February 5 2021

Blue sky and sunshine filled the valley in the morning as I stood atop the tallest building towering over Kelowna. I looked over the scene in front of me in awe. We were putting a swing stage on the building for the glazer and I stood and stared at the snow-covered mountains lit up by gleaming sunshine. In the mirror of the lake, you could see the reflection of paradise. It was like a painting by an inspired artist; the artist of our wonderful world and all of creation. I had to shake myself from my reverie and focus on the task at hand.

In an ironic twist in life, I am now an employee for someone who worked for me cleaning windows in Calgary twenty-five years ago. Adding to the irony I hired another old friend and co-worker that was there back in those days to help me. Life can be like that I guess; circular and filled with connections.

When I stood at the edge of the roof of One Water Street I embraced the view in front of me. I looked longingly at the crystal waters and felt like a day on the water seeking a lake lunker would be a far better way to spend my day.

Alas, money is what the world runs on. I need to make some; retirement is still not within my grasp.

I am torn between the need to work and the need to write. For now, I will balance out and do both.  One day I plan to make money from my writing.

One Water Street is a thirty-six-floor high-rise condo building in the downtown core of Kelowna. They are pushing hard for completion. The final touches require a stage on the exterior of the building. We were there to rig in a work platform on the outside of the massive building overlooking the Okanagan waters.

It was an interesting time working on a construction site during Covid. Some people on the site take it very seriously and are strict about maintaining proper social distance. I also see the other side where workers don’t keep their masks up and ignore physical distance rules. I keep to myself and am very conscious of my personal space. It’s all very weird. The strangest is the elevator; max two people on at a time, it makes for a long line in the morning.

It was good to connect with my friend Don. We have spent many years as coworkers and friends cleaning some of the biggest buildings in Kelowna and Calgary. Now we were together again hanging a stage on the side of the biggest tower in Kelowna. It felt like a pretty cool connection with our past and our youth. Both wiser, we agreed that being the boss was not all it was cracked up to be. It was good to let someone else be that guy.

I sat across from my old and dear friend. Yes, we both may feel old. But in reality, we still have lots of life left to live. We both have aches and pains that remind us of our mortality.

I was reminded that some things never change. It was nice to know that a connection with my friend is something that hasn’t changed after all these years. We soaked in the sunshine of a beautiful sunny February day in the Okanagan.  We shared a beer and a toast to better days ahead and good old days once lived. Most important was the moment we shared in that time and place in the Coronaverse.