Lund 2026
Thursday August 20
After a multiple year absence from Lund induced by a wish to travel to new places abroad and also by the need to distance ourselves since having sold Knoll House, in early summer we decided to return, though only for a brief visit.
The lengthy journey began at the San Luis Obispo airport, where we learned that its first leg, to San Francisco, was indefinitely delayed. We were rerouted to LA, where the flight to Vancouver was also delayed, threatening a missed connection to the last leg from Vancouver to Powell River. Despite the spectacular views from the small Pacific Coastal plane, rather than eager, I was apprehensive about how I would feel and we’d be received at our destination and tried to elevate my mood with a microdose of a gummy.
Upon arrival we connected amiably with the car rental agent who knows Tai and Theo. Things warmed up further during a delicious meal at the Indian restaurant across from the Mill, including a can of Zunga beer brewed down the street.
The AirBandB rental cabin perched on a cliff above Lund delivered its promise of fine design, privacy, a hot tub, magnificent views and a 138 step staircase down to the water.
Friday August 21
In the morning we met Peter and Margaret at Nancy’s and went to the Water Taxi dock to buy tickets for the crossing to Savary where Peter had invited us to visit his son Towagh and family at their vacation home and to bring along a lunch.
The Savary land taxi, a rickety pickup truck driven by a friendly local, met us at the dock. During the bumpy ride through the ever more densely settled island, he boasted of its fame with a story of being in a Sun Valley Idaho bar several years ago and mentioning Savary to a friend, when a guy sitting next to them piped up: “I know Savary, I grew up in Lund and my parents own a place with a view of the Island.” Had to be our son Joe!
Towagh welcomed us warmly to his place perched on cliff on the north shore surrounded by tall trees with splendid views of Desolation Sound and the Coast Range
It was a part of the Island I’d never been to, as grand as the South Beach area, but more secluded. He introduced us to his wife Rebekah, their two young daughters, Rose and Grace, and his visiting father in law Robert.
There was another house under construction at the back of the lot across the road and a driftwood archway he’d built and a stone path leading across the lawn to a balcony at the head of a stylish staircase which I later took down to the beach for a refreshing swim.
From the shore I saw Knoll House across the strait.
We’ve been acquainted with Towagh since his home birth at Peter’s tiny cabin up Baggi Road in 1975.
One of the Lund hippy kids in Joe’s cohort, his grandfather was German Jewish refugee like my parents whose path of escape across the Pyrenees Peter retraced with him on an arduous backpacking trip. Keeping the Tla’amin name given by his father and mother, he studied native cultures at McGill university and subsequently developed computer programs and other instruments to facilitate First Nations’ documentation of former settlements which have been crucial to the ongoing success of their land claims with federal and provincial governments and of his growing business enterprise: https://kwusen.ca/towagh-behr.
He alternated describing this work with attending patiently to the insistent demands of his daughters.
Rose, the older one, about 7, kept occupied painting designs on the pailfuls of shells and rocks gathered on the beach.
I expressed my appreciation for her artwork with an offer of 5 dollars to buy one, but instead of being thrilled she countered with 10. We eventually reached a bargain of 8.
I told her that we have two ceramic pots thrown by her grandmother Carol at Cranberry Pottery 40 years ago on display in our living room in California.
After returning to the mainland we retreated to our beautiful cabin for a nap. Afterwards I went down its artful stairway for another swim in the cove below.
Out in the water I realized that before the construction of the houses surrounding it at the top, that little bay had been a booming ground for logs harvested from the Lund peninsula I’d photographed in operation in 2006.
Back up at the cabin Jan said she’d spoken on the phone to Malerie, who was now living with her new husband, Bryan, on an adjacent rocky knoll. We were to come over immediately.
Malerie introduced us as the first people she met in Powell River, at the Salal pickers’ warehouse in Wildwood in 1970 through Oscar Green, the emigre Arizona real estate agent. Bryan had been manager of the Mill that dominated the areas economy for a hundred years, now shut down. I leapt into sharing recollections of my traumatic 1972-3 winter work stint there on the flume, the green chain, the block loader and as pulp tester in G3 Grinder Room.
Jan turned the conversation to them. They met at a dementia caregiver support group which Malerie led and he attended for seven years during his beloved wife’s tragic decline. Years after her death they met again and eventually married. Jan and I were shocked by the first part of the story which mirrored that of two other couples we’d known in the area and our own growing concerns. Then there was catch up on both sides about our children and grandchildren. After three hours of animated talk, little food and lots of wine, we departed. For the first time in memory Jan was missing her purse, and it took us all to find it under the couch where she’d sat.
Saturday August 22
I got up early to continue a lengthy search for permissions for the few images in the Shakespeare essay I’d sent off to the editor the week before. It turned out that they wouldnt be available because the huge academic publisher, Nature/Springer went from non-profit to commercial, eliminating the opportunity for writers to have Fair Use access to copyrighted material.
Jan emailed Frank C. about her intent to return the Rebozo his mother Barbara wove for her in the ‘70’s she’d brought along to return to the family. He replied regretting his absence but with hope to see us next year. We drove down to Larson’s Bay through the Redwood forest planted by his father Warren and met Hailey the caretaker, granddaughter of Carol and Wally, and daughter of Karma, contemporary and friend of Joe’s.
After a walk to their beaver pond we headed up to Knoll House, the trees noticeably taller than 3 years ago. We were welcomed with hugs by all four family members and words of gratitude for the picture history of Knoll house I’d sent them after the transition.
Peter and Ronnie, Tai’s parents, arrived and Theo served a great pancake brunch he’d cooked for us hungry guests.
They reported that the property transaction in collaboration with the neighbor has worked out smoothly. Tai told us about her new full time job, working remotely from the woods as a consultant for companies and non-profits developing re-use programs. Theo said he still likes his job working with addicts in town which allows for a flexible schedule. We viewed some of his artwork in the cabin and his house renovations which involved an addition for Wilder’s room and a combination of two tiny bedrooms into one for Renwyn.
I walked down to the bluff where the grasses and mosses were dry and the view remained unobstructed.
After three hours, Jan and I went back to the cabin for a nap and I swam again. For dinner we went to the Lund café where we were seated at a table with a friendly couple from the Netherlands.
Sunday August 23
I dropped Jan off at Lund to go for a short hike to Hurtado point with Peter B. There she met Karl in the Tug-Ghum Gallery and caught up on the last 40 years since seeing him, including the details of Stan’s recent peaceful death up the coast at Galley Bay during the former communards’ annual summer gathering.
Back in Lund Jan and I went to Tidelands Gallery in Finn Bay to see Prashant, the artist, writer, musician, and world traveller, in his little studio.
We agreed to return to shop after the lunch planned with Peter, Margaret and Juliet. We drove to the Wildwood Pub where we shmoozed over food and drink under a grand Tla’amin wood carving.
Juliet told us that the crazy three story log house that she and Steve lived in and that she sold after he died was recently used as the location for the upcoming feature film of Eden Express, Mark Vonnegut’s 1975 memoir of life at the commune up Powell Lake that descended from Utopian aspiration to clinical madness. I’d found the book important enough to teach in my 1976-77 Canadian lit classes at Malaspina College.
After completing the purchase back at Tidelands, we retreated for a last nap and swim and took up the invitation to see Ronnie’s incredibly expanded gardens at the Malaspina farm.
We then joined her and Peter at the Lund pub for dinner, along with Juliet and Sherry whom we’d been trying to arrange to see earlier.
Tai showed up with Wilder and Renwyn for a last goodbye. As we were about to leave the pub, a striking man came over to say hello to Peter, who introduced him as Evan Adams, a physician colleague now living in Lund.
Our brief chat landed on his memory of hitting someone with his lunch bucket on a bus as a little kid. Jan asked if that was the bus of the Lund Farm Day Camp in 1974. Yes! he said.
Two young men came over and he said they had to go.
After they left, Peter told us that they are two of six sons he’s adopted, that he’s Chief Medical Officer of the First Nations Health Authority and a movie star, among others of Smoke Signals, a quirky and moving 1990 film that I still remember seeing.
August 24
Sitting in the tiny Powell River airport during a three hour delay the next morning I found pictures in my computer documenting the bus story and of Evan as a 7-year old in the water at Sliammon Lake.
I emailed them to him and he immediately replied:
Yes, that is me. And the jumper is my sister, Maureen. We are 7 & 8 years old. Amazing!
It was really great to meet you & Jan again – 52 years later! I really did find the camp life-changing, seeing (frankly & plainly) white people care about us and our outcomes and treating us like regular kids – it made a difference. And, of course, it was really fun and reinforced our First Nations viewpoints on nature, balance, spirit, and being on the land.Finally, at that time, my family was still recovering from the death of my older sister, and the camp really helped us adjust. (My sister, Maureen, who is a year older than me, was also at the camp, along with Marlane, Elsie‘s daughter.)
Thank you for the lovely, joyful, progressive hippy spirit you brought!
During the Pacific Coastal return flight along snow covered mountains to the east and over the islands below, I was filled with gratitude and nostalgia–the old feelings familiar from departures and returns ever since 1979. Jan and I discussed the possibility of a longer stay next year.