It's rare these days to get a snail-mail letter. E-mail is so easy that we simply don't write. Except, of course, for the few Luddites who continue to do things the old way.
Like this letter I got from one of them the other day, a friend who once lived in South Delta - and left his heart here when he moved elsewhere.
Dear Dunc:
I've been meaning to write for weeks, make that months. But it's summertime, and who wants to do anything at this time of year. Why am I writing? Easy answer. What the heck's going on with my old South Delta neighbourhood?
Mostly I'm out of touch, but I still get the Optimist up here, and I must say that in recent times the messages I'm getting have often made me a bit of a pessimist about the future of South Delta.
When I left Ladner, there was a clear understanding that Delta is farm country. The sign said: "Ours to preserve by hand and heart." I remember thinking: "If that's the mission statement for Delta, you'll be in good shape forever. With key words like preserve, hand and heart, you've set a high standard, a precise course for the way you want to go." It gave me a lot of comfort.
By world standards of immensity, Delta's agricultural endeavours are not that big. Blueberries, spuds, peas, beans, mixtures of all three and a bit more - grown in some of the best soil in the world. That's the important part!
But now, as I'm reading it, South Delta's farming heritage is being overrun roughshod by all kinds of stuff that has nothing to do with Delta or agriculture. Roads and highways that lead to an ever-expanding port, to developments that maybe help the trade-transportation-shipping process, but gobble up farmland and make a lie of the preservation by hand and heart promise that Delta made for itself.
Somewhere along the line, shortsighted bureaucrats and politicians in the provincial and federal governments said let's do all of this stuff in Delta, never minding that the power lines, roads and port all seem to be for the benefit of someone else. And all Delta has been saying is, "We know it's a mess, but hey, it's progress, and surely progress is good."
One day, if you're not careful, Delta will look skyward and the migrating birds won't be there, your treasured herons will be looking elsewhere for homes, the quiet of the countryside will be shattered year-round by a cacophony of industrial noise. Guaranteed.
What's the solution to all of this? I don't really know, Dunc, but preservation by hand and heart certainly demands that something be done. Or it's a big, fat lie.
Lou
Award-winning freelance writer Duncan Holmes has been a Tsawwassen resident for six years. He claims to be a pretty good amateur chef and his writing over the years has been mostly about food.
