Submitted by Brad Inglis
Well the chicken barbecue is behind us and the number of those to thank is countless. It has been a wonderful example of how adaptable we can be as a human race when the world is turned upside down.
Businesses have found new ways to operate, new businesses have actually taken a risk and opened up, and are thriving. The Hungry Hiker and Sweet Water Bay are two examples of locals expanding our dining options with attention to detail, excellent food and beautiful local faces rolling out the meals.
By the time you read this, we will have had our last Parsonage Garden Party. Thanks to Bob and Gill Zarnke I have been blessed with the most wonderful place to live for the past nine years.
I had always wanted a full sun garden and I got it. I only mowed the lawn once and someone else did that for me and then I set upon creating a garden that sings of people I have known. Too many to actually name here but let’s just say, it is wild and woolly and tough like many of the contributors. Hosta’s from our own Joni Regan, double hollyhocks from Cora and Marina Wyonch (and wild feathery poppies earlier in the spring), tall pink elegant hollyhocks from Shirley Clark’s garden that towered over. Shirley made it to every one of our garden parties over the years and she will be missed this year, but her flowers have a home. There is Lucifer’s tongue from a little farm in Fergus and a rose bush from Guelph that was hacked out of the ground, bare rooted and yet it thrives here and flowers all summer here. Bloom where you are planted…isn’t that what it says somewhere?
This whole peninsula reminds me of a wild garden where seeds are planted, we strive for perfection, do the homework and yet even with the best planning, wonderful and unexpected surprises pop up everywhere. Folks learn to carve out a living, those in need are quietly and respectfully served, new initiatives from places like the Meeting Place get tweaked to meet our uniqueness, creative ideas for the tennis court make it a gathering place for those eager souls who love to chase a ball and the Legion remains a touch stone for national pride but also service and support on a local level.
I even know of a local paper that brings a peninsula together, adapts for the times, keeps folks beyond the peninsula engaged and challenges us to be aware of local issues and successes, regardless of our opinions.
Although the world has just finished being glued to the TV watching the Olympics, a new kind of Olympics is playing out here in Tobermory – it’s called, ‘watch Peacock’s emerge from the ground up’! Daily events like watching the earth being moved, a foundation being marked, a parking lot being defined, mechanics being laid, all will draw huge crowds and traffic jams as people slow down to see the progress. These are exciting times.
Not everything we plant takes root in the ruggedness of this peninsula but for the hearty and tenacious, those willing to take risks and be patient – what develops is quite amazing and sometimes unexpected. This is a place to continually recreate ourselves, do some self-reflection, improvise and try old things in new ways. We are a place of creativity and openness, each blooming in many different ways.
Brad Inglis is the minister at Tobermory United Church. He can be reached at binglis2@me.com
www.tobermoryunited.ca
