Stories, Excerpts, Backroads
A great day for the Polar Bear Plunge. Everyone had a great time. It was Hunter, Eddie, and Scarlett’s first time plunging through the ice into the frigid waters of Lake Windermere.
The crowds and participants just keep getting bigger each year, and why not, it is great fun and quite invigorating.
Here are a few pics of The Walrus Water Society 2025.
The United States decided to throw the North American Free Trade Agreement out the window and impose tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods.
This could mean interesting and hard times ahead. The Canadian economy is very dependent on selling to the United States. Consider this a wake up call for Canada to expand its customer base. The question will be if we as citizens are prepared for the economic pain that may mean. We have had all our eggs in one basket for a long time.
It also may be advantageous for Canada to expand it’s own manufacturing of products. Something we have always been poor at, instead happy to export raw resources elsewhere to be processed.
Regardless, nothing is going to happen overnight, except, of course, the tariffs.
The Whitehouse says the tariffs are necessary in Canada due to fentanyl and people entering the United States through the northern border. Although the problem is minuscule compared to the southern border it doesn’t mean we can’t do better, and we will and have put in measures to do so.
The underlining truth is the White House may see tariffs as a way to pay down their massive deficit. Fentanyl and people entering the United States illegally probably has nothing to do with implementing tariffs. Just as weapons of mass destruction had nothing to do with Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld justifying invading Iraq.
Canadians may have to exercise our own, often understated yet proven, resilience and patriotism to weather the coming storm.
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AND speaking of the weather! Our mild winter continues. A bit of blowing snow. Swans in the wetlands seem early to arrive, maybe they are holdouts. The clouds continue to push down. It would be nice to see some blue sky this season.
The clouds lifted for part of the day and we had some blue skies. The Sun felt good.
Lisa and I went looking for birds and spotted a couple Bald Eagles that let me take their picture. We searched for an American Dipper but had no luck. We saw chickadees, hawks, ravens and flickers. They seemed as happy for the sun as we were.
Very strange winter. We have had plenty of snow, but temperatures have been unusual. We haven’t had any double digit minus temperatures. The lake doesn’t have enough ice to drive on yet. Many days throughout December have been above freezing.
2024 is in the books. It was a good year. Lisa and I will have to find a better work/life balance as we both worked plenty of hours with not many breaks. It is funny to think, turning 60 this year, and not having pensions, we only have another 10 years of work left to put a little away to ease us to the grave. I say this in jest as I wouldn’t want it any other way. In the past I had a taste of working for the government with the big bloated pensions they offer and it wasn’t for me.
Did a few hikes, but not as many as I would have liked. A few injuries caught up with me. Not surprising considering.
2024 had some incredible northern light displays as the sun reached a a solar maximum in it’s 11 year cycle. Lisa and I were lucky to spend several nights in the mountains under the spiking auroras. The auroras were so strong on one occasion that I was able to detect them when it was still light.
It would be nice to get some cold weather and blue skies, we are half way through winter for Christ’s sakes. Freeze some pipes, bring out the stars so bright you can hear them while all the ancient ghosts take your breath. Freeze the gas line, kill the battery, make the old truck crank and moan. Rosy the cheeks, remind us of all the bits we froze as they only hurt now in the cold. Telling us we can always light it all on fire if we really need to get warm.
The report said earth was in for a good solar storm and it didn’t disappoint. Willow and I headed for The Grotto on the west side of the valley. I had a good strong coffee and some jerky to get us through.
The aurora was noticeable before the sky got dark. We went all the way up the creek until the road ran out. I could have locked in the hubs and gone further, but it had been 50 km from the last person I’d seen and that would be quite a walk if I got stuck. I’m getting older and Lisa says I need to take less risks.
The northern lights came out, stayed out, danced and undulated from the glaciers to the heavens. An absolutely magical experience. I even caught Willow looking at the movement of the sky.
It should be noted the photos show more colour than can be seen with the naked eye. The shapes and greens can be easily seen. The magentas and reds show darker to the eye and not as vibrant. The cameras sensitive sensor picks up the extra colour.
The Northern Lights have really been dancing these past few nights. The solar storms are coming fast and furious while our sun goes through a very active cycle.
Last night they came out early enough for Lisa and I to go for a drive and take a few photos in the valley bottom. We sometimes disagree on what pictures to take. I have to admit Lisa is usually correct at picking locations.
The top photo is taken at the Dutch Creek Hoodoos. Although the camera is pointed north there is only a few wisp’s of aurora showing. They were much more active in other parts of the sky. Still I was very pleased with this photo.
The mushrooms below were taken a few days previous up above the creek on the mountain near cedar trees and Oregon Grape. We found plenty of edible mushrooms of different varieties. These are called Chicken Fried Mushrooms named for their cooked chicken smell and taste (no kidding).
Lisa’s eye is much better than mine, it seems, at finding mushrooms. It used to be me to find the mushrooms, orchids and spot the good fishing holes and coveted songbirds. Not so much anymore. However, I like to think I taught her everything she knows.
It has cooled off a bit, both temperature and tourist wise, thank God!
It is the mature tourist season, older without children. Some of my young coworkers call it, ’the newlywed and almost dead’ season.
It has been another trying year. The arrogance, rudeness and entitlement of the tourists seems to be getting worse, if that is possible. Quite a few youngsters who came to work in tourism decided it wasn’t for them and I can’t blame them. My advice is to put on an extra thick layer of skin armour. Skin armour is something that my daughter Maddy invented. You put on to get you through the rudeness that accompanies many work places. July and August it needs to be bullet proof.
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Another Provincial Election is upon us. The NDP against the new Conservative Party.
The old Conservatives caved in and formed the new Conservatives. Make no mistake they are the same bunch. What was once the Social Credit Party became the BC Liberal Party, then they became the BC United Party and finally they handed the keys to the BC Conservative Party.
Our MLA of Liberal/United persuasion heard the klang of a party in disarray, so took his new pension and added it to his other government pensions and called it a career.
Now we have a couple other opportunists lined up to take his place.
I can’t even express how little these cagey, scheming, cunning two-bit politicians to be do for me. Whew, say that four times fast.
Regardless, in this riding we are going to have a new one to deal with. The only question, not that it makes a bit of difference, will it be a Conservative or NDP, both retired teachers by the way. Both ready to add another generous defined government pension to their portfolio. It is tough to keep pigs from the trough.
***
These are the way things are. You have to put up with tourists and politicians. Sometimes you need damn good skin armour. What the hell. Regardless of it all, it’s good to see the coming frost, the ripe tomatoes daily, the empty back roads, salted mountains and golden tamaracks. That’s plenty.
Last Friday we had a severe wind storm. A nearby weather station clocked the winds at over 200km/hr, which is unheard of in this area. The mountains usually protect us from high winds. Not this time.
The storm was accompanied by rain and lightning. There were shingles flying off roofs, billboards knocked over, moored motor boats swamped and sunk (I guess it wasn’t all bad), trees uprooted, buildings damaged; basically shit scattered from asshole to tea kettle, everywhere, in every direction.
Luckily, as far as I know, no injuries were reported.
Power was knocked out throughout the valley. Most was restored within 12 hours, however BC Hydro is still working to get power to some areas.
We were lucky. Only a few branches to pick up around our place. Work was a different story, plenty to clean up there.
A funny story that reminded me of my Mom. Two young women, Bex and Molly, from the UK that I work with were surprised at how fast the storm hit.
Bex saw the lights flicker and said, ‘Molly get the kettle on!’ They didn’t want the power to go off in the middle of a bad storm without being able to make a cup of tea. The kettle boiled just in time before the power went off for the duration.
My Mother was the same way. No matter what was about to hit a cup of tea seemed to make things a little better.
I sure hope this kind of weather doesn’t become part of our new normal.
Interesting article in last weeks local newspaper. The District of Invermere and its Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) have ‘departed’.
Departed is an interesting choice of words. There is only two ways to depart a job; the CAO either quit or was fired. So which is it? As usual when it comes to local politics, no one is talking.
Since the District’s CAO is generally considered the leader of the ship and often the highest paid employee of the District one could argue citizens have a right to know. That doesn’t mean they get to know every detail, but they are entitled to a few answers, certainly more than offered.
Not specified in the article, but I was able to find out, was that the former CAO was paid severance. How much and why is covered by a non-disclosure agreement. There goes the citizens right to know.
I knew something was up when our Mayor was unable to be reached for comment for the newspaper article. Our Mayor revels in the sound of his own voice, and can be relied on, if for nothing else, to comment on all subjects whether he knows anything about them or not, which is more often the latter. The subject does have to be in his interest, however.
The District has a history of hiring some turkeys over the years that have cost the taxpayers dearly. To rid themselves, a handsome severance packages is often part of the cost.
I remember spending a trip to Cranbrook, an hour and a half drive away, with a former Director of Public Works for the District. By the time we were ten minutes out of town I knew the guy was full of shit and useless as tits on a bull. Yet somehow, he was apparently interviewed by numerous people and hired by the District, who then suffered through his employ for longer than they should have. He was finally given a generous severance package so they could ‘depart’ ways. Probably the best money the District spent on this employee.
Funny enough this man landed in another government position where he has been a thorn in their side ever since. Proof that government is a holding pen for many of the worst workers in Canada.
The point is, the District of Invermere and all government should be extra careful in their hiring practices as it is the taxpayer that shoulders the cost of enduring, and often ridding themselves of the ineptly acquired baggage.
Palliser Pass 