A Town Called Cute

The town of Qualicum Beach has one stop light and no parking meters. It has a "real" walkable downtown with independent owner-on-site shops and lots of flowers. There is no Starbucks. For that you travel 8 minutes down the road to big brother town Parksville (population 12,000). I know all about this as one year we drove to Qualicum Beach on the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, and I couldn't find anything at all open and had to pee. Thank you Starbucks in Parksville. As a matter of fact there is no chain store of any kind in QBBC but no worries if you need to shop, half an hour away in the city of Nanaimo there is every box store imaginable.

The town shuts down around 6:00, although the local merchants are trying to persuade each other to stay open on Friday evenings. There are a few restaurants including a Thai restaurant and a Sushi "Bar and Grill", a most curious name for it, although it does have an authentic Japanese sushi chef. In a large city a Thai restaurant is one of many and no big deal, but in this little town, finding that it has even one was a cause of much excitement. Even during the day I sometimes remark that the streets remind me of Luang Prabang where you could shoot a canon down the middle of the street and not hit anyone.

There is a theater group in town and we went to see a play the other night. I bought the only remaining tickets for that night in the very back row of the theater. Row 11. At intermission you can get a coffee for $1 and a Kit Kat.

There are flowers everywhere and on residential streets the main sport appears to be competitive gardening. Seriously. The town has been a national winner in the Canadian Communities in Bloom awards. Here's the public washroom:

QBBC public washroom between the liquor store and grocery store.

Here's what it looks like in Manila...

Public urinal in Manila

 Sometimes I feel like I'm living in The Village of the old The Prisoner series.

Probably a good idea to keep your eyes peeled. Last week the visiting mother of a woman in the Nail Gal shop was riding a motorcycle when a deer popped out of the side of the road and ran right into her. She ended up in hospital with a broken arm.

Everyone talks to everyone in this town, which is taking some getting used to. Invariably when we go into a shop, we'll hear the entire life story of the shop keeper or sales person within minutes. A couple of days ago I hired a guy with a truck to come and take away the moving debris and although he was huffing and puffing his way through the loading, he talked nonstop, never once coming up for air. We heard all about his family and his retirement plans as well as about one of his recent customers who moved here from Nova Scotia where she had left an abusive relationship. It's become a bit of a joke, when Maristella (who is visiting right now) and I meet up after going into shops separately, we compare notes on what we have heard - and we have always heard a story.

EVERYONE asks "where are you from"? Someone the other day even asked me where I was born (can't remember, it was too long ago). When they hear that I've just moved to town they say "Well, it's quiet here". Or, "It's small". "Now is tourist season but JUST WAIT till October". The guy in the health food store finally used a new adjective - "it's boring". Ha, I thought, the truth emerges.

I never ever get bored, so we shall soon see.

Sunset from the beach

Friday's full moon from the backyard