I MOVED TO WHAT WE CITY PEOPLE CALLED "THE COUNTRY" PREPARED TO CONTINUE MY EMPLOYMENT AS AN ARTISAN JEWELER

 

I WAS FULLY EQUIPPED TO START A JEWELRY MANUFACTURING BUSINESS WHEN I MOVED TO OTTER POINT IN 1980.

I had 12 boxes of inexpensive Gold Rings. Jewelry Retailers regularly purchased Jewelry like this for resale. I had hundreds of Silver rings and coins. Everything which was cheap commercial 10K Jewelry was ready to sell. I had the Gold and Silver to continue manufacturing and all of the equipment and a new Expensive Jewelry Line in Wax Models, Rubber Molds, and as Gold Prototypes. 

I owed $30,000 on the property in a time of excessively high interest rates. I had Thirty to Forty thousand dollars, (because the gold price was up), of gold and silver inventory to sell, and 500 ounces of Silver and 250 grams of Gold, which could kick start an enterprise where I would employ people or at least myself. Gold and silver had been inexpensive when I started to cast and sell jewelry. With the new high prices, I would have to possess gold and silver to start.

There was no other work available, logging was slowing down, there were only a few jobs in Sooke. 

When I arrived in Sooke BC, unbeknownst to me, the neighbors did not want to lose their ``LOGGER CULTURE`` and they did not want me `Yuppie`,  (young urban professional). No ``Yuppies`` were to be allowed to live here despite the fact that THE TREES WERE ALL GONE. The angry Rednecks had chopped down all the trees and drugged, drank and Trucked.

IRRATIONALLY THE REDNECKS WHO HAD LOST THEIR LUCRATIVE LOGGING JOBS BLAMED US THE NEWCOMERS.

I HAVE TRULY HAD A BELLYFUL OF DAMNED ETHNOCENTRIC DISCRIMINATION. I AM ALWAYS, IT SEEMS, A MINORITY OF ONE. 

MY INVENTORY WAS STOLEN, THE HOUSE WAS BURNT WITH MY FACTORY IN IT. I HAVE NOT YET RE-ESTABLISHED ANY JEWELRY MANUFACTURING AND SALES. I HAVE THE EQUIPMENT AGAIN BUT I AM SO CRIPPLED BY THE DAMNED ATTACKS OF THE UNDERCLASS INCLUDING POLICE THAT I CANNOT DO IT NOR CAN I DO MY ART, MY MUSIC AND MY VIDEOGRAPHY.

There was a wall of trees on the town side of my property between my property and the rest of the world. There were two homesteads farther up the dirt road. You could not even see my house from all but one of the redneck's houses which overlooked my house from a distance of about 700 feet.

THE FOREST AND THE MEADOW AT OTTER POINT IN NOVEMBER OF 1979

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Looking East around the side of the first house, the meadow looked much like this. It was a brilliant warm sunny day when I took possession of my first piece of land. The grass was long and soft and brown from the sun, stretching out to the top of the hill on the North and up to a  copse of Fir on the East. This field does not exist anymore, it was scooped up and trucked off to be sold by Ron Shambrooke. All the topsoil was taken.

Unbelievably a thin stream of water shot into the air where the well house is now and I thought there was City Water but it was a capped and taped up Artisan well that was squirting into the air. I can feel how thrilled I was