Home sweet home! I arrived back safely from England late Friday night, and I feel refreshed after a good night’s sleep in my own bed. Spending the last week on the Isle of Wight gave me some interesting insights into island life that I hadn’t really considered before.
Welcome to week 40 of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a sustainable living tip for the week. Along with my reflection on island life, this week I look at rainbows, the history of Guy Fawkes Day, the potential of solar panels, and pumpkin disposal.
The Sunday Spark – Week 40
On my mind this week: The downside of island life
I spent the last week of my trip to England at my sister’s home on the Isle of Wight. There’s definitely a slower pace to island life. We observed that during our vacation on Vancouver Island this summer and I saw it again during my time on the Isle of Wight, which definitely has a more relaxed vibe than the rest of England.
Living in Ontario, far from the coast, I’ve always kind of fancied living on an island. The idea of being only a short drive from water at any time is appealing when you live thousands of kilometres from the sea. However, I saw a different side of island life this week when a major storm hit the south of England. Storm Ciarán battered the south coast and the English Channel with 100 mph winds and driving rain.
I was more than a little nervous Wednesday night as we heard the storm raging around us and watched the forecast for Thursday. Ferry services to and from the island were suspended, essentially cutting us off from the mainland. Making it to Heathrow for my flight home on Friday seemed at risk.
Thankfully, the worst of the storm passed overnight and ferry services to the Isle of Wight were reinstated on Thursday. The island saw power outages, flooding, and road closures but things could have been worse. The tiny Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey were not so lucky, with widespread property damage, and ferries to the mainland suspended until early next week.
I came to the conclusion that island life is great if you never need to leave. Even my sister, who moved to the Isle of Wight after she retired, is reconsidering island life after our experience this week.
I’ll leave you with some pictures of my time on the Isle of Wight.
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- It was wonderful to spend a week with my sister, who I had not seen in nine years. I’m especially grateful that my 90-year-old mum did so well on the trip. She really is a marvel.
- My travels back to Toronto from London went smoothly with only a minor delay at Heathrow.
- It rained every single day while I was in England, which resulted in some beautiful rainbows! I didn’t find the pot of gold though.
Three things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
Colours are reversed on a secondary rainbow
As we were having lunch one day this week, we were treated to a spectacular sight—a double rainbow. I have never noticed that the colours on the secondary rainbow are reversed from the primary rainbow. Roy G. Biv, meet Vib G. Yor!
We also saw another rainbow as we left the Isle of Wight on Friday morning, and another greeted us on arrival at Heathrow.
The history of Guy Fawkes Day
November 5 is Guy Fawkes Day in England, also known as bonfire night. As a kid, I recall bonfires and fireworks to commemorate the day Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the house of parliament in London and kill the king. This week, I learned a little of the history of Guy Fawkes Day. Guy Fawkes was not the leader of the Gunpowder Plot. Robert Catesby led the 13-person expedition—a protest against increasing oppression of Roman Catholics in England.
The great potential of solar panels
Solar panels seem to be popping up all over the place these days. Solar energy is the Earth’s most plentiful source of energy with over 173,000 terawatts hitting the earth every second. That is ten thousand times the amount of power humanity uses in a day.
Although we often consider them a modern innovation, the first solar panels were invented in New York in 1883 by Charles Fritts.
Visit Earth911 to learn more about the history of solar power and its potential for the future.
Sustainable living tip: Pumpkin disposal
Halloween is over, so you may have a pumpkin or two that you need to dispose of. After roasting your pumpkin seeds, don’t just toss your jack-o-lanterns in the regular waste. Instead, consider composting them or putting them in your food waste bin.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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Thank you for sharing! Your trip sounds amazing and full of rainbow! Island life is great until the weather turns sour, taking the ferry is ok if the waters are calm.
We are eating our pumpkins (I used pie pumpkins) after Halloween, wash the pumpkin cut in half, scoop out the seeds for roasting if you are inclined. Place the cut side down on a parchment paper and roast in a 375⁰F oven for about 30-40minutes. Test with a toothpick, let it cool, scoop out the pumpkin into a freezer containers or ziplock bags. One pie pumpkin makes one pie, muffins or bread.
Or donate to a farm, goats, pigs and other animals enjoy this special treat!
Yes, the waters were calm for our sailing on Friday but I wouldn’t have wanted to see how rough they were during the storm.
The downside of being away for Halloween was no roasted pumpkin seeds. 🙁
It is a shame you witnessed the storm which is probably another result of climate change. The pictures look great though.
Yes, and I saw so much flooding on my travels down from York to the island. Scary stuff.
The photographs are so beautiful. One particular photograph definitely picked my curiosity – the dining area at Osborne House. In the background, I could see the carvings and curved shape interiors are like some of the Indian temples have. Upon searching on Google, I indeed found out that it’s called the Queen Victoria’s Durbar Room which was designed by eminent Punjabi Sikh architect and designer Bhai Ram Singh.
You have a very keen eye, Ranjana! There were a lot of Indian influences at Osborne House, especially in that room.
What an interesting commentary on island life, Michelle. I’m so glad you are home safely. And the double rainbow thing? Wow, mind blown. Thank you!
Thanks Wynne. It never occurred to me that I could miss my flight because I was stuck on the island. If the storm had hit 24 hours later, I would still be figuring out how to get home.
The double rainbow was fascinating. I had never seen one so bright so I didn’t know the colours were reversed.
The island experience sounded like a scary one for you. I come from a country that is two islands – but nowhere as small as the isle of wright! Take care now. Glad you are home safe.
Thank you. I was grateful when I heard the ferries were running again.
Beautiful photos Michelle, thank you! Having just been in Seattle not long ago you are probably aware of the various islands we have here throughout our Puget Sound and all services by ferries. That transportation system is constantly in peril from many sources, not just weather which can usually be managed fairly well. Our islands are beautiful places but I would pause before deciding to live on one.
So glad you had a good visit!
Thanks, Deb. When we were on Vancouver Island in the summer, we took a day trip to Salt Spring Island. It is beautiful but I would feel very cut off living on any of the gulf islands. As the old saying goes, “Nice place to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there.”
It’s funny but I always forget I live on an island
There are islands and then there are islands if you know what I mean. Some islands have bridges that connect them to the mainland. I think I’d be more comfortable with that than one where you’re totally dependent on ships and planes.
Completely agree till I was some dystopian escape from Manhattan movie…
Ha ha. There are times when being cutoff from “civilization” would be a good thing.
😉
I’m glad you made it home safely, Michelle! Sounds like a harrowing storm…but the photos? Be still my heart. Thank you for taking us along. Stunningly beautiful pics from the Isle of Wight. Wow. 🥰
Thanks Vicki. It definitely is a beautiful place. I’d love to go back in the summer sometime.
Oh…I bet! ☀️🥰☀️xo!
Wow! That was a huge storm that you experienced on Wight! I guess (due to climate change) more and more of us will be dealing with these challenges… I just saw photos of flooding in Tuscany on the morning news! I am glad your trip went well overall and that you are back home, safe and sound. And what a lot of rainbows you saw!!!
Yes, it was scary and definitely a sign of our changing weather patterns. The storm was headed for Europe and was intensifying. Scary stuff! The rainbows were a definite highlight of the trip.
The rainbow on the Isle of Wight is stunning! I guess that the storms you went through were the same we experienced here in Brussels some days later. Wind was blowing at 120/hour!
Yes, the rainbows were stunning. I’ve never seen so many rainbows in such a short period of time. It was the same storm system. Scary!