Cal's Journal

La Belle Province. Quebec is a beautiful place, and this trip left very little doubt about how beautiful it can be. In Montreal, the architecture was an amazing dichotomy of eras – old-world brick and sandstone in the shadow of new glass highrises created a stylish blend of centuries. If you could get rid of the traffic, it would be perfect. But that goes for almost every big city these days.  I had a safety course in Montreal so my Read more…

It was just over a week ago that Kevin Falcon arbitrarily pulled the plug on the political ambitions of 93 BC United Party candidates for the upcoming provincial election. Some people might not feel it was arbitrary given the polls which indicated they were doomed for defeat. It certainly was unprecedented. And very undemocratic.  Kevin Falcon finished what he started two years when he changed the name of the provincial Liberal Party to the BC United. He tore it down Read more…

I stared into my daughter’s room, a knot formed in my throat as I thought back to all the times she smiled back at me. She sat on the floor and gathered her things, barely taking the time to see me there.  This was the last time I’d see her as a child in her room.  A child no more. Was it really the last time? It was not the last time ever, I was sure about that. Yet it Read more…

It has been a busy summer for me and the world has spun out of control. At least it feels that way. I’ve stopped my daily posts and my posts have become few and far between. For those who read my blog regularly, I apologize. It’s not like I don’t have anything to write about. I just don’t seem to have the time. But the truth is I’ve fallen into the rabbit hole of daily living.  It’s much easier to Read more…

Blaine Toney was my friend, although I never knew him by that name. He was always Mr. Fly. The phone book even listed him as M.R. Fly. Now he’s flying with the angels. He might laugh at that and say he’s running with the devil. But I know better. He’s with the angels now, and his mom is there to welcome him on his final journey. We were kids when we met all those years ago. His younger brother was Read more…

Barrman stood in the middle of the pontoon boat and tried to relax. After all, it wasn’t his boat and he wasn’t the captain. But he still felt a tumble in his stomach while the 20-foot pontoon boat bounced in the wind and the waves. Christina Lake was rolling with a steady wind from the south. Ricky manned the helm and the rest of the bachelor party was rolling in the booze and celebration. Robin was getting married on the Read more…

Barrman, Kaydee, Cookster, Krispee, and Biker Girl rolled out of Barrman’s Westbank driveway and headed down the highway. The intrepid motorcyclists stared into the darkening sky and hoped for the best. In the distance, Barrman could see the rain fill the valley and he took a deep breath hoping to stay dry. The friends were on their machines together for the season’s first ride—the destination – Actionfest in Summerland. They accelerated south from Peachland and the sky got a little Read more…

The stop sign was one I’ve stopped for a thousand times in the past eighteen years. Ninety percent of the time no cars came and I would stop, look both ways, and then go. Never an issue, it was almost second nature to stop, look, and go. Until the big Dodge was there when I never expected it.  I panicked and slammed the gas pedal down. I could outrun the trick coming at me at sixty kilometres an hour.  The Read more…