Stories, Excerpts, Backroads
Finally a clear night in what has been a mild, overcast winter. Willow and I took a quick trip behind Swansea, stopping to see Mom and Dad before returning home.
It was good to look up at the winter stars. I was surprised to see how far they have drifted west since the last time Willow and I were under them. Spring is inching forward.
There is nothing like a fine day of skating. And to enjoy it with grandchildren makes the day even more satisfying.
It has been a mild winter, excluding this past week of -30 Celsius temperatures.
The cooler temperatures have been welcomed by Lisa and I, as they have been accompanied by clear skies.
A friend with a solar panel system that keeps track of sun light recorded only 4 hours of sunshine in December. The rest of the time was overcast. That is not unusual here in the winter.
To see the sunshine and stars, that have moved considerably since the last time seen, has been a relief regardless of the chilly air.
Bright sunshine. I watched the sun come up from the river bottom at 9:28, and watched the sun go down at 3:39 from the woodpile. Very fine day when you get to stop and watch both.
A Very Merry Christmas to everyone.
There has been some snow the last five days. It is good to see. Most of my time has been spent on the end of the shovel or plowing the roads in a skid steer.
There are very few people under the age of 35 who like shovelling. Good neighbour Larry says, if there isn’t an app for it they don’t want to do it.
I’ve never minded it, like chopping wood it is good exercise.
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The District of Invermere (DOI) is off to a bad start with the roads downtown again. We had a wet snow that they neglected to plow so the streets are now rutted. You think they would have learned from last year as they were criticized in the local media and by citizens and tourists for the same situation.
I could care less if the streets are rutted. You would think, however, with the tax money they collect, the fleet of equipment and manpower DOI have at their disposal, that keeping the downtown streets plowed wouldn’t be that hard.
PS The last time I criticized DOI. A few Councillors and the Director of Planning accused me of writing rude anonymous Facebook posts critical of DOI council.
Writing anonymously is not my style. I wrote about the incident in this post: https://palliserpass.ca/2023/06/17/mid-june-2/
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The world is in a terrible time with two wars. It breaks my heart seeing what is going on in the Middle East. Canada and the US’s support of Israel’s profound disproportionate response to the October 7th Hamas attacks which were barbaric. And now, Palestinian women and children being killed by the thousands. It is sickening. I don’t understand how our government supports this. Are we watching a race of people being wiped out?
It was good to put the skates on, doubley great to be joined by Cooper and Kelsie even if they didn’t have their skates. Kelsie still thinks it is unsafe. Considering there is still open water not far from shore she is probably right. Still I insist that Lake Windermere has to be skated in November.
It seems, every year, the skates are further down to lace up and don’t seem to go as fast as the year before, regardless the ice still feels good.
Rob Dunn, who published The Valley Peak passed away last week. He had been battling serious health issues for several years. It still came as a shock to many of his friends and acquaintances. It seemed he had been on the doorstep quite a few times and always battled back. This time, unfortunately, it was not to be.
Rob’s paper, The Valley Peak resembled a coffee newspaper that you often find in cafes. Like a coffee news The Valley Peak contained jokes and ads, however, The Peak was much more. It was usually 8 pages printed on coloured bond paper, published weekly and widely distributed up and down the valley. But what really differentiated it from any other publication was that it contained a lot of Rob.
He promoted many worthwhile causes over the years. He set up a free food bin on one of Invermere’s streets for people in need. He espoused the benefit of gardening, fishing, cannabis use and roaming the outdoors. He often expressed his love for his hounds and the joy of being a dog owner. He and I shared a love of stargazing and that is what we often talked about, as we did when we met in the grocery store about a week before his passing.
Rob was also a self described conspiracy theorist. Since the start of Covid he dedicated part of The Peak to his thoughts on the disease, vaccinations and alternative medicine. He also tackled other subjects such as global warming, woke culture and government interference. He had plenty of followers that agreed with his stance and also many people who did not. Regardless, he always seemed to know where to draw the line as not to piss off too many people, especially advertisers that he had many of. I was always in awe of this skill. Perhaps it was because he was always good natured.
An often theme of his short column Robservations was to treat each other with respect and compassion even when we don’t feel like it or have different views. It is a good message.
It seems the Valley is losing its character and special characters. Rob certainly was a character without replacement. Lisa and I extend our condolences to his family and friends.
Happy stargazing Rob, wishing you clear skies and good fishing.
Lisa and I made a quick trip to Calgary on Friday. We didn’t have much time to look around. I was able to get to an Indigo bookstore for about 20 minutes. Always a treat for me.
This is what I have noticed about bookstores; it seems every time I go in them they have less books and more of everything else. The magazine section is all but nonexistent now as people now read on their phones or iPads where everything resembles a quick magazine read. Books, as well, are now consumed on line and read on a digital device. I am not there yet, and probably never will be, preferring instead to turn a paper page.
The extra space in the bookstore is taken up with giftware. high end crystal stemware, placemats, picture frames, plush towels, yoga mats, serving platters, art supplies, toys that only an adult would find interesting, games and health and beauty products, Including a little gadget called, The Firefighter Vibrator. It had a ‘Smile Maker’ extra 20% OFF sign beside it and promised ‘strong and focused stimulation of the clitoris’. THIS in the bookstore where they no longer carry newspapers! I guess it is for the women who wants more than to curl up with a good book.
Damn I’m getting old.
Palliser Pass 