Sunday, July 29, 2018

The Ganga cleanses ... but, only if you truly repent

We had a tasty lunch with fresh garden ingredients, in a gorgeous setting overlooking the water, and with a gentle breeze blowing to soothe us on a warm afternoon.  It is a popular spot, and our first choice for a salad was already sold out :(


Such a farm-to-table operation is possible because there are farms all over the charming island.  Only a few looking commune-like, which might have been set up by hippies of the past.  Most farms, on the other hand, looked like they were thriving and prosperous; perhaps they are the expensive hobbies of the digital hippies who have more than a few dollars to spare while telecommuting from their farms.

Prior to the internet economy, and tourism and forest-bathing, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, labor was imported from across the Pacific, from Hawaii and Japan.  Which means, for all purposes, Salt Spring Island was a mini-USA, with the exception of Mexicans.

So, like the US, Canada, too, reacted to the Japanese population on the island similar to how FDR's government treated them.  The few with Japanese links were forced into internment camps in other provinces that were inland and away from the Pacific.  The horror!

When the Japanese were gone, their land and property were conveniently sold by the government.  The families had nothing to return to, even if they wanted to.  Only one family returned and put down their roots, again.  We saw the sign on the way to the small little museum in town.

Life is calm and peaceful now because, unlike the US, Canada has been actively engaged in making its peace with its past, and now warmly embraces non-whites and non-Christians.  Good for our northern neighbors that they don't have as a head of government a pathological narcissist who stokes fear and hatred.  Maybe some day we, too, will have a truth and reconciliation commission, and we can finally let go of our awful baggage.
I roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me , a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

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