A Hairy Woodpecker finds the bugs below the bark on a fir tree.
The birds are singing, pretending its spring. Can they be fooled along with the rest of us?
+8 today.
The lake has shed the snow. If it freezes hard we could get in some more skating. That would be nice, but unlikely.
February and March can be deceiving. Warm, wind and bitter cold. In November you know it’s coming. March should be better. The cold, like everything in nature, hangs in there putting up the biggest fight right at the end. Passionately holding onto what keeps slipping between the fingers.
A wonderful weekend so far. Lisa and I went to school with Scarlett to hear her read. We were proud. The kids came over for supper. Willow barked and let on. Vocal she is.
Dave came over with a $100 bottle of wine to accompany us watching the sun go down. We drank it out of mason jars. I rustled up some cheese, meat and bread. We were like a couple of high breds.
There are worse deaths than bumping your head on the sky.
Lisa and I drove the loop around Lake Windermere, spotting Eagles and Deer.
Caught my boot. On an edge of ice. Damn near fell on my face. There is a spot where I’m running down the tracks. Naked. It still feels good. My balls hitting either side of my thighs. Figuring I should jump into the lake, not out of modesty, but because it is hot as hell.
The rare air jumping off the rocks or a bridge into moving water. The moon rising in daylight, blue on every range.
Running up on danger instead of hiding. Putting a face to the cold. Catching a moment that should be shared, knowing it is only mine, and will be gone once I open my eyes.
The cold sure makes the wood split easier. We used to throw the wet birch aside until a cold spell. Same as the twisted spruce.
The cold can be accompanied by a brilliant day, blue skies and defined mountains. That’s today for you. They don’t come around often. It’s best to put your face towards the sun and count your lucky stars.
Colour in the sky. The Milky Way will start rising in the coming months, first parallel to the the valley bottom, slowly turning straight up and down. Six satellites can be seen in this photo. It’s tough to get a photo without them showing up.
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.
Looking back towards the lights of town. The curve of the shoreline is due to the Space-Time Warp continuum. Just kidding! It is caused by sewing multiple images together to form a panorama.
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.
Watched the moon, still a crescent, go down with Jupiter. At one time, and for most of human history, the position of the stars and phase of the moon was of great importance, allowing us to plant and find our way.
It took a lot of common knowledge to get this far. Now humankind seems to care more about how we differ.
What was once a commonality, something to steer the ship, has been washed out and polluted with our own false sense of superiority.
***
When our girls were growing up, Lisa and I emphasized that they had to keep themselves safe. We told them everything from, don’t leave your drink, to stay with groups, and always trust your gut, among other things.
We tried to do it without scaring them. But the truth is the world is a tough place, especially for women.
***
I worked with a man who hated women. Every relationship he was in ended badly. He married and had kids and physically and emotionally abused them. He could be cheerful, even charming, but it would never last. He would be put off with a perceived slight or someone unresponsive to his advances.
Our girls were teenagers at the time. I remember thinking, this man was a predator looking for an opportunity. He may never have an opportunity and always stay on the side of the law, content on making the lives of the people closest to him hell, but given the opportunity he could wreak havoc on anyone unsuspecting.
He had a big influence on what we tried to impart on our two young daughters and keeping themselves safe.
***
The world is small that way. The dangers and beauty are always both right there.
A thin new moon appeared before dark. Later Venus and Saturn showed up. The tripod stayed put, I ratcheted the new camera up to 5000 ISO and shot it handheld. It’s grainy, the detail leaves a little to be desired, just to be able to do it is something.
The moon, Bison Horn or Witchcraft Symbol. It’s all good.
A skiff of snow, too little too plow, but enough to shovel. Later, it turned into a glorious day. If this keeps up, I may have to ask for a few days off. Nice winter days are the best days of the year and hard to come by.
A fine week behind us. The skies finally cleared and it was nice to get to see some blue skies. Lisa and I had some nice fires in the fireplace and went on a couple nice walks. Weekends are always the highlight.
The weekdays are good, I look for anything to make me laugh. Luckily I work with people that feel the same. It passes the time and makes some of the more difficult or trying work easier.
***
Last Tuesday, on the way to work, I thought I would go through the drive through at Tim Hortons and get a coffee. Early in the morning, off season, it shouldn’t be much of a wait. There was only one car ahead of me. I was in luck, I thought. Usually the line can be out of the parking lot.
He took awhile to order. When he was done I pulled up and saw he had ordered $101.64 worth of stuff! Of course, he was even longer at the pick-up window. The line up behind me was out of the parking lot. There was only one person in the car ahead. They had BC plates. Usually it’s the red and white ones causing grief. I was late for work when I am usually 15 minutes early. Tim Horton’s staff got him through and apologized for his actions, saying, with such a big order he should go in the front. I paid my $2.15 for my dark roast, black. I envisioned a School Board Employee, someone in management, buying a round of coffee, bacon and egger sandwiches and doughnuts for the early morning meeting, thinking everyone else in the world is on their lazy ass schedule.
What can you do, but laugh.
***
A rotten tooth above the gum line of the valley bottom.
The mountains have light around them. The colours are gray with blues, days getting longer, not in the morning yet, but in the evening. In January you take what you can get.
Tomorrow is Monday, I’ll get up and do it again. And if I don’t feel like it, I’ll remember how many times I didn’t feel like it, but did it anyway.
Palliser Pass 