The Woods by Amber McMillan

Author:Amber McMillan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: memoir, Protection Island, British Columbia
ISBN: 9780889711051
Publisher: Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd.
Published: 2016-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

Tabacca Jack

[eleven]

Since the fall from the roof, work had dried up for Nate on the Island so he had started working two days a week at a pet store in North Nanaimo. Because of the commute, on those days he would be gone for over ten hours just to work a six-hour shift. The rest of the week he worked over at Danny’s digging up earth and pouring concrete for the foundation of the family’s new home. The weather was getting colder, the Island was beginning to change and fewer and fewer people remained as autumn turned into winter.

Every year, over a third of the homeowners and renters head off the Island and back into town or to Vancouver for the season. Boat travel becomes uncertain due to weather and the wood stoves present in most homes require a good deal more effort to maintain during those months. On at least a few occasions, the ferry doesn’t run at all because of stormy weather and people are forced to make do on the Island with the supplies they have on hand until the ferry can safely operate again. There are also power outages, but they are usually resolved within a few hours so are little more than an inconvenience. If there is snow, it’s a spattering and nothing to worry about; the rain and wind tend to cause the travel and electrical issues.

All things considered, Nate and I welcomed what we regarded as an easy winter on the Island. The winter we endured the year before in Toronto was one of the worst on record and lasted for seven months. There were three major ice storms debilitating the city, rolling power outages, and thick, impenetrable ice on sidewalks and roads. No one in Toronto has a wood stove, so many were without heat in the middle of January’s sub-zero temperatures. Reports of major disruptions and city-wide emergencies filled the newspapers with headlines like, “300,000 Still Without Power,” and “Extreme Weather Alert: Temperatures to Dip Below –20.” People desperate for warmth started fires in their homes and garages and as a result, carbon monoxide poisoning reports were in the hundreds. Emergency shelters opened for the homeless, but there wasn’t enough space for the amount of people in need, and the cold temperatures sent many to hospital. Some even died.

Police stations moonlighted as warming centres for those without power, heat, food or water and supplied many with overnight sleeping accommodations. Subways were down, daycares and schools were closed and falling trees took out windows, roofs and power lines daily. Overall, the ice storm of 2013–14 left twenty-five dead across Ontario and Quebec, over a million without power and more than two hundred million dollars in damages across Toronto alone. By comparison, winter on PI promised to be a breeze.

Cooler months turned to cold and talk on the ferry revolved around acquiring space heaters and extra wood for warmth. A recent storm felled three titanic Douglas firs along the Newcastle side, and the trunks and branches were swiftly being chopped up and sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.