With Eyes Wide Open

WHAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING - Most of us, in our rush through life rarely see what's before us, seeing only the obvious and the expected, we look for nothing more. Life offers so much more if we keep our eyes wide open.

If we look we'll see the magic, the wonder and the beauty of nature. We'll see sights that will make our hearts expand with pleasure and happiness pulling us, if only for a short moment in time, away from the abyss of stress that everyday living can cause. With eyes wide open, we will look at things that are old with an eye that sees its beauty, not with the jaundiced eye that has taught us to view all things old as dispensable. Old is beautiful if we look with eyes of acceptance and love. Viewing things differently can change our perspective and help our lives take on new meaning.

If we keep our eyes wide open, we will notice the wondrous sunsets, each different but each beautiful, much like people. We will look at the many faces of the Fraser River and see how the light and weather conditions can change each scene before us, IF we are looking. We can appreciate what is on our own doorstep and marvel at the beauty, serenity, history and life before us.

Like so many things in life, we may see something of beauty that could so easily have been missed. The fungus, if it hadn't been for its vibrant and vivid colour, would have been lost amidst the ferns and leaves that surroundeded it had we not been looking. It was another of nature's amazing creations, impossible for man to duplicate in its perfection.

The fungis, (what an ordinary name for something of such beauty), its edges ruffled like gathered lace was a lighter shade on its underside. It was as beautiful as any flower in a well-tended garden or greenhouse, made even more lovely because of its natural surroundings. No artist could improve on this masterpiece of nature.

On the same hike we saw them, roots firmly entrenched, not giving up what was theirs, they belonged. They had probably been part of the forest for over a hundred years. Not all of us have roots so entrenchd, so firmly planted, so determined not to give up. But it would take nothing less than a disaster to wrench these roots free from where they belonged. What we can see when we were looking!

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The Tranquility and Mystery That is Smuggler's Cove

There's tranquility in the calm blue waters mirroring clouds that drift like disappearing smoke. The water softly creeps into nooks and crannies, its only sounds the swish of ripples lapping at pebbles on the beach. An eagle in a distant tree watches for his next dinner while birds flutter nearby, their voices raised in cheerful song. The breeze, warm on my already sun-bronzed skin, tickles my face like the gentle stroke of an ostrich feather. It is a place so tranquil that my chest constricts with the beauty of it.

But there is mystery also behind every outcropping of rocks that rise from the waters protecting what can't be seen. Clusters of small islands huddle like stepping stones near the edge of the distant shore. What is nature hiding? What has it hidden before human eyes discovered its tranquility and beauty? What is the mystery of Smuggler's Cove?

Popular folklore, considered fact by some and rumor by others, is that the bay was used by Larry "Pig Iron" Kelly to smuggle Chinese labourers from Canada into the United States. Having completed their work on the Canadian Pacific Railway, these Chinese labourers were no longer considered a necessary commodity. Charging one hundred dollars for every man he transported, the Captain gave strict orders that no sound was to be made while they were in the bay or the offending party would be dropped to the bottom of the ocean.

The cove was also believed by many to be where bootleg liquor, produced on neighbouring Texada Island, was taken on board to be smuggled into the United States during the Prohibition era.

Whether these stories are true or false, one can almost imagine a ship hovering behind a rock outcropping waiting for its next contraband pick-up. Exploration of this area may offer other mysteries as well for the adventuresome explorer.

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