The "enduring" presence...

"Peace be with you."

Quite often, as we paddle along the Gulf Islands shores, we'll come upon an inukshuk, a marker. Traditionally, it may have provided a point of reference or an aid to navigation. In our part of the world, today, it usually represents a place where someone has come ashore and enjoyed a short stay. An inukshuk extends a friendly welcome, its very presence declaring that great pleasure has been enjoyed in that exact spot. They have lingered long enough to build a simple structure that remains to greet others as they pass by, on the water or on an intersecting trail.

Setting rock upon rock and achieving the necessary balance and structural strength brings satisfaction. There is a timelessness to the inukshuk. We feel the connection to like-minded souls in the misty expanse of time. That, perhaps, is the enduring quality every one of these shoreside symbols expresses.

Perhaps this is the great appeal of paddling a simple craft, hill-walking, and running along forest trails. They are enduring, self-propelled activities that have always been a part of our inherent human desire to explore and to discover.

A similarly welcoming presence...on the top of a Scottish hill.

In a world of sound bites, pixels, apps of the day, weekly software updates, and cryptic storage "clouds"...enduring is good. It's very good indeed.

Peace.

Duncan.


Top image: A simple but elegant inukshuk on the rocky shore of neighbouring Saltspring Island.
Second image: Last year, overlooking Loch Brandy, Angus, Scotland.