BC. Could you possibly have a more Canadian name for a protected forest? Hundreds of acres that my two favorite ladies (my wife Donyne and our rescue dog Alice) and I felt like we had to ourselves yesterday as we traipsed through the winding paths before I embarked on 15 hours of travel today.
One of the first times I came to Beaver Lodge with Donyne, before we were married and I was on one of my extended visits here, we drove up the short dirt road to the parking area of this massive park and my wife noticed another lone truck parked near the entrance. “Aw man,” she said along with a small sigh as we pulled up to park ourselves. “What’s wrong?” I asked. She replied disappointingly, “somebody’s here.” This made me grin from ear to ear so much it almost hurt. “It’s just nice every once in a while you feel like you get it to yourself,” she added.
Well, that’s how it felt yesterday.
Onstage before performing one of my songs like “Heaven On Earth, or “Bird Out On 9th”, I often remark that my wife is a horticulturalist, arborist, and gardener from Vancouver Island and she has a love of nature I never had growing up in a steel town in Ohio. It’s true. Have you ever seen the movie Shawshank Redemption? That’s the prison from the town where I grew up in Mansfield, OH. I imagine you get the idea. We did have a beautiful public estate I would play “capture the flag” in called Kingwood Center, and we would be gifted a garden area there for vegetables and such about the size of a parking space from time to time. It was a nice thing to do for those who didn’t have a lot of money (which was most of us in Mansfield). I quote Jimmy Dale Gilmore when he said, “nothing hits the spot when you’re hungry like food.” But mostly I was a city kid who knew a lot more about concrete than I did about dirt.
I’ve been back there once since I was 12 years old. My wife and I drove through a couple years ago. Not sure why. There aren’t a lot of good memories for me there really. I’m sure there are good people with good lives there.
Austin was my home for 20 years, and with good reason. It was the first place that ever felt like home to me in my entire life. The musical community is second to none, to this day, and it will always feel like home. Even if we can’t afford to keep a residence there. Thank you Elon.
I’ve been coming to Canada to perform (back when I was a side-person) for more than 20 years. I’ve been coming to Campbell River to visit the lady that would become my spouse for 15 or so. In January we will have been married for ten of those years. For those who know me well, the idea that I would love it so much or that it would have such an effect on me might be somewhat surprised. Love has a lot to do with it. So does my wife’s and my family here as well. This island is pretty overwhelming to me for many reasons only one of which is the temperate climate and breathtaking landscape and overall environment.. After all this time, I’m still enchanted by it.
Here’s another story or two:
In October of 2019, days before we left “Van Isle” to return to Austin for the usual 6 months, my wife and I decided to take a nice lengthy walk along the Quinsam River. It was lovely weather. Fall was coming on strong, and the air had not yet turned from what I deem perfection to what my wife deems, “still too hot.” We hadn’t been there long when we noticed folks around us whispering, and coming closer to the waters edge. We even saw some kids who were fishing on a fallen tree log who had been yelling and having a good time not two minutes ago, being respectful all of a sudden without any prompting from the adults. A young lady with a camera walked by and said in an indeterminate and probably not local accent, “there’s a bear.” Donyne and I found a little spot on the bank, sat down, and slowly watched a black bear doddle down the river bank across from us. There couldn’t have been more than 10 lucky folks around us who got to witness our furry friend. Frankly if the bear was anywhere near us we would definitely not have stopped. Folks in Campbell River know how to be around bears like folks in the hill country know how to be around scorpions and copperheads. You’re probably fine but there’s no reason to tempt fate. Those who do usually regret it. The folks around here really seem to grow up with an innate or at least ingrained reverence for nature.
Shortly after the bear was finished fishing and lumbering around still somehow gracefully and just sauntered out of our view, we got up and continued our walk.
Another benefit to living here is the abundance of lakes in close proximity. This summer we only made it to Mohan Lake, as I had a particularly successful festival season and modestly busy touring schedule. But one of my favorite moments on a lake here happened on Amor Lake a few years ago.
We have many to choose from, and I’ve really only spent time on three of the many lakes on Vancouver Island. They are often down long, bumpy, and twisting logging roads, and they are often very busy in the summertime. This time we got to Amor Lake and it was as much an adventure for Donyne as it was for me because she had never been there either! About an hour drive in from the highway, there were a couple pickup trucks and the obligatory Subaru Outback in the lot by the campsites at the edge of the lake. We figured it wouldn’t be “our lake” today. We had borrowed our outlaws (my in-laws prefer to be called my “outlaws”) kayaks and were ready to set in ward to parts unknown.
We went through a short inlet, then came to an opening to a body of water so beautiful as to be consistent with its nearby neighboring lakes. It didn’t take long to realize how wonderfully alone we were. Donyne likes to follow the shorelines on the lake when she kayaks and “explore” the banks. I’m always playing catch-up on anything we do outdoors, so I tend to follow her lead unless I really want to see something. It’s all gravy to me if you catch my drift. Maybe a hour into our paddle we ended up more in the middle of the lake. In the far distance I could see a family camped on a beach. On these lakes, if you get to a small island before anyone else, it’s your island for the night. Same goes for the small beaches. I’m not sure we saw anyone else that day. If they were there they were far from us.
I asked if my partner in heaven would mind if we stopped and floated for a bit, knowing full well she loves to stop and float for a bit. In my entire life, up until that point, I had never once experienced that kind of quiet. No highway in the distance, no civilization, just wind gently through the trees and not even much of that. I suppose if a small prop-plane flew by we would hear it softly, but it didn’t happen. Miles and miles of full Douglas Firs and massive Maples lined the surrounding mountains. The water was so calm it looked as thought it was solid and flat enough to skate on.
This is the moment I was overcome. I said to Donyne, “you know, most people probably go their entire lives and never get to experience this kind of quiet.” She almost looked right through me with her trademark smirk as if to say, “well duh.” But she didn’t say anything beyond that half-smile of agreement.
Vancouver Island is getting over-run like everywhere else. Mostly by Vancouver residents who realized they could sell their plot of land the size of a postage stamp for millions only to buy a bigger-than-any-family-would-ever-need home with money left over to flaunt. Mostly due to them realizing during the COVID lockdowns they no longer needed to live in a metropolis to perform their jobs. The world keeps getting smaller and smaller. It’s getting harder and harder for people to own land, to buy houses or property in or out of cities and towns, people are moving further and further north due to the rise in temperatures around the equator, and soon there will be nowhere left on earth where you can experience this kind of solace. Income inequality is at a breaking point. The rich keep moving further and further out from the cities, and the poor keep moving up in taller apartment buildings. I know it’s the way it’s always been, but it’s beyond the pale. Most people can conceive what a million dollars is, even though they will never see that much. Very few can conceive a billion. Nor should they have to try in my opinion.
If Donyne hadn’t been born and raised here, and without a ton of help from her family, we couldn’t live here. And I probably never would have had or will continue to occasionally have these kind of experiences I treasure so dearly. As I embark on a couple of tours the main thing I wish to convey, as usual, is my gratitude. For this planet, and what’s left of it. And for someone who’s internal “yapper” rarely shuts up, I highly recommend a walk with your love through the woodlands or anywhere else you may find some peace. It’s highly under-rated.
Natalie's Grandview (Music Hall & Kitchen)
Wed, Sep 28 @ 7:00PM
Molly's House Concerts
Sat, Oct 1 @ 7:00PM
Music In The Gazebo
Sun, Oct 2 @ 6:30PM
London Music Hall Music Complex
Mon, Oct 3 @ 7:00PM
The Dakota Tavern
Tue, Oct 4 @ 7:30PM
MOHAWK PLACE
Wed, Oct 5 @ 8:00PM
Bop Shop Records
Thu, Oct 6 @ 7:00PM
Funk 'n Waffles
Fri, Oct 7 @ 8:00PM
Thunderbird Café & Music Hall
Sat, Oct 8 @ 6:00PM
The Southgate House Revival
Sun, Oct 9 @ 9:00PM
Oak Bay Recreation Centre
Fri, Oct 14 @ 7:30PM
The Purple Barn
Fri, Oct 21 @ 8:30PM
The Enclave at Cedar Park Senior Living
Sun, Oct 23 @ 3:00PM
Gruene Hall
Sun, Oct 30 @ 1:00PM
The Saxon Pub
Fri, Nov 4 @ 8:00PM
Dosey Doe Breakfast & BBQ Whiskey Bar
Sat, Nov 5 @ 8:00PM
Direct Support House Concert
Fri, Nov 11 @ 7:00PM
The Rogue Folk Club
Wed, Nov 16 @ 8:00PM
Alberta Rose Theatre
Fri, Nov 18 @ 7:00PM
Such a beautiful reflection of your treasured paradise. Your gratitude shines through your descriptive words of love. Thanks for sharing.
See you at the Saxon next time.
Barbara