Love and feminine charm play strong here, displaying the keen observational eye of the beholder, and his appreciation of what he sees. The coffee shop is the setting for Coffee Rings, the stains left on the table top by his cup the only tangible evidence of her love lost. Air Canada is a humorous insight into a world where fliught ettendants wear cardigans. But hidden beneath the forbidding exterior lies the aching memory of what might have been. Green Lake is unsettling. The love is shared, but as he leaves each day for the city, there's always the nagging worry over whether he'll return. Also includes Cache Creek, Waiting, Vancouver Girl.
It can often take an outsider's eyes to see what locals take for granted. And whilst Jim Graham has been around Whistler too long to be truly regarded as anything other than a part of the community, he provides a fresh outlook on the everyday. His fondness for places and people - McGillivray and Pemberton are just two examples - shines through, and his conversation with a young bear cub is touching in Hush-a-Bye. Even his complaint about the noise Blaster Jack makes as he navigates the railroad's bends at 4 am are made with a cheerful acceptance that it's what folks do round here. Also includes Osoyoos, Lost Lake, Fitzsimmons, Squamish, Ambleside, Last Boat from McGillivray.
Skiing is what Whistler is about, and it's what brought Jim Graham here. His love of exploring the virgin snow exposes him to places and situations which stir his creative mind. In Brandywine, the joy at being on the mountains is evident. While Whistler Kids is a touching tale of shared time with a youngster on a chair lift as they head for the ski runs. There's a zest for life captured in every line, and his enthusiasm leaps from the page in Brandywine as the awe of the scenery and the silence of the great outdoors impresses. And yet he has the courage to own up to moments of fear in Ice, offering up a silent prayer that performance can match the brave expectations of the mind.
Whistler presents a different face for each season, as time exerts power over the landscape. The child in us all is exposed in Snowtime, a conversation with the drifting flakes, expressing wonderment at the transformation of sky and land. Springtime welcomes the change of season like an old friend, feeling the warmth of new life spread through the body, and thanking God for the miracle. Kitsilano Summer moves the action to the ocean, though it's too hot for much in the way of action. There's almost a silent, sullen resentment that the pace of life has slowed. Yet Autumn betrays a nervousness about change, uncertainty of the need to fall in love once more with the impending winter.
In this section, we take time out from Whistler to do some travelling in distance and time. And sometimes in the mind. For firstly, in There's Always Paris, the world's most romantic city is a lure, providing the mind with a focus to help it through the legalities of a stifling, troublesome problem. Touchdown relives the pleasure of arrival back home, and the friendly welcome from Canadian officialdom, at least once the realisation dawns that the visitor is a kindred spirit. Nancy is a different kind of spirit; one that is all-pervading. Her reality is never revealed, but you sense that, unlike Johnny Mercer's Laura, Nancy is real. Silver Boys completes with a historical view of the 20th Century.
Just when we thought the coffee had run out, along comes the server with a second cup. And if anything, the strength of the brew and its quality are even better. Rucksack Girl exposes Jim Graham's observational imagination once more, and he builds a reality around the cyclist in search of love. A different kind of woman inhabits Birkenhead River. But this is no Lorelei, instead displaying a relaxed confidence about the abilities of her inner self. Also includes Cougar, Rain, Granville Ferry, Harmony Creek, Whistler Bus, Stealth, Darcy Elegy, Hi Doll!, I Will Help You Fly, In the Small Things, Winter Farewell.
