When we arrived back in Qualicum Beach a couple of weeks ago, we had a rather large
gift waiting for us which I
immediately named it the "
Beast" because it was so
enormous. Our lot is
80 feet wide and the Beast
more than
covered the
width of our
yard. It measured over
90 feet
long and has a
6 foot
diameter down towards its
massive root ball. In the next photo, you can see just how
close the Beast is to our
yard.
A
year ago, this
huge old
maple log landed
far out on the
beach in
front of us. Bruce figured it may have
floated all the way down
here from the
Fraser River.
You can get an
idea of just how
big the Beast is by looking at the next photo. That is
me sitting on the far
end of it
last year.
And this is our
nine year old
grandson standing on the huge
stump end of the Beast.
Last summer a storm
forced the Beast in
closer and it landed
down the beach from us, where it sat for a few
months.
Shortly before we headed
home this year, we had an
e-mail from the fellow who looks after our place while we are away. He
casually mentioned that
a
storm had just brought the big log back
up the beach and
dropped it right in
front of
our house, but we never
imagined we'd come home to find it
practically on our
doorstep.
After
living with the Beast for the past couple of weeks and
discovering that there's
no chance that it will
ever move again, I think I've
finally come to
terms with it. About
three feet of
sand and
gravel has
already built up between
us and the
Beast over the last
two weeks so it definitely
isn't going
anywhere!
This week we had a
faller come out and take off a
few of the Beast's really
rough edges.
He also cut about
10 feet off the log so now it sits
entirely in
front of
our propery. It took the faller
forever to cut
through even this
smaller part of the Beast because the
whole thing is
full of
sand and
gravel and it is
covered with
lots of
barnacles.
When the
Beast was
longer than the
width of our lot, I felt really
closed in, but I'm more
comfortable now that I can
walk right
out onto the
beach again.
A year ago, this huge old maple log landed far out on the beach in front of us. Bruce figured it may have floated all the way down here from the Fraser River.
You can get an idea of just how big the Beast is by looking at the next photo. That is me sitting on the far end of it last year.
And this is our nine year old grandson standing on the huge stump end of the Beast.
Last summer a storm forced the Beast in closer and it landed down the beach from us, where it sat for a few months.
Shortly before we headed home this year, we had an e-mail from the fellow who looks after our place while we are away. He casually mentioned that a storm had just brought the big log back up the beach and dropped it right in front of our house, but we never imagined we'd come home to find it practically on our doorstep.
After living with the Beast for the past couple of weeks and discovering that there's no chance that it will ever move again, I think I've finally come to terms with it. About three feet of sand and gravel has already built up between us and the Beast over the last two weeks so it definitely isn't going anywhere!
This week we had a faller come out and take off a few of the Beast's really rough edges.
He also cut about 10 feet off the log so now it sits entirely in front of our propery. It took the faller forever to cut through even this smaller part of the Beast because the whole thing is full of sand and gravel and it is covered with lots of barnacles. 
When the Beast was longer than the width of our lot, I felt really closed in, but I'm more comfortable now that I can walk right out onto the beach again. 