(Article Courtesy of Larry MacDonald)

Thousands of tourists from all over the world visit this charming little town overlooking the Strait of Georgia on Vancouver Island.  It wasn’t always that way.  Forestry was the principal industry when Chemainus was established in the mid-1800s and continues to a lesser extent since the economic downturn of the 1970s.  At that time, the townspeople got together and decided to diversify their economy by appealing to the tourism sector.

One idea was to have renowned artists capture the community’s heritage by painting murals on the walls of buildings and carving sculptures, reflecting the history of the First Nations people and the lives of the settlers who lived and worked here.  Since 1982, 55 murals and 9 sculptures have been created, providing the largest permanent outdoor art gallery in Canada.  Tourism is alive and well!

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(Article courtesy: Ken Brown)

Two years ago, who could have foreseen a long standing, loosely-knit group such as VRMNC attracting 248 renewing members to participate in just one of our twenty-one or so activities? No one saw that coming, just as no one could have predicted the way Covid managed to nip in the bud our enjoyment of so many activities and friendships. Nonetheless, time has passed, and we are approaching the reawakening of outdoor activities and are continuing with Roger Love’s Zoom guest speakers.

Contributed by: Ken Brown

The National Newcomers Association of Canada (NNAC), of which VMNC is a member, currently consists of sixty-three clubs from Victoria to Nova Scotia. Although we are one of the larger clubs, our flexible formula for membership would need some high octane to catch up with the 472 members in the Kelowna Newcomers Club and an equal number in their Alumni Club! (Just what do they put in the drinking water in Kelowna?) No word on the NNAC website about whether those clubs are co-ed, although the large numbers would make you think so.

Recipe courtesy Allen Meyer

First establish your own sourdough starter (125 grams) and keep in sealed glass jar (with lid slightly loose) in fridge (check method online).

Armamentarium:

• Electronic kitchen scale
• 9- or 10-inch Banneton for proofing
• Metal Dough Scraper
• Exacto knife for scoring bread
• Dough Whisk
• Flour Scoop
• Items above available on Amazon
• 10 cup mixing bowl
• 10 cup Dutch oven with lid
• Plastic bag to cover mixing bowl and banneton
• Parchment paper

Ingredients:

• 250 grams stone-ground whole-wheat flour (Available at Nootka Rose Milling, 4480 Happy Valley Rd., Metchosin. Phone ahead 250-800-1207 for store hours and orders of more than 2.5 kg.)
• 200 grams all-purpose flour
• Additional all-purpose flour as necessary for dusting dough and adding to starter
• 350 grams water
• 140 grams Sourdough Starter
• 10 grams coarse salt
• 50/50 flour/stone ground white rice mixture for dusting the banneton

Method:

1. Remove starter from fridge, add 25 grams of all-purpose flour, 25 grams of hot tap water to jar and mix very well. Place jar in hot water leaving lid slightly loose for one hour.

Add whole wheat and all-purpose flour to mixing bowl, mix with whisk, add 350 grams water, mix well and let sit for one hour.

Prepared by Wally Lazaruk

Article Summary

1. Clarify your priorities.
2. Incline your mind to want things that are good for you and others.
3. Take care of yourself.
4. Feel already satisfied.
5. Appreciate the fullness of life.
6. Associate rewards with whatever you would like to motivate yourself toward.

Motivating ourselves is challenging at the best of times, but even more difficult during a pandemic.

Dr. Rick Hanson in his Foundations of Well-Being program and in his book Resilient offers several action strategies to encourage us to establish and to accomplish our goals:

1. Clarify your priorities

• Identify the key goals in your life in a word or phrase: e.g. Health. Friendship. Finances. Learning. Career. Marriage. Spiritual/Inner development. Having fun. Creative expression. Exploring life. Service.
• Rank these aims in order of importance. Ask: “ If I could attain only one aim, which would it be?” That’s your highest priority.
• Reflect routinely on your true priorities. Let your top priorities draw you in their direction.
• Ask: “Am I giving my time, attention, and energy in proportion to these priorities?”
• Keep letting your true priorities speak to you. What do they say?
• Determine what realistic changes you can gradually make in your time, attention, and resources.
• Build your priorities into your daily schedule and monthly budget.
• Find a sense of enjoyment and meaning in these priorities and let them live inside you.