
When I go to Vancouver, I like to find a log and sit on the beach at Spanish Banks. I look across Burrard Inlet to the North Shore Mountains. To me, a born and raised Vancouverite, this is the quintessential view of the city.
The cluster of downtown buildings to the east is dwarfed against the mountains and sky. But it isn’t the freighters anchored in the inlet, I see, nor the swimmers or boaters that make the view. If you stare across the inlet, you can see the figure of a reclining woman, apparently asleep, her hands resting on her stomach. Grouse and Seymour mountains form her head and shoulders and the long slope eastward of the mountains form her lower torso and legs.
The city below the reclining woman is small and insignificant.
You may think I’m crazy. I admit, not everyone sees her. But others see her, as this article in the Jericho Sailing Centre’s newsletter attests. I consulted my old copy of Pauline Johnson’s (Tekahionwake) beautiful book, Legends of Vancouver.1 There is no mention of the reclining woman.
You have to look awhile to see the reclining woman, but once you find her shape, she will be with you always.
Breathing the city in her dreams
Looking across at her, it is easy to conjure the idea that she is breathing the city in her dreams. Those of us who live here are the shimmering images she sees in her slumber. The light sparkling on the blue water, reflecting off the glass towers, bridges and vast treed landscape. She is the sleeping watch woman, an image of grandeur, beauty and safe haven. The city and its residents are a mirage on the edge of the ocean.
She is always there. Despite how much Vancouver changes ‒ the traffic, congestion, construction, ethnicity and culture ‒ she gives the place a sense of permanence.
Jennifer and I moved to Pender nearly eight years ago. We kept an apartment in the city for a couple of years. We then sold it and moved our second residence to Victoria. When we left Vancouver, I had no idea how much I’d miss it.
Changing neighbourhoods, still the same
I love the neighbourhoods. The expansive Kitsilano, which, despite the burgeoning condos and luxury homes, still retains its gentle tree-lined streets and clusters of shops. The sky is wide above the maples and poplars along the boulevards. The neighbourhoods are a pleasing mishmash of tidy houses beside ramshackle ones with overgrown gardens.
Main Street, from Terminal, northwards is becoming an exciting hive of craft breweries, coffee shops and bakeries.
This past weekend, we stayed with friends in a new Olympic Village penthouse. It looked north across False Creek to the Georgia Viaduct, Rogers Arena, home of the NHL Canucks, B.C. Place, home of the CFL Lions and Science World at the end of the inlet. The area used to be a warren of warehouses and factories, almost a relic of the old logging days. It’s unrecognizable to me, now, but it’s thrilling to see the rejuvenation.
As we drove around, it was as if I suffered bouts of amnesia. A part of Broadway looked different and I couldn’t remember what used to be there. Other streets were familiar enough, but I missed important turn-offs, forgot routes and directions that used to be second nature.
Trying not to forget
The city tries to remember where it came from. Names for new buildings memorialize the ones that came before. A new development at Fourth and Bayswater is called the Black Swan, after the iconic used record store that occupied the corner for decades. I spent many a leisurely Saturday, there, flipping through LPs and listening to the latest music. A similar development at the corner of Sixteenth Avenue and Arbutus Street is called The Ridge, after the great second run movie theatre, where I first saw Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.
That’s why I like to sit at Spanish Banks and pan the North Shore mountains. I watch the reclining woman breathing gently in her slumber, dreaming of what used to be and what is to become, dreaming of the golden city by the ocean. As long as I can see her, I can still recognize my city.
First attempt at Nina’s Pain Sauvage, wild bread. Borne of simplicity: coarsely milled grain (I used spelt), freshly milled red fife flour, water and salt. No yeast, wild or commercial. A few flax seeds sprinkled on top, baked in bread tins. Tastes of grain and earth. This is Nina Raginsky’s bread. She lives on Salt Spring Island BC in an old house that she calls her Maison Sauvage, and she tends her garden, her Jardin Sauvage. She prefers living with a small footprint; loves the aimless life, but is an Officer of the Order of Canada for her photography. Read the latest Happy Monk blog post for more about Nina. Thanks to Sophie Williams @ravenbreads for sharing about her conversations with Nina back in January — a meeting of like minds and hearts, I think. Today is Nina’s 80th birthday! Happy birthday, Nina!
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#bread #wildbread #painsauvage #baker #bakers #baking #bakinglife #ancientgrains #heritagegrains #yeastfree #nosourdough #tassajara #tassajarabreadbook #edwardespebrown #woodfired #woodfiredbread
Happy Monk Tidings - April 14, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Spelt + Honey Loaf; Plus the mighty Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: Nina's Pain Sauvage - [ See link in profile ]
Nice bake yesterday! The Salish Sourdough turned out great. So did the Fig and Fennel Loaf, but wish I’d added more fennel!
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#bread #sourdoughbread #sourdough #baker #bakery #breadporn #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbread #figbread #fig #fennel #figandfennelbread #breadlove #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #penderisland #southpenderisland
Happy Monk Tidings - April 7, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Fig and Fennel Loaf or Your Old Stand by: the Salish Sourdough; Happy Monk Blog: Is the Baguette on the Verge of Renaissance? - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 24, 2021 🍞 - Blog: The Milk Maid, Love and Bread Pudding; Bread this week: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Hot Cross Buns are out the door and we have a few extras. The deep spice, fruit and texture of these buns evoke faded memories for me. Maybe Aunty Betty made them? Maybe they’re the stuff of dreams?
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#hotcrossbuns #sourdough #sourdoughbread #baker #bakery #easter #easterbread #easterfood #woodfired #woodfiredoven #naturallyleavened #michaeljames #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbakery
Happy Monk Tidings - March 17, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: One a Penny, Two a Penny! | Baker's Choice: Hot Cross Buns [ See link in Profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - March 10, 2021 🍞 - Bread this week: Your favourites: Salish Sourdough and Seed Feast; Happy Monk Blog: The Ocean Within Us [ See link in profile ]
Was windy down here this morning, but nothing like a winter storm! And look what what Mildrith made this morning just as the wind was kicking up! Polenta and Rosemary Loaf made with rosemary that grows wild on our property.
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#windyday #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaking #polentabread #rosemarybrushes #rosemarybrushes #bread #breadporn #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven
Happy Monk Tidings - March 5, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: Building Fences, Mending Walls; and Baker's Choice: Polenta and Rosemary Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
The mighty Seed Feast, Pender Island style, Happy Monk style. @chez_sjaan
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#seedfeastbread #seedbread #seedybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
The Seed Feast is pretty when it drops out of the banneton. Today I used a UFO bread lame #wiredmonkey to make it prettier. Nice control and it slices through those big pumpkin seeds!
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#wiredmonkey #ufolame #seedfeast #bread #breadmaking #breadbaking #sourdoughbread #sourdoughscoring #sourdough #woodfiredbread #woodfiredoven #bakery #bakeries #bakeriesofinstagram #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaker
Happy Monk Tidings - February 24, 2021 🍞 - Happy Monk Blog: The Honest Baker; Bread choices this week: Salish Sourdough or Seed Feast - [ See link in profile ]
Happy Monk Tidings - February 17, 2021 🍞 - Baker's Choice Week: Mountain Rye; Blog: A Hard-Earned Homecoming - [See link in Profile]
Saturday, Feb. 13. 2:45 am. Air temperature: -3°C (26.6°F). Mildrith, the wood fired oven, had an internal temp of 977°F (525°C). Balmy! Too hot to to bake bread, but she cooled quickly enough with the open doors, then baked 68 loaves! The problem was getting the orders out to customers, as the roads were unploughed with 8” of snow. Our all-wheel Subaru saved the day and customers got their bread! I tell ya!
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#cobovens #coboven #woodfiredbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #bakers #bakersofinstagram #bakersgonnabake #bakerylife #bakery #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #southpenderisland #penderisland #penderislandbc #penderislandlife #earthoven #earthovens
Half loaf of Happy Monk Salish Sourdough with @clarewilkening Herringware, beautiful “stacking tableware” by Clare Wilkening, whose ceramics are about “marine and terrestrial ecosystems” and homage to the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Salish People. The bowl was a brilliant Christmas gift from daughter Ella, a long-time friend of Clare’s.
Check out the Happy Monk being interviewed on (@madbaker)Mark Dyck’s Rise Up Podcast ... wherever you get your podcasts! Scintillating conversation for baking nerds and wood-fired oven enthusiasts!
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#baking #bakingpodcast #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbaking #cobovens #breadbaking #breadmaker #bakery #bakinglife #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaker #penderisland #southpenderisland #penderislandbc #podcast
@earth.oven
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 16, 2020 - Happy Monk Blog: Time to Hang Up the Baker's Peel for 2020; Baker's Choice: Fruit Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
Instead of “figgy pudding,” I made some Figgy Bread! Fig and a hint of Fennel. Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as figgy pudding, but it tastes better! (Thus the red carpet threatment!)
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#figbread #figgybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
Salish Country Loaves tumbling out of Mildrith, the wood-fired oven this morning. There are a few extras, so if you’re interested, I’ll be at Medicine Beach until 2pm today (Friday, Dec. 11)!
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#woodfired #woodfiredoven #coboven #Mildrith #Mildriththeoven #woodfiredovenbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #breadporn #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 11, 2020 - Baker's Choice this week: Fig and Fennel Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: Praise the Rain! [ See link in profile ]
Volkornbrot casts a long shadow … getting bagged up for deliveries today. The aroma of 100% rye in the kitchen is otherworldly! I’m walking around in a trance.
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#volkornbrot #rye #ryebread #ryebreadlove #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
Oh yes I can see her! I often played a game with the kids , finding shapes in the mountains and the clouds . Because of this we called Mt. Curry ” sorry Mountain” wen we lived in Pemberton. It was always changing with the snow cover coming and going.