The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost - The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both......

And both that morning equally lay

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

That's how life goes sometimes, isn't it? Sometimes you have to chose between two good alternatives, and later wonder what would have happened if you have chosen the other path. In this story I had three choices. And I can't help but wonder what my life would have been like had I chosen another path.

In the very late sixties I studied in Montreal and then settled in Victoria, British Columbia where I planned to open a restaurant.  However, at that time (and maybe even today for all I know) you could homestead unclaimed land in Canada. Just find some unclaimed land, stake a claim with the government, and you could build and live there. I met some people who were doing that on one of the Gulf Islands, located between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island, And, as a serious hippie as well as a lifelong island girl (I have lived on islands most of my life, at least 12 of them)  I could imagine myself doing this too. 

But as John Lennon once said, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans". A short time after settling in Victoria an unique opportunity arose for me to travel extensively and instead of either living in Victoria or a forest in the Gulf Islands I spent several years abroad living in Asia and Europe before I returned to North America where I worked at The United Nations. And I never did get back to Canada, except as a tourist. 

But last summer life took a turn and instead of spending the summer in Oregon as Franklin and I had been doing for a few years, we wound up in British Columbia. And I rediscovered my love of the province, the country, and my admiration of Canadian politics. So this year, I  decided we should visit three of the Gulf Islands to check out The Other Road, the path I didn't take.  

Our first island  was Galliano, which struck me as rough and unfriendly.  But while driving/hiking around I saw a young hippie girl- long hair, long earrings, barefoot, walking along a dirt road miles from any dwelling and my first thought was- my daughter that never was! Or maybe that could have been me?

I'd post a photo of Galliano but I see that I didn't like it enough to take any.  But what I did like was taking the ferry to the next island, Pender. I could hardly believe how many ferries they have around here!!! Every few minutes I could see one passing - big ones. Of course one thing I know about living on islands is getting off islands. Anyone who has ever lived on an island knowns about Island Fever- when you HAVE to get off the island so I assume much of the ferry traffic is people here popping over to another island for lunch or to visit friends/family. And there are so many little islands here. Quite lovely and photogenic.

Our second island was Pender, which we really liked. I hope to come back here again. Unlike Galliano, we found Pender very likeable, with friendly residents. The island also had lots of beach access and trails for us to explore.  Our cottage had a large wood deck and a nice wood floor and- yes, you guessed it, we danced for hours on Franklin's birthday. The sun didn't set until 10 or so and we enjoyed every minute of our beautiful view.

The view from our porch

We also took cool and refreshing walks through the forests. The forests here, as well as those on Vancouver Island, are deep, dark, and dense.  As a horse rider I am used to making my own trail through the woods. Well, you ain't doin' that through these forests. 

 

Could I have lived here? Possibly. The people were friendly, the way I think they should be on a small island. And they definitely could have used a nice little restaurant. 

Our last island is the best known one, Salt Spring. I took a day ferry over from Victoria several times last summer to dance with the Salt Spring tango community who host a monthly dance, The dance is very popular (at least in the warm summer months) with dancers from both Vancouver and Vancouver Island who take a ferry over for the day just for this occasion. This time we stayed on the island for several days which gave us a chance to go to a party and get to know these nice people a little better. And, of course, it gave us time to explore the island in greater depth. 

Salt Spring is larger and busier than Pender or Galliano and seems less like an island. There is not a lot of beach access and there are lots of farms. They had longer hiking trails but fewer of them. And a lot less beach access. Although the people we know there are very friendly, I didn't feel that the island was friendly to tourists which is odd because they do a big business with travelers over the warm months. However, there is a wonderful crafts market on Saturday. Everything is locally grown or made. I didn't take a lot of photos because crafts markets and farmers market tend to look alike but here are a few pictures of some unusual flower vases and some local garlic.  

 

I know they have some nice people here but as I said, with all the farms and few beaches it didn't feel like an island.  Salt Spring was too ordinary for my taste. I don't know if I would have chosen to live here over Victoria which I found charming.  

Well, I didn't intend this particular blog to be a travelogue but rather sharing my exploration of The Road Not Taken. and what I found it it is hard for me to evaluate whether young Amy would have liked life on a small island because I am no longer the same person I was then. I would have evolved into someone different had I chosen this life style. 

Had I stayed in one place for the past fifty years I probably would have started that restaurant, and had some children. I probably would have done some of the same things- had a garden, a horse, some cats. On the other hand I would not have met Franklin and so much of my life has been shared with him it is hard to imagine all the directions my life could have gone without him.