[I'm actually writing this on the plane home two days later, but to avoid confusion, I'm going to pretend this is Saturday.]

This morning, we had to get up at 7:00 in order to catch a flight to Comox, from where we would rent a car, and drive, via ferry, to Denman Island; as a result, we didn't have as much sleep as we'd like to have had. After our experience with fog in Kelowna, we were a bit apprehensive about making the concert, which is why we decided to leave Vancouver at such an ungodly hour; the next flight wasn't until around 5:00, which was theoretically possible to make, but we weren't in the mood to commit that kind of hubris for the sake of a couple of hours sleep.

As it turned out, we had cause for concern, because when we arrived at the gate, we found that, indeed, fog was a problem in Comox, and there was a chance the flight might be canceled! We waited on tenterhooks for about 20 minutes when they finally announced that, due to fog, the flight was going to be diverted to Campbell River (about 50 km north), and that we would be bused into Comox. A bit of a pain, but at least we would make the concert. We had originally decided to fly rather than take the ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo because the latter would have been a one hour and forty-five minute ride, with another hour's drive to the Denman ferry. So much for foresight; we found out later that Bill was able to sleep in 'till 11:00, and had a nice, hassle-free trip to the Denman Island. He arrived later than we did, but we didn't really need to be there before him anyway. Oh well...

Everytime I come to the islands, I keep wondering why I don't just stay here. There is something about the colour of the water that I've never seen anywhere else. It has a sheen and a glow that could just be the reflection of the sky, but I don't think so; it has the same quality regardless of what time of day it is, and whether it's cloudy or sunny. Today, it was overcast, with a brisk breeze that bordered on being chilly, but not unpleasantly so, and there was a faint smell of salt in the air. The tide was out, so while waiting for the ferry to arrive, I walked along the stony beach that extended out from the left side of the dock; the water going in and out had that hissing sound peculiar to salt water, and the stones, which were covered with barnacles, crunched as I walked over them.

The blast from the ferry's horn intruded on my self-absorption, and I had to hustle to get back to the car in time for us drive onto the ferry's single deck, along with 10 or 11 other vehicles. There really is something magical about the B.C. ferries, partly the ocean setting and being surrounded by mountains, but more than that, it's the idea of being detached from the "reality" of the mainland, or Vancouver Island. Last year, when we toured the Gulf Islands, we noticed this even more, and the ferry rides themselves were almost worth the whole trip.

The concert was a roaring success, if we do say so ourselves. We have many friends here, and the whole audience (about 300) was prepped to hear us; also, not to put too fine a point on it, we played very well. Afterwards, there was a reception at the back of the hall (a rustic-style community centre with very good acoustics), where we visited with old friends 'till after midnight. What a great day!