June 12

I awoke to the gentle drumming of raindrops on a tin roof. A sound that has a double edge effect. While pleasant sounding, it’s usually not very pleasant outside. I opened the patio door and was greeted by the fresh aroma of morning rain. The smell was invigorating and cleansing and I chose to step outside and embrace the moment.

Until I started to get wet.

I ducked back inside and headed for the coffee pot. I always think of The Rain Song by Led Zeppelin when it’s raining outside. “Into every life, a little rain must fall.” Nature loves the rain, I do too; in small doses of course. When we get rain in our lives there is always a lesson to be learned. Our world just had one big, badass rainstorm; I sure hope we are going to figure out the lesson.

The lesson is one where we need to slow down, to pause once in a while, to recharge ourselves. It seems the world has been going faster and faster. The faster our technology, the busier we are. We need to make time for ourselves. Time to walk the beach, time to hold onto those we love.

By lunchtime, the rain had ceased and the sun peaked its shining warmth down onto our piece of paradise. I pushed the girls to get going, I hounded my girl to get off her phone. We decided to head to the nearby Provincial park.

We walked on Miracle Beach today. It was a six minute drive from our cabin. Miracle Beach was named because it was the location where a messenger of the Great Spirit in the form of a lost and starving man was befriended by the We Wai Kai*. After visiting the beach it was easy to feel the presence of the Great Spirit.

Miracle Beach Provincial Park is a very large and spectacular sandy beach on the east coast of Vancouver Island. It was pretty cool to connect with my daughter and my wife.  Walking on the beach, we headed for the edge of the water.

The tide was out and it was fascinating to see all the different species of plant and animal life that was left behind. We walked the edge of the water and headed into dangerous territory; dangerous for our footwear anyway. There were few ways through to the other side of the spit of land we walked in the sand. Marijke was brave and lead the way. Everything was fine until she found out the water was deeper than expected; she had wet shoes!. Poor kid, I didn’t really help the situation, I encouraged her to check it out. Now we had a teenager with wet Vans! She was unhappy. Laughing was definitely not helping. She was done and wanted to go back to the car.

I am very proud she pushed through and we carried on. We connected to each other balancing ourselves on the logs. We meandered our way, picking our route and our steps. I felt a connection inside to my dad in that moment. My daughter, my wife and I connected as a family on Miracle Beach today. Miracles do happen and my daughter forgot about her phone, let go of technology and simply embraced the moment.

I hope for more days like that with my family. Exploring beaches and walking after the rain.