Welcome to Wells
Greetings from the isolated hamlet of Wells, BC, a tight knit community of character(s) where Quesnel - 85 km away - is considered "the city" and where most residents' morning commute is a walk across the street.
I'm very thankful to say that I already love it here. After meeting numerous members of the community who each put their heart into keeping the town alive and well 365 days a year, I realized why it's the favourite town of many Katimavik participants and staff who are fortunate enough to spend time here. Wellsians are friendly, artistic, hard working and creative (and perhaps a little eccentric), and they take pride in ensuring our participants get as much out of their time here as possible. The weekly commute into Quesnel can best be characterized by guaranteed moose sightings in the evening (watch out for flailing legs as they trot akwardly along the highway) and alpine vistas complete with evergreen forests of red and green.
Up until as recently as two years ago, these forests were indeed all green (except for the brown patches of clearcut lying just on the other side of the trees that line the highway past Wells and into Barkerville). But in the past couple of years they've been ravaged by the Mountain Pine Beetle, and those vast tracts of green have been transformed into patchwork Christmas quilts of multicolour pine. Fortunately, a local friend whose step-father is a horse logger tells me, the forestry industry is finding ways to innovate and use the wood for commercial purposes despite its lower value. Apparently the red stains left by the beetles themselves lends an attractive dark hue to the finished wood, making it quite the desireable commodity in the furniture market. Not all is lost, but the beetle must still be dealt with - and fast.
It's debriefing weekend for each of the three projects in the Caribou cluster (Wells, Williams Lake and Quesnel), so a busy weekend of reflective activities and sad goodbyes is ahead. My group of new participants will arrive from Quebec sometime Wednesday evening, after which the fun will really begin (and the blogging may become less frequent...). Until then, I'll continue to settle into my new 'cozy' home across the street from the general store, the town pub and the local church and plan my first week of true immersion in Katimaworld.
I'm very thankful to say that I already love it here. After meeting numerous members of the community who each put their heart into keeping the town alive and well 365 days a year, I realized why it's the favourite town of many Katimavik participants and staff who are fortunate enough to spend time here. Wellsians are friendly, artistic, hard working and creative (and perhaps a little eccentric), and they take pride in ensuring our participants get as much out of their time here as possible. The weekly commute into Quesnel can best be characterized by guaranteed moose sightings in the evening (watch out for flailing legs as they trot akwardly along the highway) and alpine vistas complete with evergreen forests of red and green.
Up until as recently as two years ago, these forests were indeed all green (except for the brown patches of clearcut lying just on the other side of the trees that line the highway past Wells and into Barkerville). But in the past couple of years they've been ravaged by the Mountain Pine Beetle, and those vast tracts of green have been transformed into patchwork Christmas quilts of multicolour pine. Fortunately, a local friend whose step-father is a horse logger tells me, the forestry industry is finding ways to innovate and use the wood for commercial purposes despite its lower value. Apparently the red stains left by the beetles themselves lends an attractive dark hue to the finished wood, making it quite the desireable commodity in the furniture market. Not all is lost, but the beetle must still be dealt with - and fast.
It's debriefing weekend for each of the three projects in the Caribou cluster (Wells, Williams Lake and Quesnel), so a busy weekend of reflective activities and sad goodbyes is ahead. My group of new participants will arrive from Quebec sometime Wednesday evening, after which the fun will really begin (and the blogging may become less frequent...). Until then, I'll continue to settle into my new 'cozy' home across the street from the general store, the town pub and the local church and plan my first week of true immersion in Katimaworld.
posted by Per at 8:43 p.m.
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