Why Did the Yahoo Cross the Road?

I mentioned in my last post the tourists seem to be doing crazier things. On the weekend Lisa and I saw something that made me write that.

Last Sunday we went to go for a walk in the bush. Once we started walking we heard gunshots very close to where we were. The shots were close together and continual, with no breaks too unload and they just kept going.

They were coming from above us at an old mine. People have practiced shooting there in the past until the mining company put a berm to keep people out.

We decided to turn back in case they decided to start firing below them where we were. We went back to the truck.

I wanted to continue up the road to the old mine just to see what these yahoos were doing. I make Lisa nervous at times because she knows what I can be like.

A short drive and we came upon about seven men. They were on one side of the road with their trucks, leaning on tailgates and over box walls. There was a skeet throwing machine on the other side of the road launching skeets above the berm, where they each took turns firing, explaining the reason there was no time between shots to reload.

The road they were shooting across was a bush road, but a busy one, especially on weekends as there is several popular hiking trails further along the road.

When I was a youngster my father and I used to hunt. While driving to our hunting areas we would often come across wild chicken (grouse) along the side of the backroads. When I say backroads I mean not nearly as busy as the one Lisa and I were on last weekend. Occasionally back then Dad would stop the vehicle and let me get out to shoot a chicken for mulligan stew. The rule was, you never shot across the road under any circumstance. Because it was the law. Even though we were probably the only vehicle on that road in the past week, we didn’t do it. Plenty of chicken got away because I had to cross the road to raise my rifle.

When these tourist yahoos saw us they stopped shooting, a fat bastard, looking annoyed, walked out and tried waving us through.

To go through would have meant driving by seven dip shits holding loaded shotguns at window level. Now, they may have been the safest guys in the world with tons of firearm experience, however I doubt it. They didn’t seem to know you don’t shoot across a road. Regardless, I am not driving, walking or flying in front of someone with a loaded gun no matter who they are.

Plenty of people would have had to drive by them, however.

We turned around. I wanted to have a word with them, Lisa talked me out of it. I could tell she was scared how that might go. She was right of course. Arguing with tourists while they have guns in their hands, especially right wing Albertans who figure it’s their God given right to do anything they want, is never good policy.

When I relayed our experience to a friend, they said we should have reported them. The reason I didn’t was it would have done no good. Law enforcement, I believe, turns a blind eye to tourists breaking the law, unless it is something extreme. A bunch of tourists shooting skeets would have not even registered, the RCMP members might have even joined in shooting with them.

A few years ago the Province of BC implemented a law that if you are going 40 KMS over the speed limit your vehicle would be impounded.

The RCMP patrolled the highway through Kootenay National Park and caught one after another. They had several tow trucks there to take the vehicles to impound. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Cripes, what an uproar, our local politicians went on CBC radio to say this was no way to treat the Calgarians coming to the valley to spend their hard earned money.

The patrols stopped, I never hear of anyone, from then on ever after, having their vehicle impounded.

During the summer, each day, coming home from work, I am passed continually by folks in red and white plates, plenty going 40 over the posted speed limit.

I also see plenty of RCMP on the road. Sometimes they have someone pulled over and it is always a vehicle with BC plates.

I believe they don’t bother with the tourists to keep the local politicians at bay. As everyone says, we need their money.

A bunch of yahoos with guns shooting at clay pigeons is the last of their worries. For Lisa and I, we have to find different places to go.

The joys of living in a tourist trap.

Late August

Darker mornings. Cooler and it feels good. Been rearranging the wood pile to make sure last years wood gets burned first.

Good to get out mid week and walk up the mountains.

There is still a lot of tourists doing dumb things. Lisa and I ran into a bunch today. They can’t help it. They have been told they can’t do the things they have been doing for years due to Covid, and the recent forest fires.

It is a free for all now. Just look at the news.

Tourists, especially from Alberta, have taken a stand and, damned and determined, hell or high-water, regardless of right or wrong are going to do as they damn well please. They have been held back long enough. Unfortunately, they exercise it on vacation.

I mention Alberta, but it’s the same everywhere in cities. Too many people too close to each other with the only thing in common is buying shit.

If you live here you see it. Even the part time workers can’t wait to get away come September.

It’s a different world. One where you can’t believe the news, reliable sources have become sketchy pushing an agenda.

Everyone has bought in, taking from what they want to believe. Forgetting there is only one truth and importance, helping.

Quick Break

Jack, Kennedy (back), Payton (front), Isobel and Emmett.

A week or so ago we planned a hike. Many of the youngsters at work get Wednesday off. They are hard workers and their days off are valuable.

We departed at 8am and made it to the trail head by 9:30. On the trip was Jack, Payton, Kennedy, Isobel and Emmett. Emmett missed out on the last hike and it was good to have him along.

Along also was Dave and his son Jake.

Dave is a great guide pointing out plants, animals and geological formations. He can also talk while climbing, while I gasp for breath. Very handy while hiking with people more than half your age.

We walked the trail through low cloud, studying flora and fauna, paying attention to the mushrooms that had popped up through the forest floor. A bonus from the recent rain.

Once on top we headed for the small lake and basin beyond.

Everyone enjoyed looking for fossils, exploring the rock banks, slides and large boulders.

Isobel holds fossils trapped in the shale while getting acquainted with a local resident.

On the way back. We dashed to the summit overlooking the two valleys. It was smoke and dark clouds to the east and spots of sunshine to the west.

Food was the main topic on the trail back to the truck. What they liked and ‘have you ever had?’ I just tried to keep my footing while my stomach started growling.

Kennedy who never met a rock wall she didn’t want to climb.

A lot of smiles, throughout the day, knowing the next time we saw each other it was going to be about work.

Mountains have a way to bring people together.

Very fine walk.

Hope

The smoke has returned. We have had several wind storms that have caused the local fires to flare up. The Horsethief Fire has caused Panorama Resort and surrounding homes to be put back on evacuation alert. Still we are better off than many parts of BC and the Yukon where cities have, started, or been evacuated.

***

Last week during the Perseid Meteor Shower the skies were free of smoke. Shortly after smoke rolled back in. Lisa is finding it hard to breath.

***

The valley bottom, including the town of Invermere, historically was grasslands. Due to fire suppression and development it is now mostly trees, shrubs and buildings. Drought has become commonplace. The trees and underbrush is dryer by the year. It will burn again as it previously has done even without the added effects of climate change. We won’t be able to prevent it.

+++

Meanwhile the tourists continue to travel here and can be found at every back country lake, on every gravel road and on every smoke filled patio. Recreating, hard, like everything is fine. I don’t understand. Maybe they are trying, like Jim Morrison said, ‘To get their kicks in before the whole shithouse goes up in flames’. It doesn’t encourage me to hold out hope for where we are heading.

Falling Star, Jupiter, Pleiades.

A Perseid just misses Jupiter. Pleiades rises first, soon to be following are the winter stars. Orion comes up in dawn, before long it will rule the early dark skies. They will bring calm and quiet that seems sorely missing right now.

Perseids

After an evening nap Willow and I headed for the bush. We got out walked here and there, getting our bearings. It’s been awhile since we have been out at night looking skyward.

We were lucky to see several Perseid Meteors. Lucky as well to get a few pics.

Perseus, The Andromeda Galaxy and Cassiopea. The meteors didn’t cooperate for this photo. If I had’ve slipped into that creek Willow would have ran through bush and thicket down the mountain, following me to the Columbia River.

It was clear and the moon, waning into a thin crescent, stayed down until mid morning.

Hounds Tooth, The Milky Way and a bright Perseid.

We saw deer, an owl, porcupine and rabbits. Luckily Willow didn’t see the porcupines.

The second picture of the night captured a long Perseid Meteor.

I can’t see in the dark like I used to. If I was younger I’d give tonight another go. I don’t think last night was the peak.

We were out of the mountains and at work on time at 5:30 am. Willow slept in the truck.

A very fine night.

Luck

Hoping for clear skies. I will be heading into the bush shortly to spend the night looking for Perseids, with plans to go straight to work in the morning. It should be a short day. I’ll be bushed and Willow will have to hang out at work for awhile.

The moon is close to new so won’t come up until about 4am so won’t be a problem. As long as the clouds and smoke can hold off it could be good viewing.

Judging the peak can be a crap shoot, I’ve been lucky and not so on occasion. The trick is being out where you have the best chance of seeing them. I compare it to fishing. You never catch anything if you don’t put a hook in the water. The truth is, catching them is only a part of the fun.

***

Pulled some of the garlic today. It is Russian Red hardneck and looks good. Big bulbs that take up almost my entire palm.

The grasshoppers wanted no part of them. They were planted last October and had to be dislodged with a pitch fork and thoroughly shook to dislodge the soil.

Now I have to figure out what will be seed and what we can eat. Good gardeners say to save the biggest heads for seed.

It was a good year for garlic, despite the challenges the garden endured.

In the end, like most things, it comes down to luck. All you have to do is show up and put a line in the water.

take the duck

I’ve made a terrible mistake. In the spring when the grasshoppers were eating the garden I started planting things that they didn’t seem interested in. They ate every carrot so I didn’t replant them figuring it was pointless. The grasshoppers left the small zucchini plants alone. So I planted more of them. Now I am overrun with yellow, green and patty pan zucchinis.

It has become impossible to manage. I can’t give them away. A small one today is a wooper tomorrow. I’ve made a terrible mistake!

***

The skies cleared last night. It’s the first time in weeks the mountains have made an appearance. It lifted everyones mood.

***

It is busy at the resort. Everyone is frazzled. Moral is good. It is an amazing bunch of workers. Most are young adults from throughout the country. They are expected to work hard and without exception they all put in a full shift.

I have worked in places, including the government, that that wasn’t the case, and the people there were getting paid twice what these kids make.

***

A coworker showed me a photo they took of four woodpeckers in the same tree. Two woodpeckers in the same tree means a cold winter.

Wasps, this year, have been building nests under ground, that means a cold winter.

My good friend Scotty from the Secwe̓pemc First Nation used to say, it will be a cold winter because the white man has a big woodpile. Damn, we used to laugh.

Shit! My woodpile is over flowing.

It could be a cold winter.

Scotty, if you are listening, kick me in the nuts and take the duck!

Teller of Tails

Willow has been a pain in the arse lately, catching scents through the open windows at night. She does a low bark, woof, woof, not at her usual full volume.

She seems to do it as I am just falling asleep after getting up to pee. Her woof reminds me that she has our back and I also need a drink of water. While up I put her out. She sits on the step. Not getting down to pee or shit. She just watches.

I bring her in, and go back to bed. Before long it’s woof, woof, low, just enough to get my attention.

It could be ghosts she is nudging me about, spirits I can’t see, or a skunk outside the window. She has never been able to tell the difference between a mouse or cougar and treats them the same.

Still, I’m blind to both and appreciate assistance, regardless of annoyance.

Early August

Horsethief Fire. Taken in the evening by Lisa.

The valley bottom is thick with smoke. Plenty of fires burning. So far nothing threatening. Just a lot of smoke making it hard to breath for people with lung issues. Plenty of people walking around with masks.

Jimmy says he has to smoke a cigarette just to get some fresh air.

The Resort is busy, as is the valley, on the long weekend. I am on my fourteenth straight day and it will keep up for awhile.

We have been furnishing a house to be made into a BNB. Our job is to put together furniture made in China. It is amazing stuff. You start off with flat box with panels and a freezer bag of assorted hardware. When you open it up and take everything out all you can think is, FUCKKK! But somehow it all goes together. None of it is high quality. The wood is manufactured from sawdust and glue. The veneer has been printed on an inkjet printer and the vinyl fixed to the ‘wood’. It all fits in a flat box that can be stacked miles high in a shipping container. That’s some crafty engineering.

The garden is out in full force. The smoky air acts as a flat filter giving the same light to the bottom of the leaves as the top. It is like the plants are in a green house.

The youngsters at work, from the UK and Ontario, have their belongings in their vehicles just in case they have to make a run for it. They haven’t seen anything like this. I tell them, it is good to be prepared but not to panic. I don’t say it, but it can get a lot worse.

The Albertan tourists and second home owners keep flocking in like nothing is wrong. They bitch that the pool isn’t crystal clear, like they haven’t noticed burnt ash has been falling on it nightly.

It will keep up for awhile like it always does. August has become a bitch.

Palliser Pass

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Author: underswansea