Stories, Excerpts, Backroads
The souls came out and flew sideways, flattening out, then through me. They are hard to avoid. My Mother always said, don’t be afraid of them.
Here I am in the bush dodging souls, flying fast, like bats coming out of the night, when I can’t even see my hand in front of my face.
Willow says, hang in there.
They take my breath with them. Someday I’ll ask for it back.
Willow and I were up early with hope that the skies were clear. To our delight the stars were shining. So off to the other side of Swansea for dark skies to try and catch a glimpse of Comet 2022 E3 ZTF.
I couldn’t find it with my naked eye but was hopeful the camera could pick it up. I knew roughly where it should be located among the stars and pointed the camera in that direction.
Comet 2022 E3 ZTF has passed around the sun and is nearing its closest distance to Earth. The last time the comet passed near the sun was 50,000 years ago.
Sure enough, once home and the pictures downloaded I was able to locate the Comet, but it is very dim. I am not sure if I could be able to spot it with my eye alone. However, I stand a better chance now that I know exactly where to look.
It was nice to be out looking at the stars after, what seems, like a long stretch of overcast skies.
Driving through town the other day, I saw Mrs. Peters walking. I pulled over and thanked her for what her and her husband meant to Lisa and I and our family.
Ron and Elizabeth Peters owned and operated the movie theatre in Invermere. Toby Theatre was the hub of downtown. Its big neon sign and movie posters in glass cases mounted on the exterior were a constant pleasure for every kid and adult while growing up in the Valley.
Inside was a thing of beauty. Snack bar with the best popcorn and cold fountain drinks (I was once addicted to the Cherry, it froze my throat and gave me a headache if I drank it fast enough, and I always did), the aquarium in the lobby, the model planes flying high off to the side as not to interfere with the projected light from the film, and the films were always good.
That was our entertainment growing up. I went to every movie. If it was restricted, my Mom would write me a note saying it was ok to let me in. I saw bare breasts and gore. Mom and Dad were probably happy I was out of their hair. I saw True Grit with John Wayne, during the 70’s, countless times.
Toby Theatre showed films. Sometimes the films were not new releases, like you see in theatres today. Sometimes they were older, but always great.
Ron and Elizabeth didn’t put up with rowdy or rude customers, this was also their home after all. They invited you in, you toed the line and it was wonderful to see movies on a big screen.
My children were lucky enough to go there before The Toby shut down. They loved it as much as us.
By then they had also started renting VHS and DVD movies. We would often send the kids down to rent a movie on Friday nights. We would also tell them to pick us up some popcorn as well.
Small town theatres like Ron and Elizabeth’s don’t exist anymore. Back then it was an escape, an oasis in a place lacking in the kind of magic it provided.
Things are different now. I could watch any film shown at the Toby’s 45 year history on my phone. But it’s not the same.
They call what has happened gentrification, or progress.
After talking to Elizabeth on the street. Telling her what a wonderful place they had, how it meant so much to us, we bid farewell. I turned and was walking, thinking she may not remember me, I have a grey beard after all, when she said, give my best to Lisa, Kelsie, Madison and Hunter.
Photos of Kelsie taken at The Toby Theatre.
This happened before Christmas, I was voted by the people I work with as Employee of the Year. It was presented at the Christmas Party I didn’t go to.
The resort I work at is staffed by wonderful people. Any one of my co-workers would have been a good pick, so I am especially honoured and a little bit embarrassed.
It is nice to work at a place that everyone cares about the job they are doing. The job isn’t easy. That is a tip of the hat to management that instills pride into their workers. I am fortunate to work with a great group of people.
I used to work at the School District, great pay, unbelievable government union benefits, large defined pensions and the most lazy unhappy workers you could find anywhere in Canada. Promoting the worst of the worst into management has had a great deal to do with the apathy and incompetence found in these positions. It is sad, especially for the workers who strive to do their best.
Today, I got on the radio and asked for help carrying a hide-a-bed up a flight of stairs, four people answered offering help. If that was the School District it would have been crickets until they decided to contract it out to a moving company. My job is much simpler with everyone pulling in the same direction.
My co-workers are mostly young. They don’t have pensions in their future or high wages, they may never own a house, yet they are Johnny on the spot, doing their best. It is incredible to watch and they put me to shame.
Extra grey today. Woke up to fog. Our Grandkids stayed with us last night so everything seemed bright.
Later we walked in the bush looking for birds. They could be heard everywhere, Seeing them was harder. Lisa can tell how far away they are by their song, I don’t know how she does it, but she is right almost always. My ear just hears them, I can’t tell distance.
Lisa said I taught her how to see animals in the bush, you look for shapes and lines that don’t fit. I learned to do it hunting with my father. My eyes are starting to go, fortunately I can still see lines that bend amongst the trees.
I dreamt I was at the old house the other day. My father said, go in and turn the outside light on. The switch was in a hallway my mother made into a darkroom. As soon as I walked in I smelled the photographic chemicals. They had been left out in the trays. Dektol, stop, fix and hypo. They smelled like they needed to be changed. You can get some interesting results from old chemicals, my mother used to say.
When I told Lisa about my dream she was surprised I could smell in my dreams. She said I must be thinking of my Mom. I think about her often, especially as I get to the age my parents were when I knew them them best.
Now Lisa and I walk and drive some of the trails looking for birds, just like my parents did. The truth is birdwatching can really sneak up on you.
It felt like spring today. The only thing cold was my feet from being damp. Cut and split firewood. Nothing makes a body feel better. Willow and Lola ran hither and yon. They both got wet and muddy.
The snow melted, got heavy and fell off the trees. For the first time in months, Lisa and I could see deep into the bush, past thousand branch trickery and white out simplicity. No sense, walking off trail, it’s still deep, the warmth making the going heavy. It wouldn’t be long my old legs would be stuck like a long legged moose after a week long mountain blizzard. My only advantage is there is no hungry wolves following close. Perhaps I’m just too blind to know. Regardless, at this stage of the game it’s best to stay on the beaten path.
That doesn’t mean you can’t be cantankerous, obstinate, disagreeable and ornery. The only rule: as long as it’s not towards the ones you love.
It has warmed up in the past week, we have even had some soggy above freezing temperatures. I am still trying to get used to the new camera. I don’t shoot as quick as I could with the old Nikon. On our walk the other day I missed two coyotes passing on the trail in front of us, later I put the camera to my eye to capture two deer drinking water at the river, and before I could focus they were gone. The two Whitetail Deer would have made a good photo. Oh well.
The skies have been clouded over for the past month. Once they clear I will be giving the camera a go at capturing some star photos. With luck it would be nice to get a photo of Comet 2022 E3 ZTF. Even if it is not visible to the eye, it is possible the camera may pick it up.
Things have settled down. The kids have returned home. It was great to have them all out.
The excitement has dispersed into the realization of another year with plenty of challenges.
CBC keeps letting us know that things will get worse before they get better. Inflation will continue to rise along with interest rates. It is inevitable as countries try to lower carbon emissions. Of course, it will hit the poorest hardest.
Our staff at the resort is down to a skeletal crew as flu and Covid takes its toll. Everyone’s happiness just before Christmas is long gone, as the work load gets shared between fewer.
Our neighbours to the east keep flowing into the valley, unrelenting, big trucks, loud mufflers with trailers hauling ski-doos.
“Where are you sledding?” I ask
“Up Forster Creek” they say.
Forster Creek is a swamp of snowmobiles in the winter.
“Can you get up as high as Thunderwater Lake?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“Shit ya” is the answer.
I remember when it took two days skiing to get there, with a night over in an old cabin, that was a godsend for its limited supplies and hopefully a few sticks to get the fire going. Back then the rule was to leave more than you used. If you drink the powdered soup, you leave a tin of beans and replace the wood in the morning.
Now it’s just a destination, something to be crossed off a list, while frightening every living thing within five miles in every direction with BRAPPP, BRAPPP, BRAPPP. To think we care about emissions or nature is a joke.
Meanwhile, I bluff, pretend, showing respect or recognition when none is warranted. I remind myself my opinion means nothing, it’s just part of the job to be nice.
***
This is not exactly a Happy New Year’s Greeting. It is hard to know what 2023 will bring. I wish everyone the ability and courage to be ready for anything. Fight back when you need to and embrace every happiness that comes your way.
It has been a whirlwind. We have had all of our kids out. They have some time off which is great. Kids and dogs have occupied our house, just like old times.
Work at the resort is busy. It has snowed quite a bit, lately we have had a melt which means ice.
My brother-in-law Kurt had a heart attack a few days ago and is in the hospital in Calgary. My sister Deb and I made the trip in. He seems good. He is in good shape and very strong. He will have to be on medication and eat only lettuce for awhile. It’s the shits, but better than the alternative.
I picked up a rack of lamb in Calgary for Lisa and I for our New Year’s Dinner. All the kids will be at parties. It will be just us and the dogs. We will probably be in bed by 9.
Wishing everyone the best this holiday season.
Spent most of the day cleaning the house. Lisa did the bulk of it. She doesn’t like knick knacks or clutter so cleaning goes pretty fast. I like doing the bathrooms, vacuuming, the easy stuff.
Lisa asked me to tidy up the basement. That’s where the bulk of my stuff is. Books, books, and more books, papers, journals, negatives, pictures, knives, sports equipment and old furniture.
There is no good reason to hang onto all that stuff. It is not valuable, it’s only worth something to me by the memories it evokes.
***
We also have plenty of supplies. Mason jars on a rack. Preserves from last summer that will be eaten up plenty this Christmas.
A full freezer bursting at the seems. CBC and Chrystia Freeland keep warning Canadians the economy, climate and world order are going to hell. Grocery prices are high and going higher.
I don’t know what to do, so I buy a piece of meat and put it away for when we are starving.
The way things are going we’ll have to buy another freezer.
***
Plenty out there waiting to get us. I wonder if we would be safer if I turned off the news.
***
The bank has been calling. They want to know what to do with the small amount of money in my pension plan earned while working for the government. It comes due every year. I usually turn it over at the lowest rate of return.
They tell me the money is going to be eaten away by inflation. I know what they are saying. They tell me it may as well be stuffed in a mattress.
They look at me like the fool I am, little do they know, my freezer of meat get’s more valuable every day.
***
Can you blame the youngsters for not wanting to contribute. It seems like a lost cause.
Unlike when we grew up, they don’t want material things, that’s been drummed out of them long ago; they will never afford it, they only want stability, a promise for a future that doesn’t involve endless war and environment destruction.
The shit is coming at them like driving 90 in a snowstorm. You either get blinded or hypnotized, it takes everything you have to keep it out of the ditch.
***
Still when it is all tallied, everyone on earth has done this, it’s been an experience.
***
Palliser Pass 