Stories, Excerpts, Backroads
Every season has its colours. The sky in spring is always interesting, where it can be minus twelve in the morning and plus twelve in the afternoon. That does things to the sky.
A brilliant full moon cutting through the clouds here and there. Big puffy orange clouds in the longer evenings.
This morning the moon went down later, a little more light, so I didn’t have to take the picture in the dark. The purple colour on the horizon drives me crazy with joy. Only in Spring.
Cold mornings. They can’t last into the afternoon, the sun is gaining power.
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.
The birds have been chattering. Going this way and that. It is nice to see.
Put in a good days work. Hoping for clear skies to see the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus on Wednesday.
A wonderful weekend. Cooper stayed over night at our place and Scarlett had her Home Tournament.
It is Scarlett’s first year playing hockey. She skates on one foot just like her brother did. She holds her stick with only one hand also. That makes being strong with the puck difficult. When on the ice during the game she tries to make friends with the other team, especially the girls. She also enjoys waving to her friends behind the glass in the stands. She follows the puck instead of going where the puck will go.
Scarlett had fun and was a favourite player of the fans. Lisa and I were very proud. To top it off she was awarded The Most Sportsmanlike Player on her team.
She was very happy.
Tonight’s, District of Invermere All Candidates By-Election Forum was well attended. The forum was hosted by the Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce and held at the Lion’s Hall. Most of the chairs were full with citizens over the age of fifty, in other words voters.
The candidates are vying for one councillor position. The general election was held in October, the Mayor and Councillors were acclaimed, so we had no forums and didn’t have to cast a ballot. After the election one of the newly acclaimed councillors stepped down before being sworn in, setting up this by-election.
Now four months later five candidates have thrown their hats in the ring. The first question at the forum was why didn’t they run in the general election.
This is not a post about where each candidate stands, or to dissect the question or answers posed and answered, but to give a feeling of the room and how each candidate faired.
I know three of the five candidates. I was happy to get a chance the forum allowed, to get to know the two other candidates.
Grant Kelly is a semi-retired businessman. I have had dealings with him over the years. All of our relations have been good. He has also volunteered for many boards and positions. I once saw him take bids at a fundraiser to shave his hair to raise money for a disabled citizen.
His answers were unconventional, asserting decisions are often made by consensus instead of how we may feel personally about a subject. When asked about the DOI supporting the Historical Museum, there was almost an audible gasp by the grey headed audience when he suggested the Museum should expand their hours and spruce things up to attract more visitors. Kelly is a realist who spoke truthfully during his answers.
Grey Bradatsch is a co-owner of a downtown art gallery. I dealt with him when I owned our print and newspaper businesses.
Bradatsch came across as decisive. He prefaced his answer to each question, ‘I am going to talk fast because I have a lot to say,’ and closed with, ‘if you like what you hear, tell your friends’. In between those two sayings wasn’t much other than him blowing his own horn. However, as previous elections have shown, there are many who like this style of politician.
Stephanie Stevens has lived her life in the valley. She has had many jobs. I know her best as a journalist for the now defunct newspaper, The Valley Echo, where she wrote passionately about many subjects, always taking the side of the underdog. A very fine writer.
If there was a winner, it was her, however that doesn’t mean much at these forums. Stevens spoke passionately throughout the forum, especially in her last two minutes, about having grown up, bringing her kids up and now grandkids in Invermere. She spoke about change she has seen. Unfortunately, if anything, being a long time local will not resonate and may even prove a detriment with the majority of residents who have come here within the past 10 years.
David Goldsmith, I did not know previous to this forum. He was measured in his response to the questions, citing fiscal responsibility and his history of doing so. He seemed nervous at first but gained steam throughout the forum.
He talked about his connection to the area, but at the end I wondered if he actually lived in Invermere. He did sound like a decent and qualified man for Councillor and one that may bring experience to Council. He was well liked by the over 50 crowd.
Juanita Violini I did not know, and still don’t. All of her answers were rehearsed, written and scripted. When stumbling she would go back to her main talking points. She introduced herself as a writer. That’s difficult, because writing and conversing are two totally different things, you can be bad at one or the other and still communicate. She wasn’t in her comfort zone and relied on writing that was good, but seemed out of place at times.
Dee Conklin, past Mayor of Radium Hot Springs and Chamber President did a great job of moderating the forum, giving the candidates extra time to think while injecting humour into the event.
The Chamber and Candidates should be commended for making themselves available and putting on an informative event.
Two pairs of Red Crossbills. They looked ragged and wouldn’t turn my way. They were busy working on their plumage. Getting ready for breeding, I suspect, wanting to look their best. The males already look like they are full of neon.
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Worked the stat today. It felt good making the extra money.
A busy week leading up to the first long weekend of the year. We have been fortunate not to have had to clear snow.
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Our son-in-law, Tom, broke his ankle. Lisa and I have been looking after Scarlett and Cooper while Tom and Kelsie waited in the city for surgery. After three days of waiting from 2pm to 10pm in the hospital, all gowned, prepped, fasting, no pain killers, not able to drink, spending the nights in a motel, Tom was called and had his surgery to pin his ankle back together. He is home resting.
Everyone says that’s the way our healthcare system works now. Wait and hope. Still better than most of the world.
I think we could do better. What Tom went through is bullshit. Because it is ‘the way it is now’ doesn’t make it better. Six days after it was broken he had it fixed. It is lucky they didn’t have to rebreak it.
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The kids have been great. It’s been a long time since we have had to get kids ready and get them off to school. It takes energy and time. My boss has been very understanding considering it is busy.
One of the things I like about being just a regular employee is management doesn’t expect you to be as committed to the ‘job’ as, they have to be.
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Coming home after work. I was cut off by one of our neighbours/tourists from the next province, narrowly avoiding an accident. Later, I was tailgated by another, before they blew by me, a Mercedes SUV, one license plate, in a hurry to have fun.
It is the first long weekend of the year and I’m already sick of them.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Lisa and I chased the moon this morning. Anticipating angles where it would set over Nelson. Willow seemed happiest. We didn’t quite get it perfect in the picture. Good enough.
We watched Cooper play a hockey game. He tried hard and got two goals. We were very proud. He was very happy.
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The days are longer. The birds are reappearing. The sun felt good straight on the face today. Kelsie said, Something stinks, is that Dad? I always deny it.
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It won’t be long and the garden will need turning over.
Palliser Pass 