Cal's Journal

The borderlands of Turkey and Syria: It began with a distant rumble, then all hell broke loose. The ground moved and buildings swung, then collapsed. All through the region, structures shattered from years of civil war fell in a heap of rubble. People fell under the rubble and died. It didn’t matter, friend or foe—Syrian or Turk. Death was everywhere. And from under the rubble, they could hear the cries. The lost and the trapped plead for help. Help that Read more

Monday musings from my blog. It was a Monday thirty-five months ago when the world changed.  A change that has had far-reaching consequences, consequences we still don’t know the end of. Will we ever? Yes, Covid19 came along and put a wrench into our lives. But the changes have been so much more. And so much worse than anyone could have imagined. Were these changes because of covid or have they merely been sped up and exasperated by the pandemic?  Read more

Big Boarder was up early. Barrman got his text at 8:15 At Ridge see you at the chair. Barrman left his condo and skied to the bottom of the hill. Blue sky enveloped the alpine, the gleaming sun lit the mountain air. There was fresh snow on the ground and sunshine above. It was a day skiers dream about. At the lift, a line was forming. Barrman went to the ridge side, got in line, and waited for his buddy. He Read more

The Bank of Canada announced an interest rate hike – again. When will the madness end? They claim that making things cost more will stop rising inflation. I may not be a genius but that seems backasswards. I guess they think that people will stop spending if they keep upping the cost of borrowing money.  Yet the ones with the money don’t care. And those who are struggling to make ends meet are the ones who hurt the most.  What Read more

What a strange and wild day it was. On January 20, 2023, almost four thousand people had to make it through a night without all the conveniences of the modern world. The power went out and they had to make do without T.V. and the internet. Many people had no heat. In some cases, they had no water, no lights, and worst of all, they had very few ways to cook a meal.  Yet everyone survived. People made it through Read more

It was another day in a winter paradise. We were on our way to go for first tracks when everything stopped. I was opening the garage door and it stopped. My honey was coming out the door when the lights stopped working.  It all just came to a crashing halt. The power was out. Little did we know that the power would be out all day. We thought just another minor inconvenience. For my wife and me, it was just Read more

To My Daughter; Seventeen years. Seventeen years are gone in an instant. They have been wonderful years. You have changed so much and yet remain my little girl. You will always be my little girl even when you are grown up and left the nest. January 12, 2023, you turned seventeen years old. Holy wow, what a beautiful, strange trip it’s been. And it has only just begun.  I look forward to many more birthdays and graduations, more celebrations. But Read more

Barrman and Big Boarder looked into the abyss. At least it seemed like an abyss. All they could see was white. The only other thing they could see was each other. They were at the top of the mountain and the sky touched the ground. It was white and it was surreal. They felt a sense of vertigo as they stood listening to the sound of the T-bar spinning behind them. They could make out shapes and figures and they Read more

Barrman and Kaydee woke up and began their day at their mountain home. They hoped to look outside and see a fresh layer of snow. Barrman poured himself a coffee and Baileys and Kaydee went to the window.  She looked out outside and smiled, “a small dusting of snow. It’s better than nothing.” “Fresh turns on snow let’s go, go, go.” Barrman buzzed around the condo. He felt the excitement build. Fresh snow was better than no snow. It didn’t Read more