By Maryanna Gabriel
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| Ferry to Harrop and Procter. |
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| Church in Procter. |
The ferry to Procter, a little community accessible by boat and only a few miles northward, is impressive. It makes the 180 meter crossing 24/7. Procter is a pretty place that used to be the epicenter for the paddlewheelers. Many of the buildings are turn of the century.
I’m happy to report that I am over halfway through my first draft. When it comes to writing, any distraction will do, and so I write in two-hour blocks, dominated by Nelson’s tooney-gobbling parking meters. The ticketing officers are most enthusiastic. Speaking of which, bylaw enforcement was on the street immediately the drug laws in British Columbia changed a short while ago. Now those that wish drugs wait on a lawn by the clinic below where I live and where heroin and meth are dispensed.
It's just a little
strange I can get a free hit of heroin should I choose, but if I
want a doctor appointment I have to wait in the street outside a different clinic, enter one
person at a time, Saturdays only, between the hours of 10 and 2, no advance appointments taken. If I don’t
like this arrangement I am to contact my governing representative. There
is a four-year waiting list in Nelson for a doctor.
Medical system aside, as I leave this beautiful geography, there is much I will miss. The friendliness of the people; everyone says hi - even when they pass from behind. And they say there are more restaurants per capita of anywhere with the exception of San Francisco. The lovely Victorian architecture of the businesses is impressively maintained. The same may be said of the gracious homes with streets lined by enormous maple trees as I gawk at balustrades and porches of yesteryear and negotiate the undulating hillsides. My thanks goes to this special place and part of my heart will always remain. JK Rowling may have had Edinburgh for Harry Potter, but I had Nelson.
I am forgetting how busy things are in the summer. I must have gotten
the last room between here and Vancouver, but I did I luck out. Tally ho, and see you in the next chapter.