Oct 2

My summer of strange possibilities extended into the fall. We had a booking with Luxury Lake Tours. I had a sunset cruise on an amazing autumn day, a day that kept summer holding on. Warm sunshine lit the sky and embraced me. I mounted my steel horse and ventured to the dock. Only the smoky haze of distant fires occupied a cloudless sky.

I cruised down Highway 97, resisting the urge to roll into the throttle. Traffic was light for three in the afternoon, reminding me of our shutdown world in April. I leaned my bike into the corners as I approached the bridge. Holding myself back and embracing the view, I felt excitement and anxiety as I crossed the Bennett Bridge into Kelowna. The lake was glass and the wind was still and silent.

Turning onto Pandosy I was reminded that we were definitely no longer in any lockdown. Traffic filled the road and my anxiety rose. The weather was amazing; would my Evinrude engine let me down again? I couldn’t stop myself from wondering, I hate it when I get hijacked by doubt.

I arrived at the Manteo and dismounted my trusty Honda ST1300. It was a short walk to the boat and the calm waters beyond.

Serendipity fired up right away and dared me to doubt her. Pulling up to the dock to pick up my guests, my spirits lifted. It was an amazing day, the coronaverse echoed in the distance.

I recognized the one guest when she introduced herself, we knew each from the bank. She was there with her inlaws, they were there to remember her husband and their son. He was taken from their lives far too soon. It felt like a fitting end to a turbulent year on the boat.

We left the dock and brought my craft out onto the glassy waters of Okanagan Lake. My octogenarian guests reveled in the beauty of my vessel and the wondrous fortune of the glorious day.

They proceeded to regale me with tales of Old Kelowna, tales of a simpler time. The mother-in-law grew up in the Okanagan, the place that owns her heart and her soul. She had lived in the valley in the 1940s and spoke of those times. They were times of rationing, days when you took what you got and enjoyed it. In those days it was a mere $300.00 for waterfront property. We laughed and agreed times have certainly changed.

We passed the lakeshore properties in the lower mission area of Kelowna and admired the estate homes that lined the water’s edge. Our sleepy valley of 1945 has grown into a mecca for many of the very wealthy people in Canada and from around the globe. I get asked many times where famous people live. Unlike Beverly Hills, there is no map of the waterfront homes of the rich and famous. It’s better to keep the mystery and admire the views.

I turned to cross the lake and was happy to see the calm waters in front of us. It was the big test, how would our repaired engine perform when I brought it up to speed. Effortlessly we accelerated and the bow rose to command the water. At an easy cruising speed of thirty-two miles per hour, the water skimmed by us and the cool breeze caressed us. Every-one felt invigorated with power and smiles filled the boat.

Slowly, we crossed back towards the Eldorado. The sun sank into the horizon; the cloudless sky was permeated by a smoky haze. As the sun dropped into the haze it turned a deep red and golden colour. My guests sat in the back of the boat and watched the end of a wonderful day on Okanagan Lake. I delayed our return and tried to stop time to soak in those last fleeting seconds of the sunset.

Mountain tops welcomed the setting sun. In the distance, we saw a bright reflection of red as the sun gleamed off the glass of a mansion on the hill above the lake. The temperatures dropped with the setting sun and we were reminded of the passing seasons.

Time is the most precious thing we have, the thing we tend to waste the most. We embraced time and our connection with it. They shared the moment and the memory of their lost loved one.

As we stopped at the dock and my guests disembarked, I was reminded that time stops for no one. Precious moments of time ticked on; I’m glad we stopped for those few seconds and breathed in the glory of a setting sun.