Sunday September 15 2013

Fall is here.  After two months of unusually hot and humid weather the last two days, forecast to be a continuation of that pattern, were not.  Woke yesterday to marine fog, a kind of grey damp morning that happens when the ground is warmer than the air or water.  Same again today.  Not that it’s terrible, just not pleasant to be in because everything gets wet and cool, and there is nowhere—at least not on a small boat—to get it warm and dry again.

This is the annual signal that time is coming for me to make the fall move into my cabin.  What’s unsettling about the signal this year is that is it has come so abruptly.  Usually the temperature cools gradually as we move through September, but we still get short periods of warmer weather.  This year seems different.

There are lots of advantages to living in a small, rural community---quiet, safety, relatively low priced real estate, a feeling of community and more.  There are also, not surprisingly some drawbacks—lack of privacy, limited access to entertainment, lack of options for your children and more.  Part of this “More” is what I describe, with some hesitation, as small town small mindedness.

It’s not that people living in communities like Midden Harbour are any less intelligent than those living in cities.  Indeed, on some issues, residents of rural areas are far more enlightened.  I can honestly say that in the 20 years I’ve lived here, I have never seen the community reject anyone based on their religion or sexual orientation or skin colour.  Now, having said that, every population has its share of assholes.  Difference here is that it’s the newcomers who get embraced.

On the other side of the plus/minus coin, Midden Harbour is unabashedly committed to its own self-interest.  Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than when the topic of climate change comes up.  Thirty years ago, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, severely restricted the local inshore fishery.   Studies had shown that returning salmon runs were getting smaller for over a decade, and that they were in danger of collapsing all together if drastic measures were not taken.

The new regulations meant had huge implications for Midden Harbour.  First, the fish processing plant was no longer viable, so 100 jobs disappeared.  Then, there was a glut of vessels and fishing licences that could no longer be used, and had no sale value.  Not surprisingly, everyone in town was outraged at how the government—not overfishing, but the government—had ruined the lives of so many people.

The antipathy that emerged from that experience has, over time, shifted its focus to include anything associated with environmental protection.  In the minds of lots of people here, global warming is a hoax and environmentalists are jack-booted thugs trying to ruin lives.  The heroes in all this are the corporations that continue to fight against over reaching regulations.

I love my neighbours, but they’re wrong on this one.