Quiet, my A$$!!!

People often think that Hornby Island is quiet in the winter. Well, I suppose it could be pretty quiet if you wanted it to be, but there's so much going on around here, I'm having a hard time keeping track. Islanders spend the summers dealing with tourists and rarely get to see each other during the busy season. When winter hits and the population shrinks to the full timers it becomes time to play.

The long and short of winter life on Hornby is food. There's more dinner parties happening than you can shake a fork at. Every week it seems as though we've been out to someone else's house or they've been here. The last memorable events were Peking Duck at Jeremy's house, and chicken manicotti at our place.

Every few Saturday nights Gabe shows a first run movie at the hall. Last on we saw was "The Golden Compass".

Every second Thursday evening Trish makes a fantastic meal for sale at the ball park. It's a great community get-together.

Every second Wednesday night is the supper club pot luck. There's a different theme each time and there's a hardcore group of 5 or 6 couples that bring amazing creations.

There's live jazz most Friday nights at the pub. I was initially reluctant, thinking "how good could a local jazz band be?". Well after I went to see them I was blown away. Tony Wilson is often there along with 4 or 5 professional players and they are guaranteed to bring a smile to any jazz aficionado.

Mix that in with fire practice on Tues and Thursday nights and it makes for a schedule that is way more active than we ever had in Vancouver. The best part of it all is that at all of these events we're surrounded by friends and like-minded individuals.

People would often tell me that I couldn't really give an opinion on life on Hornby until after I've weathered a winter here. I have to say that winters are a magical time here even if you don't have indoor plumbing.