June 2021 - FISSUE #153 Seth Shugar
savouring the sweetness of life when the sh*t hits the fan page 5 digital innovation group launches arts impact assessment page 7
Mark Nordine
Debut album “Just Breathe” page 3
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THE FISHBOWL • MAY 2021 • PAGE A
On Our Cover
Mark Nordine
releases his debut album “Just Breathe”
Mark moved to Saltspring when he was 3 and has lived here for 46 years. He has raised 2 children with his lovely wife Mardon and is well known in the community for his skills on the Soccer field and his impeccable work ethic as “the Swede” landscaping. But what you may not know is Mark started playing guitar 20 years ago, give or take a few. It all started with playing simple chords and singing campfire songs. This was as far as Mark got for many years as he was busy raising a family and running his landscaping business. About 3 years ago the kids had grown up and suddenly Mark had more free time. After
taking a guitar lesson the teacher suggested he try writing songs instead of trying to play lead guitar. And so he did. Soon he was a regular at the open stage at the Legion. Then sure enough Mark became part of a band “Rough and tumble”. “We had a great time doing 70’s cover tunes and once in a while we would play one of my originals. It was a real thrill to hear something I’d written played live.” Mark recalls. “The inspiration for writing comes in various forms, memories, events, emotions, nature , love, a desire for change. It’s a strange process, I can’t “decide” to write
THE FISHBOWL is brought to you by publisher Genevieve Price. Columnists: Lisa Sigurgeirson Maxx, John Bateman, Dorothy Price, Dr. Hannah Webb, Dr. Ralph Miller, & Mishka Campbell. Salt Spring Island’s #1 Source for Arts, Entertainment & Culture. Check out our Facebook page!
Occasional Contributors: Melinda Parks-Divers, Lis Bell Walton
a song. I just have to wait for the song to arrive and be ready.” For Mark the creative process of writing a song varies from song to song. “Sometimes the song comes slowly and it takes a while to mold, and sometimes the whole song comes quickly. It’s deeply satisfying to create something which didn’t exist before.” Mark explains Mark loves music because, for him, it is freedom. When he’s playing, everything is perfect. “I figure I only have so much time on this earth left, and I want to spend more time doing what I want to do, rather than what I have to do.” Covid was a great time to create for many artists of all types. For Mark not being able to play live gave him lots of time to sit on the couch, strum the guitar and let songs drift in. He’s written about 12 songs since Covid started, 5 of which are on the album. It was his friend and bandmate Mark LaBerge who suggested they record an album. So they picked 10 of his songs and booked a time at Dave Volraths recording studio, Road Case Cafe. Mark feels really lucky to have a pro musician like Mark LaBerge to accompany him on dobro and electric guitar. “Mark has been playing in bands for over 30 years. Most notably with East Coast Music Award nominee Sonia Wood.” While Mark had never been in a recording studio before Mark LaBerge and Dave really made the experience a lot of fun. Mark hopes to do another album in the fall. His current album is called “Just Breathe” and is available on YouTube, Spotify and he also has cd’s available. Fingers are crossed the boys will be able play live soon too.
Green Printing & Layout: Imagine That Graphics.ca Ad Sales: Deadlines are the 10th of the month previous to book ad space & submit content. Calendar events can be submitted up until the 15th. For rates & information call Genevieve today at 250.538.8427 or email thesaltyfishbowl@hotmail.com. THE FISHBOWL • MAY 2021 • PAGE B
Price is
Right
PRODUCT REVIEWS
by: Genevieve Price
Sally Hansen
miracle GEL With warmer weather, the sandals and shiny toes are out. I tried Sally Hansen’s miracle gel polish and I am just not sold on it for home manicures. At the spa, yes, love them, but at home I have found a few problems. First, the formula is thicker so needs more drying time, they say you don’t need a UV light but if after 10 minutes my first coat is still tacky then I am in trouble and so are my nails. This brings me to my second problem, while the formula seems thicker than most polishes I find I still need at least 2 coats for coverage, combine this with problem 1 and you better hope you’ve got a solid 30 minutes kid free, or
you may as well scrap the idea. Now if you manage to get 2 coats dry, plus the recommended top coat then you’d expect to get at least a week out of them right? Nope, not for me at least. I’d say chipping and even rubbing off start on day 2 or 3 which is the norm for me with any polish as I have a busy outdoor lifestyle. Now finally, the kicker. Removing it, while it’s nothing like the salon removal experience, you can still use a regular nail polish remover, the amount of elbow grease required is a lot. So for me, without any added wear time I am sticking to a classic polish this summer.
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THE FISHBOWL • JUNE 2021 • PAGE 4
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photo credit foggy morning photography
Introducing a new family-run children’s clothing store, Repeat Street Kids. Currently operating online, they began as a combined result of Danielle Taylor’s maternity leave and recent COVID-19 lifestyle. She was inspired by her own two young daughters, as well as other moms, to begin a new journey of opening Repeat Street Kids. Repeat Street Kids sources and supplies New and pre-loved clothing. When sourcing new items, they prioritize small Canadian brands such as Mighty Mocs, Beluga Baby, and Kinder North. Gently used pre-loved clothing and gear are added frequently, with sizes ranging from newborn to 10 years among a wide brand range. In addition, adult clothing from Victoria company Lue and Me Apparel will soon be available. Repeat Street Kids will ship orders anywhere in Canada, but islanders can choose “free local pickup” at the checkout to skip shipping fees. With your support, Repeat Street Kids hopes to expand their pre-loved selection, and open a storefront in the near future. Danielle is looking forward to connecting with local families through this new venture. If you’re interested in contributing preloved clothing, please contact info@repeatstreetkids.ca. Come take a look! Instagram: @repeatstreetkids www.repeatstreetkids.ca
Sweet Lines
with Seth Shugar
Savouring the Sweetness of Life When the Sh*t Hits the Fan Are you skilled at enjoying life even when life gets challenging? Between bouts of the excruciating kidney stones that would soon kill him, the Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne boasted that he enjoyed life twice as much as others. Why? Mainly, he said, because in the face of sickness, old age and death, he continued to give the “natural pleasures” of life twice as much attention as other people. A ton of neuroscience now backs up Montaigne’s key insight that “the measure of enjoyment depends on the greater or lesser degree of attention that we give it.” Like Montaigne’s lived experience, the research also shows that practicing gratitude and savouring are especially important during times of adversity, mainly because they increase resilience, optimism and compassion while decreasing worry, loneliness and resentment. In fact, there is almost nothing in the recent research by Robert Emmons, Fred Bryant and Rick Hanson that Montaigne did not anticipate, and express even more beautifully, in his last essay “Of Experience.” So what were the secret ingredients in Montaigne’s recipe for enjoying life twice as much? Notice and recall healthy pleasures: Like all of his heroes, Montaigne trained himself to consistently attend to enjoyable experiences, no matter how busy or distressed he was. “Even the slightest occasions of pleasure that I can come upon,” he wrote, “I seize.” When no such experiences were available, he would either create some or, making good use of memory, bring some to mind. Give them your full attention: Unlike most of his peers, who skated over their moments of enjoyment because they were either preoccupied or uptight or distracted, Montaigne gave his full, undivided attention to natural pleasures. “I customarily do wholeheartedly whatever I do,” he wrote. This was especially true of his enjoyable moments. “When
TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
World Oceans Week 1 to 8 “WOW” June worldoceanday.org
I dance,” he famously proclaimed, “I dance.” Prolong them: Rather than letting his positive experiences fizzle, he deliberately “extended” them and “stretched” them out. How? By interacting with them in a sensory, somatic, kinaesthetic way, not only internally “weighing” them like handfuls of radishes and “measuring” them like livestock, but even tasting them. As though a moment of gratitude were an irresistible WAWWE soup, he wrote, “I taste it and linger over it.” “Join” in them: To ensure he fully absorbed each beneficial experience, he also said, “I make my soul join in it.” In other words, he gave himself over to the feelings and sensations of healthy pleasure, utterly. He marinated in them like a slab of Soya Nova tofu. He soaked in them like they were Luke Hart-Weller’s secret new hot tub. Relinquish them: Finally, rather than “binding” himself to pleasant experiences, he enjoyed them “without wishing for stability and solidity, qualities that do not belong to them.” Instead of clinging to or trying to milk them, therefore, he simply released them. “I consider it equal injustice to set our heart against natural pleasures” he wrote, “and to set our heart too much on them.”
Seth is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, Marital and Family Therapist and Board Certified Life Coach. He works with individuals and couples in private practice. You can reach him at sethshugar@.me.com or book a session at www.sethshugar.com
“There will be more plastic than fish in our oceans by 2050 if we continue on the path we are on” reports the World Economic Forum. Scientists believe 90% of the plastics in our oceans come from the rivers and lakes, all of which flow into our oceans. Each of us can stop the flow of plastics. “One Earth, One Ocean, Ours To Protect, Oceans Are Our Lifeblood Together We Can Make A Difference” World Oceans Day, June 8th, was declared by the United Nations at the urging of Canada. Oceans Week, June 1 - 8, was declared by the Board of World Oceans Day Canada in 2010. Their goals are to educate about the importance of protecting our waterways, watersheds and ocean waters and habitat and encourage everyone to take action to preserve, conserve and protect. Everyone in the world lives on a watershed. Oceans generate 80% of our oxygen (trees generate 20%). The future of our planet is in our hands. Together we can make a difference.
THE FISHBOWL • JUNE 2021 • PAGE 5
Tuesday, June 15 Sacred Space/Holy Ground
Centre for spiritual living and practice
Star of the Sea Centre for Spiritual Living
June Offerings Tuesday, June 8 Poetry as Heartbeat
Online on Zoom 7 to 8:30 pm Is there a poem that either stirs your heart to action, or, like a lullaby, calms its anxious beating? We will explore the energy and healing power of poetry. Bring a poem to share or simply join in the discussion during this time of reflection. The evening will be facilitated by Salt Spring poet Lolla Devindisch. Please register at staroftheseassi@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link.
Online on Zoom, 7 to 8:30 pm
Most world religions hold a belief that certain places are sacred or holy. But what makes them so? And what about locations that may not have any particular religious significance but are in some way special to nations and peoples? And why is it that certain places in the natural world seem to evoke similar emotional reactions from large numbers of people? Whether the locations are religious, national or natural, when people travel to places like these, does their journey become a pilgrimage? And what do we mean by that term? This conversation will draw on our own reflections as we explore all of these questions. But we will also take time to share our experience of places that have particular significance for us individually and so have, in a sense, become our own personal sacred spaces. What is it about them that invests them with special meaning - or a special quality? The evening will be facilitated by Clark Saunders, a retired United Church minister who has led events and courses on various aspects of theology and spirituality – broadly defined – in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Berkeley and Naramata, BC. Please register at staroftheseassi@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link. Donations for participation in events are welcome.
"Two Tides" Exhibit Salt Spring Gallery May 28th-June 16th
‘’Two Tides’’ is a cumulation of Nathalie’s years painting Plein Air landscapes in
figurative and non figurative compositions. Her work combines the spiritual rapture of the group of Seven and Emily Carr, the mysticism of Chagall, the raw dark protests of Basquiat, the abstract expressionism of De Kooning and the eternal questions posed by Gauguin in his masterpiece: ‘’Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? “My expressionism/surrealism abstract As I let my work unfold, it’s multi-dimensionality proposes this: ‘’Reality, in its deeper and fuller experience, can be very different than what it seems or has been told to be. Here’s an invitation to walk with me into mysterious folds within the web of life
wildness. ‘’ This same spirit incubated her work’s
and retrieve some of her secrets’’.. My work could be described as ‘’cryptic’’. Here the
mysticism and the desire to sense and interpret
subconscious adopts the driver’s seat, and reality is conveyed by its enigmatic nature.
its reality.
I expect to create, through an alchemical combination of inner and outer abstract
It was while immersed in the natural vistas
landscapes, a visual space where all can feel vulnerable; a language that gives
of Clayoquot that Nathalie’s inner landscape
everyone permission to just be human. My work is emotional memory. I experience this emerging body of work as
began to unfold. Nature was truly her school. In 1995 she flew to Hawaii, where her Plein Air work matured and also where
moments inlaid in simultaneous windows of time.”
her ‘’innerscapes’’ emerged. But Hawaii was not home. 10 years ago Nathalie
Nathalie St-Amant Salt Spring Gallery Exhibit
returned to Quebec, partly to nurse her aging parents and partly because she was
In 1988, after receiving her College degree in Visual Fine Arts, Nathalie left
ready to become visible in the cultural landscapes of Quebec and Canada.
the academic art world and chose to experience the rich underground art scene
Now, back to reclaim her Heart where she left it on the West Coast, Nathalie has
of the street life in Montreal. She soon was on the search for an environment that
settled on Salt Spring Island to share the incalculable bounty of romantic mysticism
would encourage artistic lifestyle in a nature setting. Her quest took her to Tofino,
she feel for the land here.
in Clayoquot Sound she lived in an abandoned draft dodger’s cabin, deep in the old-
“While Plein Air painting is, to me, akin to a reverent pilgrim through cathedrals
growth forest, possessed by the spirit of Emily Carr, who wrote, “There is something
, my abstract expressionism/surrealism takes me on a profound venture where the
bigger than fact: the underlying spirit, all it stands for, the mood, the vastness, the
landscapes coalesce with the innerscapes of my psyche.”
NATURAL SPRING WATER
THE FISHBOWL • JUNE 2021 • PAGE 6
Digital Innovation Group Launches Arts Impact Assessment The Salt Spring Arts Council is part of a growing collective of arts councils from across Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands launching a major campaign to assess the economic, social, cultural, and health impacts of arts across the Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. The first campaign of its kind for the area, this assessment is being conducted by international consulting firm, Nordicity, and is being funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. The assessment will define where and how the arts have an impact on the region, and results will be published online and shared across regional industries and interest groups. The information collected will also be used to identify where additional supports are needed and to advocate for arts programming and funding. The collective behind the campaign is the Digital Innovation Group (DIG). DIG was founded in 2019 by six arts councils with the lead being the Arts Council of Ladysmith and District, and including the Salt Spring Arts Council Comox, Valley Arts, Hornby Island Arts Council, The Old School House Centre, and the Cowichan Valley Arts Council. The group was established with the goal of empowering artists and arts organizations through accessible digital technologies and shared resources. Anyone with an interest in the arts is encouraged to participate in the arts impact assessment before June 17. DIG encourages a broad range of people to take the survey – professional artists and creatives of every kind, hobbyists, as well as patrons. To access the public survey, visit digarts.ca/survey. --Associated Links Digital Innovation Group: digarts.ca Nordicity: nordicity.com For more information, contact: Ora Steyn 250-714-4100 Digital Innovation Group Steering Committee VP@ladysmitharts.ca
Sexual Assault
Response Program Coming to Salt Spring
Sexual assault affects a person in many ways. It can be disorienting, confusing, and frightening trying to get the assistance the survivor most needs. Even trying to get the most basic help can make someone feel vulnerable and afraid. And for some survivors, they stop there. First—what is sexual assault? Sexual assault is any form of sexual contact done without consent. And it happens with disturbing regularity on the Gulf Islands. In response to this problem, IWAV is launching a Sexual Assault Response Program on the Southern Gulf Islands. Starting this summer, sexual assault survivors on the islands will have just one number to call (250-537-0735 or toll-free 1-877-435-7544) to access a coordinated emergency response by a team of professionals. Survivors can call the help line 24/7 or use IWAV’s secure online chat function (iwav.org) from 12pm to 8pm. Several services will be available to sexual assault survivors, but regardless of which option they choose, they’ll be in charge of how to proceed, with their safety and comfort prioritized. These services are confidential and free; they’re a safe place where survivors will be listened to and believed. There are three key aspects of the new Sexual Assault Response Program: emergency response, ongoing support/advocacy, and individual counselling. For sexual assaults that occur within 7 days of the call, emergency support will be provided to people of all genders, ages 13+. This can include telephone or in-person sessions for emotional and practical support and sharing of information. Survivors can also choose to have IWAV staff meet and accompany them at the hospital for medical support or at the RCMP to report sexual assault. Survivors of sexual assault (recent or past) can also receive support from the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator to discuss options, information, safety planning, access to medical services and criminal justice processes, and referrals to other service providers. This service is available weekdays during regular business hours. As well, ongoing individual counselling is available to survivors of sexual assault who are youth 13+, women, non-binary, and trans folks. This free and confidential service can provide therapeutic techniques towards healing from sexual assault. IWAV works with community organizations, Victim Services, RCMP, and Island Health to assure the best support possible for survivors. IWAV recognizes the great work that has been done to establish the current Forensic Nursing Services currently available at Lady Minto Hospital. Are you safe? Have you been abused? Have you been sexually assaulted? Sexual Assault, Violence and Abuse 24-Hour Help Line 1-877-435-7544 | 250-537-0735 Live Online Chat 12pm to 8pm at iwav.org
photo credit anthony tran, unsplash
THE FISHBOWL • JUNE 2021 • PAGE 7
Artcraft Jury
Weaving an Inclusive Future Beside all the new artists hoping to be a part of the coveted three-month long Artcraft exhibition, every year the jury rejuries all the artists of a different category or medium. This year it was textiles, meaning all artists working with fibre as their medium of expression, even those who have been part of Artcraft for years, needed to re-submit their art for jurying. This process ensures the high quality of art and craft that Artcraft has become known for. The category being re-juried naturally affects our choice in jurors, as we search for experts in the given medium who have a keen aesthetic eye for interdisciplinary vision. Additionally, this year, the jurying process has seen some significant changes from years past, and we hope you agree they are all for the better. In order to encourage youth participation, foster lifelong learning and succession planning we decided it is vital that Artcraft include a Youth Juror. How else can we cultivate an ongoing interest in the decades old institution that Artcraft has become? Additionally, the cross generational learning potential from such experiences is invaluable, for everyone involved. Acknowledging that Indigenous art in Canada, and in particular in British Columbia, has an ongoing history dating back 3000 years, we felt it is imperative
We are excited about these new initiatives and thought there is no better way to share them than to make the members of our jury public. So, for the first time ever the Artcraft jury is being revealed. Without further ado we present you with the Artcraft 2021 Jury! We are so grateful for the indispensable collective knowledge and experience of these women.
THE FISHBOWL • JUNE 2021 • PAGE 8
to open up the boundaries of Artcraft to include Indigenous peoples for whom the Gulf Islands are their traditional territories and who may live elsewhere. To prevent an ethnocentric assessment of the submission we felt it is vital to include individuals of indigenous heritage on the jury. Our hope is to revitalize the exhibition of Indigenous art on Salt Spring Island, and we look forward to building relationships with Indigenous artists of this region. Jan Smith is a Canadian artist of contemporary jewellery and intaglio printmaking. Her work is represented in numerous private and public collections across Canada. As well as maintaining a studio practice, Smith is an educator and community arts event organizer. Smith served on the board of the Salt Spring Arts Council and chaired the Artcraft committee. Rosemarie Spahan (2021 Senior Indigenous Juror and curator) is the recipient of the BC Museum Association Award of Excellence in Exhibitions in conjunction with Two Rivers Gallery for 2020. With both a Salish and Interior blend of heritages, her focus extends from land and language to contemporary visual culture. She has curated many exhibitions in her 30 + years working in the arts. Rose is an artist, teacher, Independent Curator and Special Events Coordinator specializing in First Nations Art and Culture. Sarah Jim (2021 Indigenous Juror) is an emerging artist of mixed ancestry, and is a member of the W̱SÁNEĆ nation from the Tseycum village. With a Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria and she emulates her love of the territory and native plant knowledge through her artwork. Environmental restoration work has been her main source of inspiration since 2018 when she started working in SṈIDȻEȽ; the first W̱SÁNEĆ village site. Working on the land has resulted in deep insights of how language, culture, traditional knowledge, and art are all intimately connected to the natural realm. Susan Paynter went travelling after a career of teaching home economics (mostly in textiles). She explored, studied and collected artwork from various countries and cultures especially in textile form. Shortly after coming to Salt Spring in the 1990’s she discovered “art quilting” and began to play with all the new, exciting products and techniques now available.
Clementine Doubt (2021 Youth Juror) is a student at GISS and her strengths are in media arts and math with interests in interior design, creative writing, and architecture. She is of mixed ancestry with Ojibwe roots in Fort William First Nation. Both of her parents are career artists, and she’s been exposed to art of all disciplines all her life. Currently, she works part-time as a beader in her family business and spends her free time with friends at the lake.
Esme Hedrick-Wong has been working professionally with textiles for the last 40 years, Esme started out as a fashion designer in Toronto, Canada, selling collections under her own label, ‘Esme Designs’. She then co-founded a fashion boutique called “Esme & Nolan”. In 1992, she followed her dream to live and work in India, followed by Bangladesh and then Singapore where she lived for 20 years. Esme was exposed to the rich cultural traditions of natural dyes which led her to designing naturally dyed handloom silks and silk hemp textiles working with weavers in Bangladesh and Thailand.
Health with
Mishka’s
Book
Reviews What’s Happening In Perimenopause? The transition to menopause is a powerful stage in a woman’s life on many levels. Her hormones are changing, which changes her body, her mental state, and her role in life. Or, not! Some women go through menopause with great ease, while for others it is a challenging period with hot flashes, night sweats, irregular periods, heavy bleeding, irritability and anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and vaginal dryness. First, a few definitions: a woman is considered to be menopausal after 12 months without a period. The average age that this occurs is 51. Perimenopause is the symptomatic period that leads up to menopause, and typically lasts 1-5 years. As a woman ages, her ovaries become less responsive to the stimulating hormones that normally cause follicle development and ovulation. With no ovulation, the follicle doesn’t develop into its corpus luteum stage causing a drastic decline in progesterone production. This sets up the hormonal milieu of perimenopause – high levels of estrogen and low levels of progesterone. With wild swings up and down as the body attempts to normalize. One of the most important messages I like to communicate to women in perimenopause is that they have options. Hormone replacement therapy is an option many know about, with important pros and cons to consider. However in between taking hormone replacement and doing nothing at all, there is a spectrum of other strategies to consider. One way to alleviate perimenopausal symptoms is to address high estrogen levels. This can be done through dietary changes and herbal medicines which encourage estrogen processing and excretion. Another strategy is to support progesterone levels, either with herbs or hormones. In the world of hormones, there is conventional therapy (synthetic analogues to progesterone and estrogen), and bioidentical hormones (which have the same chemical makeup as the hormones produced by your own body). Supporting your adrenal glands can help ease the perimenopausal transition, because when the ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone the adrenals start to take over. They produce a relatively very small amount, but enough that they help balance the rapidly swinging levels of sex hormones. If however, your adrenals are already under-functioning because of years of chronic stress, they will not as effectively be able to respond. Other considerations I work on with my patients during this period include supporting healthy sleep and establishing consistent routines with exercise, both of which can help alleviate symptoms. It is also important to address bone health because bone density declines significantly during this period. Supporting your body with the vitamins and minerals needed to build healthy bone helps to prevent osteoporosis. Every women will have a unique way of supporting her body and mind through perimenopause, depending on her particular symptoms as well as her beliefs and values. Book an appointment with Dr. Webb if you would like to discuss your options, clarify your questions, and get a personalized treatment plan for your menopause transition.
with Mishka Campbell
A Thousand Ships
by Natalie Haynes
I loved the Greek myths and legends so much that when I was a kid, I carried everywhere, a tiny, vintage hardcover book, that was nearly as ancient as the stories it contained. It was beautiful; the pages were like tissue paper, with intricate illustrations. I really needed to understand the relationships; the plots of revenge; and the crazy obsessions of all the Gods and Goddesses, with the lives of mortals. It was as though I instinctively understood that if I cracked the code on this mythology, I would gain some deeper insight into humanity itself. What can I say…I was a weird kid. “A Thousand Ships” reminds me of everything I loved about those stories. It is epic and compelling. This book is specifically a tale of the Trojan war, mostly focussed on what happens afterward. Its perspective is that of the women; the many, many women, whose lives were changed forever by those ten catastrophic years. So many female characters are given a chapter, or several, to share their stories. I was delighted to have introductions to points of view that I’d honestly not really considered. Some of these chapters are wholly invented, and some contain details that are borrowed (and enhanced) from existing literature; examples of which are laid out in the afterword. I believe the author made an inspired choice in avoiding writing a chapter with a specific retelling of Helen of Troy’s individual tale. It is one we’ve already heard too many times before and the face that launched a thousand ships is possibly a “boring” subject matter. By the way, those are another character’s words, not mine; although I tend to agree. This seems like as good a time as any to note that if you are a fan of Madeline Miller’s “Circe”, you will enjoy this, and I say this as someone who didn’t really like “Circe”, but who freely acknowledges that with this subject matter, it’s hard to go wrong. I recommend “The Song of Achilles” if you’re Madeline Miller curious. One of my most profound takeaways from this book came in the afterword. It’s a passage that concerns the notion that “the women who survive(or don’t survive) a war are equally heroic as their menfolk.” If Natalie Haynes set out to write something that proved that premise, I think she more than hit the mark.
drhannahwebb.com | 250-999-9371 THE FISHBOWL • JUNE 2021 • PAGE 9
Jen’ll Tell Ya Featuring Jen Redpath and Jessica Terezakis
The
Green Isle Enterprise Holistic Psychology, Health & Education With: Ralph D. Miller, Ph.D. and Kathryn Christie
The Fishbowl’s resident Sexual Health Educator Jen is back with a new sexual health sidekick, Jess. We are here to answer all your raunchy, awkward, and burning questions. We are also here to remind you that if it’s more than questions that are burning, please come see us on Tuesdays from 4:30-6:30 at the Options Clinic at 134 McPhilips Ave. You can call us at 250537-8786 to make an appointment! A little bit about us. Jess is an Options-trained Sexual Health Educator who coordinates the clinic here on Salt Spring Island. Since the tender age of eight, she aspired to be a sexual health educator after watching the Sunday Night Sex Show with Sue Johansen. She is also known as “that person guaranteed to make an awkward sex joke at a dinner party”. Jen is a Registered Nurse, Certified Sexual Health Educator, as well as a Sexually Transmitted Infection and Contraceptive Management Nurse at Options For Sexual Health. She has been working with people of all ages since 2013 to promote healthy sexuality, access to sexual health services, and talk about the nitty-gritty when it comes to sex. She is also the mama to two amazing kids who like to spend time circusing around town! Have a question you want us to answer in Jen’ll Tell Ya”? Email us at opt.saltspring@gmail.com If you have a specific health question please try our Sex Sense Line for confidential services at 1-800-739-7367 Want to support Options for Sexual Health? We are always looking for great folks to volunteer with us! Apply today: optionsforsexualhealth.org/volunteer-application We are also a non-profit charitable organization and rely on the generosity of donors like you to keep our clinics open and accessible for all. Donate today: optionsforsexualhealth.org/impact/donate
THE FISHBOWL • JUNE 2021 • PAGE 10
Dawn
The Dance
By Kathryn
by Ralph
The frog’s symphony goes silent
I dance and turn
as dawn breaks
playfully painting pastel
the long dark night.
pink and purple
Bird’s burst into song heralding
paisley patterns
the sweetness of
in the air.
a brand new day.
And caste sparkles
The fresh fragrance of
into the fertile darkness
dew-moistened grasses
of the night time sky
and damp fir needles
Twinkling stars they be
wafts through cool sea-kissed air
Waking with the dawn I greet the sun
Morning sun’s gentle rays
singing forth light
slowly wake
gentle refreshing showers
the forest, pond, and garden as Tiny Whirligig beetles sport on the surface of the dark pond water.
And guide to the Earth sweet rainbows gently curving softly touching down
Leaning against the craggy bark
as I dance and turn
on the old fir standing at the
twirling, whirling
edge of the garden
round and round
joy and wonder emanate throughout her body at nature’s astonishing
A finger painting dervish I Be
celestial splendour.
Ralph's roles include: extending-family guy, student/teacher, psychologist/scientist, musician/actor. ralph@islandroots.ca
Scopes Brought to you by our own in-house astrologer who now goes by her numerologically correct name of “Ya Righta”
Aries
A shocking revelation will shake you to the core of your being this week, which is odd, because it’s merely the fact that the Barley Brothers aren’t actual brothers.
Taurus
A highly irritating game of cat and mouse will play out this week when you spend more than 10 minutes trying to park in Ganges on a Tuesday.
Gemini
You still have no idea what makes most women tick, but good on ya for sticking with it.
Cancer
Don’t neglect the spiritual side of your life.
Leo
The powers that be are in fact watching you at all hours and tracking your every move, they live in your cellphone.
Virgo
You’ll receive a poorly worded but very concerning email from your cousin who is travelling and in some sort of trouble. Do not send him money, trust us, he’s fine, and at home in Canada.
Libra
Your inability to be spontaneous is well known, which will leave people struggling to understand why you are so excited.
Scorpio
Sometimes words are simply not enough to express how someone is feeling, which is why people keep insisting on performing interpretive dances for you at the Market.
Sagittarius
Your old solution isn’t going to work on your new problem. Try drinking twice as much of it.
Capricorn
You will be chased by angry swans. We’re serious, and they are seriously fast. Maybe avoid Fulford Harbour this month?
Aquarius
Your extremely trying week will not be improved by your decision to deal with all problems by leaning on the horn.
Pisces
Nobody likes a know-it-all, but then, you probably knew that already, you wisenheimer.
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