There are few places on Vancouver Island that remind me of the open vastness of flat space; of the Alberta prairies
where I was born and lived to the age of eight.
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This is Rathtrevor Beach near Parksville, BC. Sarah, my youngest daughter, is five years old here, in 2003.
We’ve come to spend a week in this unique landscape. Here, at high tide, the kids and I build a sand castle, using
flotsam and seaweed to best advantage. The ebb tide gives us miles of prairie-like flat, swept by unobstructed wind
and baked in the summer sun.
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With the flood tide, the ocean returns over the sand, creating a sort of shallow, saltwater bathtub. This is a revelation
for Charlotte, my oldest daughter, who at the time was eight. Charlotte has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair,
so to be able to crawl and swim with autonomy was at that point unknown for her. But in this warm, shallow water she
can, for the first time, crawl the beach and explore, without the risk of hypothermia. Dad crawls after her from behind,
just out of sight, so she can think that she’s alone and experiencing a genuine adventure ... which she is. Unfortunately,
Dad can’t just let her ‘free range’, as there are deepish spots, and occasionally she finds one. There is no reverse in
Charlotte’s gear box.   Mark Heine