Stories, Excerpts, Backroads
Plenty of rain but it won’t be enough. God nows where the falling rain goes. Here we are at the headwaters with Stripped Turtles, Herons, Fossils, Native Fish, where not much changes. Sure we can bitch, compared to the rest of humanity we have it better. Who am I not to enjoy it.
A very nice walk this morning with Kelsie, Cooper and Scarlett. Lisa and I are lucky to have them along. Willow and Lola ran through the creek and fetched rocks and sticks. Lisa and Scarlett brought back pussy willows.
My father used to say, ‘Horns make poor soup.’ It was a way of saying, while hunting, to choose an animal, not by the size of the antlers, but how it will taste when it is on the table.
Willow thinks the horns taste just fine thank you!
Put some of the seedlings in bigger pots. They looked half dead and pissed off after I was finished, not much for starting plants inside.
***
Twitter labeled CBC “government funded media”. Which made me laugh. Of course they are. Most of their funding comes from the government. It doesn’t necessarily make the CBC bad. True the broadcaster endorses the Liberal Party agenda. But so what? I take heed when Chrystia Freeland tells us to buckle down and Justin Trudeau says everything is going swimmingly. There isn’t a news agency out there that is reporting without an agenda. That’s the way it is now. If you are seeking the truth, listen to a lot of news. The bullshit will come through. Of course it will be fucking exhausting and will leave you crosseyed, bewildered and, more than likely, worse off. I’ll take CBC any day, sometimes you have to settle for the least of the worst.
***
I think Orwell has me right. While the shit hits the fan. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I have a bunch of work to do. The work is going to make me happy, appliances fixed and running tickety boo. Grass mown. Looking good, for this time of year.
A couple inches of wet snow overnight. It will be gone in a hurry. It seems winter is trying to hang on.
Lisa and I went for a short walk behind the mountain. We were hoping to see a few Meadowlarks. Lisa said she heard their distinct call the other day. We did see Chickadees, Siskins and Robins. Not many got close enough for a picture.
Back in the valley bottom I walked the road, but still no luck, instead I shot a few old fence-lines.
All and all a overcast black and white day. It was good to get out even if briefly.
A good week, plenty of work completed, including starting on some upcoming projects and I was able to get out a few morning to take pictures. The new camera is still proving a challenge and will take more practice to get used to it.
***
The picture above is of a man who sets up off the highway on the Radium Hill. You have to admire his commitment as he has been there for about two months. He sets up each morning and takes down at night.
I’m not sure of his cause. Probably Covid and the vaccines, presenting his own demonstration, having missed the trucker debacle in Ottawa.
He has six large Canadian flags on both sides of the highway, all flying upside down, signifying distress.
I like to think someone does a wellness check on him once and awhile to make sure he isn’t getting the urge to hang grandpa’s 30-06 out the window.
The Fuck Trudeau flags are nothing new. We live beside Alberta, so we get our share of that hyperbole shoved in our faces from the most well-off, privileged, people in Canada.
My friend has a daughter entrenched in conspiracy theories. She believes them all. Especially about the government, forcing deadly vaccines on us for a made up pandemic, among many other theories, deep state, lizard people, you name it. It is a great sadness for my friend, because his daughter isolates herself and her kids, hiding behind walls, not visiting, as long as it has an internet connection.
But this is what I don’t understand; his daughter is on every kind of government assistance that is offered. If you hated the government wouldn’t you refuse the money? Don’t get me wrong, it is good they have help, but it must go against her strong convictions. Would it not be a red flag to question those convictions?
Which gets me back to the guy on the Radium Hill. He has been there for months now. He is either independently wealthy, or like my friends daughter, taking money from the very government he is protesting.
He is not hurting anybody flying his flags, but I can’t help but feel sorry for him.
***
On a lighter note. I bought Willow a new toy. It looked indestructible.
Eight minute later.
The District of Invermere bi-election is in the books. The results:
Took a couple good walks behind Swansea. Plenty of birds calling. Still they kept themselves hidden. They are wild after all. My camera could be a bazooka. The older I get the smarter I figure the animals are and the dumber the humans, mostly me, are.
A bit of sickness about. Scarlett, Cooper and Lisa are under the weather.
Lola joined Willow and I on our walks. She is a big puppy and minds Willow when she gets too close and gets the snarl.
Checked on the good neighbour. He is still hurting from the Polar Plunge. Drank too much, then cold and hot. It’s been two weeks. The older you get the longer it takes to recover. He perked up when he said, his body is probably protesting the lack of beer.
Got about four books on the go. Larry from
https://larrymuffinathome.wordpress.com
suggested Cicero’s, How to Grow Old. Dave picked it up for me, recently, in the City.
It is a good book. Not as long as it looks, because the left hand pages are in latin.
It suggests to accept diminished strength with grace and help youth whenever you can. I am only 70 pages in. Perhaps there will be a twist at the end.
To be on this earth comes down to luck. To live, watch birds, make love and scrub a dogs head is a gift.
Things ain’t all bad. It’s easy to forget we are lucky. Busier than a one-armed-paper-hanger-with-a-seven-year-itch. That’s what my Dad used to say.
Going to one job than another without properly sewing up the previous job. That’s how it feels. That’s when we forget things. Getting older doesn’t help.
***
The birds have been singing like they are getting serious. Moving among the trees, putting branches between them and the sky. Plenty of cold weather coming. It’s only mid Feb after all.
***
The northern lights came out last night. Green and red shooting straight up in the east. The big and little dipper, along with Polaris seemed unfazed.
***
The snow crunches when walked on. The long legged dog breaks through. The small hounds run on top. A herd, about eight, Whitetail Deer, rustled, and run. Hooves scarring the frozen earth with fresh tracks. The dogs, perk, but stay close. Thank Christ! I’m too old to chase after them.
It is not often the cold is too much for Willow and I. Perhaps it is that we aren’t used to it, it having been a mild winter.
We headed for the south end of the lake. It surprised me that it dipped to -31°c. I took a few pictures but wasn’t really into it, my hands freezing on the aluminum tripod legs. Willow whined when we stopped to take photos.
I spotted Comet E3 ZTF and took a photo, however not that interesting as I had to point the camera almost straight overhead. It would be nice to try to take a photo with the 200mm lens, but I would need a sky tracker.
A fog started to roll in hastening our departure. The last thing I wanted to do is depend on a compass to find our way off the lake.
A damn cold morning.
Palliser Pass 