Stories, Excerpts, Backroads
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.
November can be grey, typically not a lot of snow, however it is calm. A welcome relief. It hasn’t been cold, but a thin layer of ice is forming around the shore of Lake Windermere. The lakes in the mountains are frozen over. Not enough that the ice can be trusted. Soon we will be donning skates for a trip on the inner edges. Spectacular if the snow holds off.
Lisa and I were out scouting around. We picked out a Christmas tree. It is still too early to cut. I will come back in December. The walk will be much longer and tougher as there should be at least a foot or two of snow by then. The small tree will be harder to find covered in snow. Lisa said we should have brought a bright ribbon to tie around it. Since we didn’t have a ribbon I suggested she hang her panties off of it. She didn’t like that idea.
The next day we walked around an area of bush that had burned during summer. The underbrush having burned away made walking easy. Willow and Lola ran chasing rabbits and rodents. The dogs were out of luck with so many hiding places on the scorched earth. The roots of the trees catch fire and can burn for months leaving tunnels where the roots once ran. The trees blackened, but still sturdy will start falling in the brisk winds of spring. Many people have died from burnt trees falling on them.
The burnt mountain is eery but beautiful in its own way.
Our grandkids slept over Saturday night. We had a nice dinner and watched a movie. They were up early Sunday with energy I can only dream of. A very fine weekend.
The moon and Venus looked great today next to each other in the morning sky. I have read the moon occulted Venus in the Southern Hemisphere. That would have been something to see. I was off to work before it got lighter which may have made for a better photo. Regardless, the clouds rolled in as dawn advanced.
Lisa popped out this morning when she saw a few Bohemian Waxwings feasting on the frozen berries. These birds will gather in large flocks and strip the trees of berries in no time, even getting drunk on the fermented fruit. It’s something to see!
Fog, rain, snow. It’s a little bit of everything. I was hoping to get in one more hike into the mountains with the kids from work, but it doesn’t look good. Today brought soft wet snow in the high country. If the sun decides to shine and the temperature drops we still might get a chance. A few years ago I took out a young couple from Scotland in mid November. It was a brilliant clear cold day and they got to see some sites from the top of a snow blown ridge.
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Willow and I were out on Sunday driving the backroads. We managed to bring back a load of pine firewood. The roads were muck and very slippery, Lisa would have hated it. My father used to call those roads ‘gumbo’. I switched the beast into four-wheel drive and managed to keep it between the ditches.
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As I get older I wonder if I will succumb to the many conspiracy theories that are so prevalent and popular these days. I say this, because so many of my older friends have bought into the many out there.
I don’t spend much time on social media so I am not being bombarded with bullshit. Older people have more time with some of these platforms such as Facebook.
It’s possible that a good conspiracy is easier to believe than the truth. Conspiracy wraps things up nicely and also puts blame or vilifies an organization or government. God knows some are not trustworthy. However, let us not forget, they are mostly incompetent thus making them trustworthy in what they can and can’t actually pull off.
It is upsetting to see people who were once able and healthy skeptics believe nonsense. I think it is human nature to want to understand events. Unfortunately, many events, illnesses, etc are random.
I will use the moon for an example of randomness. From earth we only see one side of the moon, because it takes the same amount of time to orbit the earth as it does for it to spin on its axis. That is quite a coincidence. It also appears about the same size as the sun in the sky. It almost completely blocks the sun in a solar eclipse except for a thin outline. Yet the sun is massive and much further away. What a coincidence that just the right distance and size allows for this coupling. Are we to believe such random serendipity? The mathematical possibilities of these facts are, well, astronomical.
Or would it make more sense that the moon is projected onto the roof of the sky? And we are just living in a giant dome? And? And?
Although I am making fun here, it does bother me to see people who were once so sharp not able to see when they are being fed bullshit.
I will no doubt be there one day. One thing for sure, there is no shortage of bullshit in this world and people peddling it.
Chilly at -9°c this morning. The window scrapper I bought seems to work good. A skiff of snow here and there. Nasty roads going to work last Friday. Quite a few vehicles in the ditch. The first touch of winter can be that way with people learning how to drive icy roads again.
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British Columbia and Canada had a bad forest fire year in 2023. Locally we had several fires burning close by, however I have seen worse years. Still, it has been reported, BC had one of the worst years in history, if not the worst.
Smoke engulfed many American and Canadian cities making breathing difficult for residents. In our part of BC the smoke wasn’t too bad. I guess it depends on the winds. We have definitely had worse.
Here is a scary statistic; according to Natural Resources Canada forest fires caused triple the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere, then from all other sources in Canada, including the burning of oil and gas. Most would have come from BC.
Wildfires are considered a natural source and are not counted towards Canada’s emissions or climate targets.
In other words; Canadians could achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and we could still have run away global warming due to the forest burning and other natural disasters.
I also fear British Columbia Foresters could use these statistics to cut down every tree in BC. They are well on their way to doing it regardless.
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Considering these statistics, even if we were to stop burning oil tomorrow we had better figure out how we are going to live on a warming planet. It is beyond humans control now – if it ever really was in our control.
Planted 120 cloves of garlic and 64 daffodils. We had a good crop of garlic this summer and I saved the big heads to be used for seed. We have our fingers crossed for another good crop next year.
The garden is getting big for Lisa and I. Sometimes it’s tough to find homes for all the veggies it produces.
A few weeks ago I picked all of the green tomatoes and put them in the dark basement to ripen and ripen they did – all at once. We have made and canned sauce, salsa and tomato soup. Lisa has also dried plenty and has them stored for use.
We decided to put the remaining ones (7 beer flats worth) out on a table by the road with a FREE sign. Lisa also put a notice on Facebook group advertising free stuff.
Fifteen minutes later the tomatoes were gone. That Facebook is something else! We had people coming for hours after and turning around when they saw they were all gone. Lisa put up an updated notice on the Facebook post saying they were gone to save any others the trip.
We were glad to see them go. The garden took a beating from the grasshoppers but the tomatoes strived.
Other than kale and beats the garden is just about done for the year. Next week is calling for snow. We shall see.
Mt. Nelson Place is a 24/7 staffed residential home for adults with developmental disabilities. Lisa and I have known many of the residents since we were youngsters. My Mother Isabelle was on the board that used to manage the facility many years ago.
Over the years, Lisa and I have been asked to take pictures of the people who live at Mt. Nelson Place.
The residents are kind, gentle people. It is an exciting day for them with a beautician coming to their home to do their hair and get them ready for the portraits.
Lisa is exceptional at taking portraits, because she connects with people and makes them feel comfortable. She was the same when we used to photograph weddings and family events. I was always the 2nd shooter and my job was easy as the subjects were always at ease due to Lisa’s banter.
Isabelle, was also a wonderful photographer and she also had the knack of gaining people’s trust. So important when taking portraits.
The portraits of the residents will be sent to family and friends all over Canada and beyond. It is nice to be able to be part of this special project and always an honour to take photos of these wonderful people.
The quieter days, darker evenings and lower temperatures have been a relief from a busy summer that saw hordes of tourists; many of them rude and overbearing, also fires that raged nearby and long hours at work that seemed to get the better of me.
I feel tired and in need of quiet. This past week I have made a point of seeking solitude after work for at least a few hours. It is what I need and what I value right now. I have let being alone, walking in the bush or along the river escape me for many years now. It was something I used to do often and had done so since I was a child. I have always enjoyed being alone. This past week has reminded me how important it is to my sanity. During the day at work it is what I look forward to and it gets me through.
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I hiked on a trail last weekend that is maintained by, Summit Trail Makers Society. They maintain eleven popular hiking destinations by clearing the trails, putting up signage and publicizing the locations and themselves on social media.
The trails they have taken over were always popular, now however, due to increased awareness are incredibly busy with locals and especially tourists.
To hike one of these trails is the equivalent of playing a game of golf, either you are approaching another group or being overtaken by one. They do, however, serve a valuable purpose and the Society should be commended.
When The Village of Radium Hot Springs started to develop 2nd and 3rd homes for our Alberta neighbours, many of these dwellings were placed on a hill where the old drive-in theatre use to stand. To locals they were hideous abominations. An old-timer put it into perspective for me and made me accept it a little better. He said, “The Albertans and their city condos may as well be all grouped together overlooking the Radium sewer lagoons then spread throughout the valley.”
By the same token tourists may as well explore, The Summit Trail Maker locations en masse then be spread in every direction. Again, this is not a criticism of the Society or the people who frequent the trails. They are people who love nature and enjoy the sights and exercise these trails provide, however, what they do not value is solitude that the mountains can provide in an ever increasing busy world.
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Unfortunately now, the 2nd and 3rd vacation homes are not just overlooking the Radium sewer lagoons anymore. They make up the majority of real estate surrounding the lakes and can be found in every nook and cranny stretching from one end of the valley to the other. Soon it will be the same of the recreational enthusiasts, checking off the hikes they find on the internet.
For people who call the valley home; our sense of place, the place we love, where we have laughed and cried, where our children were born, will be stripped of flesh. Soon only scraps will remain.
It’s been a very fine few days off. Got plenty done, the garden is pretty much put to bed, got out in the bush looking at the ground, sky and everything in-between. It will be tough going back tomorrow, but it has to be done.
Palliser Pass 