Another lovely evening

I went for a lovely evening flight today - the last official day of
Spring in the northern hemisphere....

Backyard Visitors

We had some visitors in the backyard recently... The new fawns are
here! The new fawns are here! These are 'the twins' ...

Jack Point send off...

I drove Terri to the Duke Point ferry terminal then managed to find the park and trail to Jack Point. It's in this weird industrial area along the point so at first I was wondering if this was going to be worth it. But it definitely was.

The first km or so of the trail is in an area with highway and industrial noise from the lumber mill, but suddenly it descends into the quietness of a wilderness beach park. A few muted city sounds from Nanaimo make it across the bay along the north/west edge. At Jack Point itself, the view towards the city, then sweeping around to Gabriola island is awesome.

Once I suddenly encountered three huge ravens sitting on a dead branch near the path. I think one was a chick as his feathers were a little ragged like he had just lost his baby down. I began assuring them not to be afraid of me, then realized that as huge as they were, maybe I was the one that should be worried.
Some beautiful photos:
http://www.pbase.com/lady_d/jack_point_nanaimo

A further discovery about the historical significance of the point:

Jack Point Portal fall 2008

Jack Point, or slhthemun, a place of great spiritual significance for the Snuneymuxw First Nation people, is located near the Duke Point ferry terminal. At the tip of Jack Point there was once a salmon petroglyph where several species of salmon were carved into the rock. Each season here the shaman would perform a ritual ceremony guaranteeing an abundance of seafood for his community.

However, this petroglyph was removed from the site in the early 1970s and given to the Nanaimo Museum. The Snuneymuxw people strongly believe that this petroglyph needs to be returned so that the salmon and other seafood will return to the Nanaimo Estuary and the Nanaimo River.

In late fall, during the second portal ceremony, the salmon petroglyph will be returned to its original sacred site.

Tiercel

My friend Gregg had to close his King's Cafe due to many issues - too bad, it had neat potential. But along the way one of his customers gave him a 40 foot fishing boat. Yes, gave! Life is an adventure...
Apparently a Tiercel is a kind of hawk. The motor and gear work fine. Gregg's working on a new coat of paint and then it'll be all shipshape and ready to rock 'n roll....

For a few weeks I've been learning a little about playing Bass Guitar. Mostly what I'm learning is that I don't like playing guitar. I don't have excellent fine motor skills in my fingers like some folks. I don't like having the guitar slung on my neck or perched awkwardly on my lap. I don't like twisting my neck around trying to see what I'm trying to do on the fret board. I just don't enjoy the guitar as an instrument.

Which is kind of funny because I LOVE listening to what others do on this instrument. I'm enthralled by Steve Bell, and Eric Bibb and others who can tickle those little metal strings into a life of their own.

But as I've often suspected, I don't enjoy the mechanical process of guitar playing myself. I think I'd rather play the piano. Or maybe the xylophone/marimba .... something that's all out front of me, played at arm's length, incorporating percussion and space to play in. Similar to drums but with actual notes...

And learning more about music itself fascinates me. The whole concept of what music is and is not. How different cultures determine and define musical notes (i.e. why is oriental music so different than western music?) ... the science behind it. This all fascinates me and I hope to do more. In the meantime, I guess I'll keep plucking away at the bass guitar. Bassists seem to be in short supply around here...
But I wonder if I can invent a new instrument that I'd enjoy playing more... like maybe a Bass Piano keyboard? A Bass Pedal on my drums that can trigger a normal range of bass notes ...? Something...