Podcasts are a thing on Substack! I figured that out last week, and I’m happy to report that hundreds of you downloaded my first podcast, Some Wisdom From The Stories of Four Gay Christians. If you missed it, you can download it below. Since I’m so jazzed about the podcast's success, I want you to listen to another. This time, it’s my daughter and I chatting about her Eating Disorder. I released the video of our conversation about a month ago, but now you can have it podcast-style. Click above and enjoy. Tikki continues to battle this monster. She recently checked herself back into LGR for a week of support. She felt she was losing ground to this beast and went for a priority reset. I’m proud of her as she keeps battling this foe, but the struggle is as real as ever.
Jolted out of Bed in the Middle of the Night
A long day of driving ends. We were going to take the train to Portland for our little getaway, but that whole Donald Trump thing has angered so many of us Canadians that we decided to keep our money in Canada and go for a drive around the southern part of Vancouver Island instead. Tired from travel, we check into a local hotel in the small town of Lake Cowichan. After roast beef for me and a portabella mushroom melt for Mistin, we retire to our room, and it’s not long before we drift off to sleep.
At 1 A.M., we are jolted awake by a W.W. 2 era air raid siren. Its piercing scream strikes the fear of God into our hearts, and we both jump out of bed. I race to the window and peer into the darkness, wondering what devilish natural disaster has us in its clutches. At the same time, Mistin glances into the hallway to see what other hotel occupants might be doing.
Is it the big one? As Vancouverites, we’ve been expecting it for years. It’s got to be a tsunami warning, I think.
“Honey, did you feel any shaking?”
“No”
The siren wails on.
Lake Cowichan is inland, right? We should be safe, but then my mind flashes to Port Alberni, also inland, but its location didn’t stop a wall of water from racing up the inlet and damaging or destroying over 400 buildings back in 1964. (I’m a history guy, so yes, I actually had that thought!) I look out the window again, our hotel is next to the Cowichan river. In my mind’s eye, I picture the river becoming a raging stampede of watery destruction.
Despite our panicked thoughts, the sleepy little town remains asleep, the streets are empty, and everyone appears oblivious to the coming malady. We check our phones, but there are no emergency warning texts.
Finally, after a couple minutes of howling noise, we see an emergency vehicle scream by and then another. They are heading out of town away from the river. We wipe the sleep out of our eyes and strain to see what the flashing lights might be attending to.
The siren stops, then five minutes later, starts up again; this time, we are only blasted for about thirty seconds before all is quiet. Mistin and I look at each other. “What in the world?” We jump on our phones and start Googling. Was there an earthquake? What is the reason for this rude wake-up call? After much research, we conclude that the tectonic plates of the Pacific Northwest have been quiet.
As a last bit of investigation, I enter into the browser, “Lake Cowichan Air Raid Siren.” Oh, I see what going on. The siren is a cemented tradition in this town, it’s how they alert their volunteer fire fighters to an emergency. They have always done it this way — since 1947! The powers that be have consistently turned a deaf ear (pun intended) to all complaints and reasoning suggesting there might be a better way to alert emergency personnel.
One stalwart traditionalist from the Cowichan Valley Citizen wrote passionately on “the importance of preserving things like this as part of Lake residents’ way of life.” suggesting that the midnight siren “really isn’t that intrusive.”
Oh, my word. We humans are such strange creatures.
Who would want a way of life that embraces a nightly air raid siren? Well, there is a little town tucked away in central southern Vancouver Island that does.
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