Snow continues to fall on our valley paradise. Some might not think a snow-covered world is a paradise. But paradise it is. Too bad I have to move the snow off the driveway and sidewalks. At least I don’t have a job to go clear it from other people’s driveways and sidewalks. For much of my adult working life snow removal was my winter job. I would have to wake up at 3 am and look outside. I would stand Read more…
The weather outside is frightful, but the day was so delightful. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The weather had the old Christmas song ringing through my head. It was a day when most people would hunker down and stay inside. A day of snow blowing and falling across The Okanagan and in many parts of North America. It’s been a week of numbing cold and record participation. Over 30 people have died in many parts of Read more…
It’s cold enough to freeze a person’s toes right off their feet. That’s what happened to Jim. Mary didn’t want it to happen to her. So she grabbed another piece of the broken chair and threw it on the fire. Snowflakes drifted down and coated her with another layer of white. Only to melt and turn to ice. At least Jim was in the hospital and getting help. At least Jim was warm. But what would Mary do to make Read more…
Mahdi sat in the passenger seat and thought about the body in the trunk. How did he end up in this place? He thought he was done with dead bodies when he came to Canada. He stared out the window and memories of Syria five years ago flooded back into his brain. What did these guys want with him? Why did they grab him? Why didn’t he stay with his wife and son? So many questions. And no answers, yet. Read more…
Ralph pushed his shopping cart across the snow-filled street. It was everything he had inside for him to make it to the other side. He didn’t have a destination, he only needed to keep moving. Keep his circulation going. It was as cold as he could remember it being in Kelowna. He left Calgary two years before looking for warmer temperatures and a break from the addiction that plagued him all his adult life. At least he escaped the cold, Read more…
I woke up from my dream, it was a strange dream. A dream of vacations yet to come… Or merely vacations wished for? My wife and I were booked to fly to Barcelona, departing on December 28, and returning on January 10. It all seemed so real. When I woke up, it took a few minutes to realize: No, we were not booked on a flight to Spain. We were not booked on a flight anywhere, and certainly not somewhere Read more…
Only eight days to Christmas. Time flies when you’re having fun they say, and they’re right. I’ve been having too much fun skiing to want to think about shopping. I guess it’s time to start Christmas shopping. I’d rather be skiing. Or fishing, or well pretty much anything but Christmas shopping. There seems to be so much pressure on people and on Christmas. I know it has always been pressure packed at this time of year but as I get Read more…
Mahdi Al Asheer ducked his head as he felt the rumble of the explosion. Debris fell from the ceiling, and he saw the glass shake. It was 3 am and the bombings were getting closer. So far, he was safe enough where he was. His wife and young child looked to him for salvation. “Daddy, when will they stop?” the boy’s eyes watered, and he held onto his mother tightly. “I don’t know son, Assad and the government forces keep Read more…
The sounds of coughing echoed across the hillside. More and more people are sick again. Now that covid is in retreat, all the former illnesses in life are back. With a vengeance. I’ve had a cough for over a month now. And I know many other people suffering from some malady or other. After two years of masking up and washing hands suddenly everyone is sick. But it’s not covid… It’s the flu, a cold, and a cough. Hospitals are Read more…
The first Monday of the rest of my life. Lately, I have been treating every day as if it was a bad Monday. It is time to change. Time is the most precious thing we have. A thing easily wasted, yet not easily replaced. Time… Monday, March 23, 2020, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery. A journey prompted by a worldwide pandemic that shocked us all into change. For a while, I wrote every day, inspired to record the Read more…