EMERGENCY RISK REDUCTION

So good to be back at Esperanza!  As was last year, I settled in to an old nurses’ cottage called “Fanny’s”, named after perhaps the most famous nurse during the hospital years.  

The two young families from last year have now moved on. So has last year’s director and his wife. So I arrived in late April to a very sparse staff. The new director and his wife, a 1^st Nations lady, one strapping volunteer, and I complete the staff.

One advance to our communications this year has been getting STARLINK working. This small dish allows a solid internet signal at the fuel dock. Thanks Elon Musk! A far cry from last year’s intermittent signal, although internet service away from the dock is still a challenge.

We so far have had several work or retreat groups, and one 8-day week of camp. This is due to the travel and logistics of camps for 3,4, or 5 days. My default role with maintenance continues this season.  One big change this year is that I also became the go-to person handling the fuel dock. Fun to interact with the fishermen and other boaters, from far and wide. Some gorgeous vessels of all shapes and sizes. And expensive. With this new role, some of the maintenance tasks slowed, or completing them became disjointed.

My typical day this season at off-the-grid Esperanza is:

• 7AM  turn on diesel generator
• turn on Starlink, computer, and  AccuPOS register at the dock for fuel and bait store sales.
• Do the “trap run”: ie check mouse traps in almost every building (10ish) ….there is  a difference in quality of mouse traps and I am sort of an expert these days…J  I always wanted to be a “Canadian trapper”!
• Breakfast of grits (corn meal), egg, and smoked salmon (if possible!) Coffee on!
• Maintenance tasks in shop…or wherever…and listening for fuel dock horn, and jumping into side-by-side Kuboto to respond.
• Turn off generator about 11 AM if staffers agree…turn on small Honda generator for power at fuel dock
• Coffee and afternoon tasks around the campus…
• Turn on big generator about 5:30ish…evening tasks…
• 7PM (6PM after Labor Day) close fuel dock and do cash register close-out.
• Supper / maybe visit with someone…
• 11PM generator off. Candles and radio until bedtime.

But no day is typical. Work groups and church retreats can completely change the routine.  But they were usually helpful and lovely visitors with whom I enjoy chatting. It can get lonesome here, even with a nighttime AM radio! One of my worthwhile roles is getting projects – materials and tools – arranged for work groups to make their time more efficient.

The director is a pastor — well organized, a visionary, a hard worker…. and often gone…sometimes funerals for several days at a time. He is very well respected on this west coast necklace of islands and speaks the languages fluently. At funerals and occasional weddings, and other interaction with locals, he faithfully delivers a message of hope to many who need Christ’s hope. He also encourages Esperanza as a place of refuge for families that have suffered personal loss. He welcomes individuals and families who need a refuge of peace amid a lifestyle of chaos, which is sadly common on the reserves. Lastly he welcomes workers, usually for 2 week intervals, who are struggling with substance abuse and come to Esperanza for a place of retreat and healing — or as the director succinctly says…”beauty, order, and the Grace of God”.

My role is to move Esperanza closer toward this beauty and order. I am honored to help anchor Espy in this small part of the ministry, especially when the director is away and may be comforted to know there remains a level of stability in the community. Perhaps this is the reason that I have been away from Esperanza for only two days in three months…:)

But I would have it no other way. I love the diamond-studded water. The rhythm of the tides. The spouting humpback whales. The lofty green cliffs. The towering Douglas fir and spruce. The medley of seagull, ospreys, and eagles.  It is not a sacrifice to be here. It is home.

A late season highlight (September 2022) was taking a ferry and ViaRail train trip with the Espy summer camp nurse on a circular trip in northern BC –— from Port Hardy – Bella Coola – Prince Rupert (ferry)….to Prince George – Jasper Alberta (train!)….Jasper – Vancouver (train), and back to Port Hardy (ferry, car). A great trip, especially the ferry north through the necklace of islands, past rugged lighthouses, poking around the northern-most deep water port of Prince Rupert and seeing lower end of Alaska Marine Hwy….Via Rail to Jasper on an almost-empty 4 car train with observation deck (gorgeous scenery)….Jasper (although wildfire closed the Park for 1^st time in 30 years! Go figure!)….south to Kamloops and Vancouver on TransCanada (crowded, less fun, and dark thru Fraser Canyon). overall fond memories of this 8-day trip.

After 5 months in Esperanza, the fishing season is over, the leaves are changing color, and it’s time to return to my little cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. I didn’t expect to be in Canada quite this long. But after settling in, it is difficult to ‘unsettle’.  I also waited until my son finished his season BC wildfire fighting stint, and we flew together from Vancouver to Asheville NC. This included a 6AM COV test at the airport for a 7AM flight. What madness, since the nurses were late. The test didn’t happen until 6:20 and I sprinted to the other end of the airport, where Sheldon and the plane were waiting. Yet another airport adventure!

A couple of weeks with Sheldon, including some lovely hiking and a couple of sporting events, before he headed back to his home that he recently bought in Halifax. I settled in for some work on the cabin, which included building a side deck. Wow, the cost of lumber continues to astound me! But the deck adds to both the cabin’s looks and utility.  

As winter months wane, I am making preparations to return to Esperanza. I stayed for my niece’s wedding in early April to say goodbyes to family. Fortunately the cross-border quarantine also has lifted in Canada, which will make travel easier. Several tasks were accomplished here in North Carolina:

My son Sheldon found for sale a tall and long metal carport near Spartanburg, which he bought and we disassembled, transported, and reassembled at the cabin. I painted it green to match (sort of) the green metal on the house. The tall Sprinter or Transit vans (a recent purchase) which he ‘builds out’ as campers fit well under it (sort of). I was skeptical but a good purchase.

After finishing the deck stairs (last blog), I turned attention to building a outhouse building, about 4’ x 4’. This involved digging and more digging, until I hit solid rock at 4 feet. Not much of an outhouse, so it became a multi-use small storage shed, primarily to place my gas powered emergency generator.  I purchased a warrantied generator (returnable for new within 27 months) and the 10/3 wire connection to the cabin’s breaker box.

Also, sadly, my neighbor passed away early Spring. This is noteworthy only because he lived alone and quietly. Soon after, his son moved in who, let’s just say, doesn’t live too quietly, whether with or without his partner. A challenge because I am by far his closest neighbor. I pray that I can speak into their chaotic lives.   

In April, the winter freeze possibility is now past, and it’s the season to return to Canada. Always is a challenge to button up the cabin for the summer. Never enough time to make this happen, but somehow it does. Off to British Columbia for a 2^nd season at isolated Esperanza, on western Vancouver Island.

You may ask: Where’s the agony in my summer? What I am about to tell you was not only agonizing. It was heartbreaking.

You may recall that I drove an almost-new van to my son from North Carolina to Canada earlier in the summer. It had been purchased in Atlanta by Sheldon, for the purpose of ‘camperizing’ it with a bed, refrig, sink, etc. I delivered it to him in the interior town of Lytton, British Columbia where his firefighting unit was based. His plan was to refurbish it during evenings and weekends of the fire season.

The summer of 2020 was relatively mild, with few wildfires during the season. 2021 was exactly the opposite. Wildfires came fast, and they came furious. My son’s unit was in the middle of them.  I mentioned that at Esperanza, we experienced weeks of heat and no rain, which jeopardized our water system. The same happened all over BC. Lytton is historically the hottest town in BC. 2021 was no exception. For three days in late May, the town broke not only BC but the all-time Canadian record – with temps reaching degrees of 113F, 118F, and 121F.

Sheldon’s crew had been deployed to a wildfire in the area three days before. On May 30, they received word that Lytton was on fire. Aided by 50 mph winds, the entire tinder-dry town burned in 20 minutes. The unit was unable to return to get their possessions. Twenty members of his crew lost everything. My son lost all – furnishings in a rented apartment, his new van, and all accessories for remodeling it. My estimate of the loss is $35,000.

A hard pill to swallow for a 22 year old college student. Maybe a harder pill to swallow for his Dad. Maybe because I had driven it all the way across the country and was attached to it. Maybe a mixed feeling of guilt and stupidity because I had only road insurance on the van, not wildfire coverage. Whoever thought that a once-in-a-lifetime event like a village of Lytton would completely burn! It made international news. We hear shades of this in California, but would it ever happen here? Well, it did happen, and it was agonizing. There seems to be no assistance; no financial support from the federal or provincial government; no help from the BC Wildfire Service — Sheldon’s summer employer. It is heartbreaking.  That 20 minute wildfire in Lytton, BC clouded my entire summer at Esperanza.

But alas, Sheldon is resilient. He is bouncing back. The long season of firefighting ended Friday, September 24, and we flew out of Vancouver to North Carolina on Tuesday, September 28. A week later, he had bought another van, and is now busy building it out these weeks. Lovely to have him here, along with his girlfriend, also a firefighter with woodworking skills. We had so little time to visit during the summer.

I have opened up my humble cabin in the mountains of North Carolina, after being away many weeks longer than expected. I missed my little place. I love the crisp temperatures of Fall. I love the hardwoods, the ever-changing palate of colors. I plan to be here for the winter. I have wood chopped — ready to feed a wood burning stove. I have water. I have electricity. I have communications — radio, cell phone, and internet. I am on the grid!

But I look forward to a return to Esperanza. The diamond-studded water. The rhythm of the tides. The spouting humpback whales. The lofty green cliffs. The towering Douglas fir and spruce. The medley of seagull, ospreys, and eagles. 

However, in play for my return are government cross-border restrictions dealing with the WuFlu – vaccinations, testing, mask wearing, social distancing – which I pray will become reasonable.   Perhaps in early Spring, after the frost threat subsides, my son is finished his van conversions, and is on his feet financially, I will can set my sights north. I miss beautiful Esperanza! I miss the small dedicated group of volunteers! I miss the quietness, the peacefulness. I miss being off the grid!

Thanks for reading.

During my 14 day quarantine at the Vancouver Island home of Jacqueline, my ex (with whom I have a miraculously civil relationship!), I contacted two places where I had volunteered previously thru my Victoria church. The first was Camp Quanoes, where I helped for a week or so, as mentioned in the previous blog. The second location was Esperanza, an ‘outreach center’ for First Nations located in isolated, rugged, and beautiful northwestern Vancouver Island. The Director gave a resounding ‘yes’ to my offer to assist ‘for a few weeks’.  I didn’t know quite what to expect on my arrival.  To my surprise, the staff was slimmer than slim.  Dave (director) and his wife, Steve (1^st Nations helper), and I were it! Yes, there had been staff turnover since I had visited two years before. Not a healthy transition and I purposely stay out of the politics. I directed energy toward work  –  and there was plenty of it!

Did I mention that Esperanza is isolated? I arrived in my little Ford Focus after travelling north almost to Port McNeil, west on a logging road to the mostly 1st Nations fishing village of Zeballos, and boating for 40 minutes to Esperanza.  A beautiful trip, but logistics are daunting – whether for people or supplies.

Did I mention that Esperanza is ‘off the grid’? Another challenge! All electricity, heat, water, etc. is generated on site. This is a challenge! Requiring continuous maintenance and repair. Electricity is either by water via a Pelton Wheel (basically a small hydro turbine) or by diesel generator. We have two for backup reasons. Water is by gravity from spring flow high up the mountain behind Esperanza, from a small concrete dam to a water tank and then distributed throughout the campus. It works well, as long as there is no overuse and several dry weeks, as is this summer. Household heat is either wood burning stove or baseboard electric heat. Hot water heat is mostly propane-fired ‘tankless’ units, with a few conventional tanks, either propane or oil-fired. Ovens are almost all propane, as are dryers. Washers, freezers, and refrigerators are primarily electric.  This gives a glimpse of the complexity of our ‘utilities grid’.

Did I mention that Esperanza is a community of approx. two dozen buildings? Twelve are gender-separated summer camp bunk houses (4+4), camper shower facilities (1+1), a dining hall, and a workshop complex, with boat drydock attached.  The other twelve buildings are residences or guest houses — all containing basic appliances as mentioned above.

Needless to say, I entered a beehive that requires a swarm of worker bees. The challenge is recruiting bees. The two dozen structures require maintenance and repair, and some have been neglected for years. I am unsure whether more work is required in homes that are lived in, or in cottages that have been vacant for months, even years. We do have occasional ‘work teams’ that visit for long weekends or so, but the real work is done daily by long term staff. At present, this is Dave and myself.

I hit the ground running, thankful to stay longer than a few days. As mentioned, travel alone is almost a full day coming or going. Frustrating! My time is divided between trouble-shooting any appliance issues, fixing or maintaining machinery (diesel generators and backhoe, two gas tractors, small engines (grass trimmer, portable generators, chainsaws, etc.), a four wheel Kubota, two golf carts, and three boats with Mercury outboard motors.  In spare time (!), there is long-overdue groundskeeping, hedge trimming, landscaping, and fruit tree pruning to enhance Esperanza’s “million dollar” view. 

I haven’t mentioned larger projects, such as re-roofing cottages, new construction (i.e. house porch or deck), plans for a new gym and a duplex, and ‘small’ jobs such as new flooring or sheet rocking an interior wall. Painting is needed almost everywhere.  Some of these can be tackled by ‘work teams’ but only if materials are pre-positioned, someone provides guidance, or can point workers in the direction of finding tools, etc. Yet another task.

Yes, Esperanza is a bit overwhelming. More than a bit. But despair not. I love being here! More of the saga in my next blog. Thanks for reading.