Friends visited from New Zealand. Naturally, I put them to work in the garden, but I also took them to Tatlayoko Lake. The trees across the lake are brown; I found out later that this is bud work. It shouldn’t kill the trees but it looked alarming.

The weather had been quite rainy and it was a day of peekaboo between clouds and mountains.

Mid September, a relative came from England. Robin prefers the designation they/them and I was always getting it wrong! I took them to the Bella Coola Fall Fair, which features an afternoon of logging sports.

On the first event, participants had to run up a sloping log, cut the end off, and run back; then repeat on a second log. If they fell off they had to start at the beginning again. It looked pretty precarious.

Women competed as well. This poor soul managed it, but she kept falling off and having to start again. She got a big cheer when she succeeded.

Wood chopping was next.

The following event was for women only. One had to run to the end of the arena, pick up a log and carry it back, then she and her teammate had to crosscut off a round,.

Finally they had to split the round into four pieces.

A mens’ event was to cut a slice off a huge log.

But the tricky bit was to cut another slice up from the bottom. This was much harder. Not many managed it as the tip of the bar usually ran out of wood.

Thirty seven years ago, when Robin’s mother was a student doctor, she did a practicum at the Bella Coola hospital. We hunted up the doctor – long retired – under whom she worked.

Robin stayed with me for a week and helped me get the last of the firewood in.