HATFIELD SUNSET
There’s something about a still lake at sunset that soothes the very soul. And somehow, a simple canoe resting in the mirror golden calm appropriately completes the serene composition. The light and nature’s stage speak of tranquility and peace. Such are the things that dreams and memories are made of.
My son Bryson and I had spent a great day of fishing on Vaseux Lake in the summer of 2022. We’d caught sufficient fish for a great shore supper back at camp. And now the canoe framed a scene that would become a photograph, and ultimately a painting. As a matter of interest, I’d cleaned our catch right there on the rocks beside the canoe. We’d left the remains of the fish visible and evident on the shoreline. The next morning as we paddled by, not a remnant remained. We’d not been the only ones to enjoy the bounty of our previous day’s fishing. Eagles, osprey, otters and who can guess what other wildlife had feasted on a fresh fish charcuterie board.
Any time with Bryson is so special to me. Our canoeing and fishing on Vaseux Lake that day had been a perfect stage to enjoy our all too infrequent experiences together. The scene had caught Bryson’s eye just before we shoved off for our return trip to camp. Like me, he’d recognized not only the beauty, but the significance of where we were with each other. Like me, he knew that the dramatic setting we’d found ourselves in at that moment would be a touchstone memory for both of us – for all time. Stopping at the northern tip of Hatfield Island is a place in time we’ll remember forever, particularly since I gifted the original painting to Bryson almost the moment I completed it.
That time and memory is ours evermore. That evening we’d stopped to clean the fish on the rocky point in the warm, intense glow of the close of a perfect day together belongs to us. Like some matching tattoos on our very spirits, that intense, golden evening will always come back when we share this image, the image I call “Hatfield Sunset”.