Swan Island and Beyond

Looking back in time, through the lens of memory, the distance has grown in years. Pictures reawaken the sense that the past still lives and guides us. Each view fills the puzzle of meaning. The view of Seymour Canal is one such view: a body of water contained by islands, mountain ranges, and coves. Crab fisherman and hunters have come here for a long time. Stan Price, the homesteader, once lived down on Pack Creek alone. People come here for different reasons; some to escape; others to stay a few weeks; a few to search their thoughts. The mystery is found in solitude; the turning inwards to strange dreams or awakenings. But up here in the high country, the panorama of discovery lays bare the terrain of the inland areas and the hilly,inscrutable islands. Swan Island, at the entrance to Swan Cove, is a difficult place to hunt; filled with muskeg area, berrybrush, and steep ravines. And brown bears can be found there too. The sense of height is not found on the island; only rough, rolling terrain, and steep slopes of timber. The southern end is meadow land, flat up to the north and west side hills. The deer can hide very easily here, but to me that is the challenge. Beyond are other islands,other adventures,other things in the picture I have not seen.