The fall weather has been some of the warmest I have seen in the Okanagan. Sunshine and record temperatures have blessed us, so it wasn’t surprising when the phone rang and the person on the other end of the line said they wanted to get out on the lake for a tour. Thanksgiving Monday and a family from Manitoba was excited to get on the lake and experience all the Okanagan had to offer. I received their payment and booked Read more
Sunshine bounced off Okanagan Lake like a light shining into a mirror. The gleam of the warm sun’s rays heated the water and warmed the air to record levels. It warmed the souls of the four friends as they glided across the silky waters. Barrman, Kaydee, Cookster, and Crispie embraced the 25-degree temperatures on a beautiful Thanksgiving afternoon. Fishing the surface they cruised toward Hardy Creek south of Peachland in hopes of a jiggle on the end of their line. Read more
Day 4 of my thirty-day challenge. 12000 steps, not bad for a fifty-two-year-old guy. That doesn’t include my workout at the gym. That’s right I went to the gym. My daughter has been going to the gym for the last six months and this day she wanted me to go with her. It felt really good connecting with my sixteen-year-old girl. At the gym of all places. She led me through her routine and we spent two hours trying out Read more
Today is the first day of the rest of my life. It is my last day as an employee. Strange how things work out in life. I have not enjoyed working for my employer since the new boss took over but I have done what I could to make it work. To say I have done my best would be a lie. I hate not doing my best. But in the end, life gives back what we put into it. Read more
Tim heard a buzzing inside his dream, a small rush of air fluttered by his cheek. There it was, that incessant buzz again. He peeled open his eyes and saw the little fly swoop over his nose. He tried to swat it with his hands, but they were held back by the bed sheets. Damn fly, Tim thought, I’m going to get him… He rolled his aching body over and pushed away the sheets. He felt every one of his Read more
My wife and I drove south to the United States border on our way to join our friends in Spokane, Washington, for the Iron Maiden concert. We loaded up the camper on the truck and left for our journey southward. As usual, we left late. I decided right from the start I would not get frustrated or upset at leaving late. We would go when we were ready and there was no point in being stressed out. We arrived at Read more
I felt a press of human flesh surround me. Energy pulsed through the crowd and we moved with an ebb and flow as music filled the air. A sudden push and we moved closer to the front. The crowd behind pushed hard and I held my ground and stood like a pillar in the chaos. Except I was too small to be any more than a pebble in the wave of the chaotic mosh pit. ***Three hours earlier*** We arrived Read more
Monday, September 26 marked the 140th Monday since the Covid19 pandemic swept the globe. That is a lot of Mondays. But on this particular Monday, they announced the lifting of the final restrictions caused by our viral foe. Vaccination will no longer be required to return to Canada after traveling out of the country. The use of masks on planes, trains, and cruise ships will no longer be mandatory. This marked the end of the coronaverse and the return to Read more
Fiona lashed her way up the Atlantic seaboard. Without emotion or feeling, she wreaked havoc upon everything in her path. Behind her, she left devastation. She left the Maritimes in chaos. They said she would be coming with a fury few storms ever had. They were right. Reports have come in about homes being washed away. Livelihoods are in tatters, and people’s dreams are in ruins. As our climate changes, the intensity of storms has increased. Winds as high as Read more
Bright sunshine bounced off the white caps that chopped the water of Okanagan Lake. I had my new battery and I was early for my morning boat ride. The girls from The Blind Angler were going for lunch at The Landing, a lakefront restaurant at The Cove Lakeside Resort. The boat fired right up and everything seemed good as we set out on the breezy waters of the Okanagan. The last time on the boat I’d suffered a dead battery Read more