It’s noon. Thursday. And all is quiet on the Western Geweilo Front. Kids are gone. Laundry at capacity. Fridge empty. House is otherwise normal. Water tank refilling as I write.

Dogs seem stunned.

Everyone up at 6:15 (including me!) to hug and say goodbye. Then Sal took them off in the boat to catch various connections depending on their destinations (Hong Kong, Victoria and Toronto). Busy, busy, busy.

But before they go, she will take them to the Ideal Café on the outskirts of Campbell River for a good breakfast. Good , in this sense, means huge, greasy and set in a small 50’s-style diner complete with loggers and mechanics in overalls. The ambiance of the café couldn’t be reproduced by Stephen Spielberg for anything under $30M. The Ideal is ideal. And original.

Erica will head back to Hong Kong. Tracy is off to Toronto for a work-study and the other kids are off to tempt the Grizzlies in Banff.

(But, as everyone knows, Grizzlies generally prefer Germans. The bears get their quota just about every summer. Those tourists are so easy to catch. They walk off the bus and hug you. If you are a Grizzly, you eat ’em. It’s simply ‘good eatin’. Except for having to spit out the camera parts, it’s easier than the garbage bins. German exports (tourists) are the main reason the Rocky Mountain Grizzly thrives to this day!)

Well, that is what I tell my Chinese students, anyway. It’s my way of warning them away from the bears. I also suggest that they do not get their picture taken with a German tourist anywhere in the park. No sense tempting fate.

Mind you, I also teach them to yell “Allahu Akbar!” in the airport as a native Haida farewell.

I sure hope the students don’t forget us.