Contact

The little float planes always draw my eyes. When I was a child on the remote west coast of Vancouver Island, they were our main connection to the nebulous "world outside". The planes brought the mail once a week; sometimes they carried people ("in" and "out", out being anywhere else). A visit from the old ship S. S. Princess Maquinna* brought our groceries and packages up from Vancouver three times a month; a couple of times, we hitched a ride into the big city on her; but the buzzing, hurrying little mail planes were our contact with our families scattered around the globe.

Those days are gone. I get my mail now at my desk, wirelessly beamed into this computer. Or it's on our phones; one in every pocket or purse, these days. We are connected, always.

But still the sight of a tiny float plane calls to me, speaking of a time gone by when we all lifted our heads at the sound of their approach; friends coming! News! Family letters! Contact!

I took these two photos at Tyee Spit last month.

On land, resting. Air Nootka Beaver.

Landing, Cessna Skywagon, Campbell River estuary.

*The S.S.Maquinna, known as “Old Faithful,” served the west coast from 1913 to 1952. Through west coast storms and fair seas, she arrived every ten days with passengers, mail and supplies from Victoria. (TofinoTime)