Arrowsmith

       One of the exciting things about going down untraveled roads and byways, places you've never ventured into before is what surprises might await you. A constant surprise to me is that there are far more houses tucked away in quiet seclusion than I would have imagined.
      I wonder how is it that so many people can manage,  financially, to live so far from the larger cities, or even from the smaller towns? Do none of them work in either the city or the town they’re near, or do they work at home? Of course a lot of home businesses have sprung up because of the wide reach of the Internet, it being so easily accessable. What? Farming?  Sure, makes sense, but next to so many houses?  A number of them do have fairly large plots of land, but looking closely, very few appear to be into the tilling of the soil. And then again, are all these people retired? This thought is brought on by the size of some of those dwellings,  and no children's climbing gym on a knoll, or an old tire swinging from a sagging limb. There are certainly a great many people to whom a long commute is preferable to living in the city, or a suburb. Could be true of our country cousins as well. (Hmm, I could handle that. Yep, could!). Well, I’ll just keep wondering I guess, being there are seldom answers available for nosey folk like myself who are just passing through. Anyway, that’s me, I like to think about things like that.  (Wow! A Forrest Gump moment there!). 
     So, here we are, traveling up a byway hill which promises to lead us to a golf course we've been wondering about for years, and there’s a dead end up ahead. There’s a what? No way!  
     Hang on to that for a moment, if you don’t mind, I must digress to tell a little story. 
     An Afrikaans phrase equivalent to our “Dead End” or “No Exit” sign placed before a cul de sac in North America, is “Strat Loops Dood.” It's literal translation is Street Walks Dead. When I lived in South Africa I could never keep a smile off my face whenever I turned into a street that warned me it was a "Dead street walking!" 
      Fortunately our road, though it does appear to come to an end does not walk dead, for a well marked sign indicates we now turn left. So left it is, and a moment later arrive at our long awaited destination, Arrowsmith Golf Course and Country Club!   
     Boy! Has it, or has it not, gone out of it's way to welcome us with a view to die for.

     I will expound my own narrative on the beauty of this mountain top golf course soon enough, but in the meantime here's a short descriptive passage from the brochure supplied by the course itself -  in which all information required is freely available. 

"The scenic beauty, manicured fairways, majestic trees, along with the awe-inspiring backdrop of famous Mt. Arrowsmith, combine to make a round of golf at Arrowsmith a memorable experience."
                                                                                                 Mt. Arrowsmith – A. Dorst

     Now one would think that nothing more need be said, and I concur, but I must add a few extras. How could one go to this beautiful mountain top golf course and say only that it is a lovely place, most enjoyable. Enjoyable? Keep that delicious lurch you felt all to yourself and act ho-hum calm as you spoke of where you'd been? I guess you could, but it would be most unkind to the keepers of these greens, and I do mean greens. The grass, a luxurious velvet carpet, cosies around the many stately trees, several sand bunkers, three most artfully set out lakes, and a paved continuous cart path which winds around and through the entire course. I could imagine what effect such a vista would have on a true blue golfer. The green of the course seen against the snow covered mountains across from it would surely gladden their hearts, and have them longing to smack that little white ball many a thousand yards down the fairway.
     Oh, and a bit of statistic. Get this: "several miles of underground drainage pipe and scores of catch basins were installed to allow the course to drain quickly following heavy rains...........and have given Arrowsmith the reputation of being a true "year round" golf course."
     What about that, no soggy grass and water filled bunkers? Isn't that when a grateful Aussie might say, "Good on ya, Sheila!"

     Okay, now on to lunch,  the true test for Janet and me. We've had quite a number of golf course lounge lunches, and have found many lacking. (We like a view at lunch time when we're out, if possible). So the litmus test was coming up.   
      Now, remember this is early March, above the 49th parallel, and the sun beaming down on us is warm, friendly, and bright, belying the fact that it is winter still, and not a late spring day sneaking in. We chose a table on the edge of the patio - above a long brick planter which was resting now, but would, no doubt, soon be bursting with masses of  spring flowers - and basked in the view, the sun and the soft fresh mountain air, while waiting for our server.
     A very busy waitress brought over menus, and asked if we cared for a drink. Both of us decided to stick to water, and delved into the menu.
     Surprise, surprise! Some very interesting items for a lunch menu. Hmm, this was a change from the usual, and was going to make deciding difficult. I kept glancing at dishes being brought to various tables; wooed by some of the items being served to other diners; wondering, “What’s that interesting dish  being placed on the table over there, and the one over there, see. My, that looks good, eh?”
     Finally, a decision. I beckoned the waitress as she tried to escape back into the lounge, laden with well cleaned plates. Signing she'd be right back, she vanished through the door, but true to her nod returned a moment later.
     Janet ordered Calamari, and I decided on a Vegetarian wrap. Janet is very partial to calamari, and knows she takes the chance she’ll be disappointed, but hope springing eternal etc., and with the excellence (believed) in foods being served to others she  trusted that her favorite would be presented ala perfect. Me, I really enjoy a  non-meat or fish lunch, preferring instead to stick to salads. Now, I can imagine you grimacing a bit and wondering why I would have a salad (a Wrap of all things!) type dish in this golf course lounge when I was obviously drooling over far more tempting items. Well, think of a better way to judge the food served. Salad dishes are usually blah lettuce, blah cucumber and blah tomato with maybe a few carrot scrapings sprinkled over the top, and lest I forget (I shudder), dried out gratings of beetroot. True? Yes?  Well, I decided to bravely submit to the test.
    What, ho! A chock-a-block goodies filled Wrap came to the table for me, and for Janet the Calamari she had  ordered, which looked delicious, and promised to be as she had hoped. The pleased expression on her face when she bit into a section said it all, it was exactly to her liking, and was savored to the last crumb or crisp tentacle. My wrap came with French Fries, which I usually exchange for a salad, but that would be a bit of a “coals to Newcastle” kind of a gesture because of the nature of my dish. Wondering whether the fries would pass muster I decided to have them and we’d share. What can I say? Yep, they were more than we expected. Hand cut, unpeeled, and cooked in what was obviously fresh vegetable oil, they were golden, bite perfect and  hot.
     No dessert, thank you. Neither of us are into noon time pastries and sweet things, but I did have an above average coffee to round off  a most surprising and delicious lunch. Congratulations to the chef and the management of Micky J’s. Yes, that’s the restaurant's moniker, and well worth a stop for a tasty bite if you’re traveling up or down Vancouver  island. Easy to get to from the inland highway or the ocean highway. 
     After letting our satisfying lunches settle down we had a stroll around the grounds, finding wherever our eyes roamed there was beauty. Mountains, topped with snow, and lush green beneath our feet; views along the course and through the trees that seemed to change each time we glanced along a new one. And there was the bear, carved out of the stump of an old cedar, that stands a few feet along the cart path which meanders like the yellow brick road through and around the course. A visit that had taken years to take place at no point disappointed. The journey home was traveled  in comfortable silence, our tummies happy, and our thoughts well occupied, putting  moments of the day into the scrap book of memories.

    I would like  to finish this post with a most beautiful piece of music. A part of the Adagietto  from Mahler’s 5th Symphony. I was a young man when I first heard it, and have loved it ever since. Many moments of my life are wrapped in it and stored in my mind. It comforts me to hear it’s melodic strains when lovely things take place, and troubled times invade. I thought a few minutes with this gentle but understanding piece would make a lovely end to a lovely day.