I recently spent a month living on Salt Spring Island. I met people with unique abilities and talents. Several caught my fancy. I asked if I could interview them and learn a bit more about that they do. I wish I had photographs to share.
In addition to these three, there were the gardeners, growing peonies the size of small soccer balls. You name the flower; someone had lovingly planted and cherished it.
Izadaura, a most colourful volunteer, in the best sense of the word, is a dancer. She began performing at age three and still is as she enters her 70s. She tried doing conventional work when she came to the coast in her 20s, but it just didn’t click. So, Izadaura began dancing. Her passion and profession took her around the world. She found Salt Spring Island and fits right in.
Christi’s is a story of living off the land. She thinks of herself as a farmer. I thought of her as a shepherd. When I met her, one of her responsibilities was the care and feeding of a small herd of Icelandic sheep. No walking down roads amid her flock, however, Christi drives a big black truck.
She also has a herd of goats, and I think there are several other species that come and go on her farm when she is not caring for critters that live elsewhere on the island. She got involved with the land when she determined that it was important to know where her food comes from.
What do you do when you are married to a world-famous author and you want to keep busy? Meet Dorothy Tinman, a creative in her own right. Dorothy’s husband, Dr. Patrick Taylor, is author of the Irish Country Stories series. Book 16 was sitting on his desk when I interviewed Dorothy.
In each of Patrick’s books, the housekeeper, Mrs. Kincaid, uses a few recipes to whet the readers’ appetite, so the couple decided a cookbook was a good idea. When Dorothy was immobilized due to an ankle replacement several years ago, she put on Mrs. Kincaid’s apron and, presto, an awesome cookbook of Irish recipes, *An Irish Country Cookbook”, was hatched.
Naturally, there is more to each of these people than I have space to share here, so my suggestion is that you take a boat ride, head to Salt Spring Island and meet some of the interesting people that have found their way there and call the island home.
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Pat Nichol is a speaker and published author. Connect with her at mpatnichol@gmail.com.