Time marches on and the days have begun to get longer. Christmas is just around the corner. I went to the mall with my daughter and spent time wandering aimlessly, hoping gift ideas would suddenly jump in front of me. People ask me if I’m ready for Christmas – I’m not. But that is nothing new. Except this year, I’m having a harder time finding the Christmas spirit. Maybe it’s because my daughter is now a teenager and the magic Read more…
Merry Christmas everyone. That was not the message we got from our government and the so-called health experts today. The message we got was the new variant of covid was spreading fast and the vaccines may not be effective at stopping it. Just when things seemed like there was a light at the end of the tunnel, that light was a train. I don’t know what to think anymore. We are booked to go to Mexico in less than ten Read more…
Light puffs of snow flew over Barrman’s shoulders as he descended the untouched field of powder dreams. Every turn of his legs launched a fresh tuft of snow into the air and into his face. Face shots. Every skier’s dream is to get snow blown into their face by hurling themselves downward into deep lines of fresh powder. Barrman and his friends were living the dream. December 17 Big White opened the Gem Lake Express Quad chair as well as Read more…
Omicron – sounds like a villain from the Transformers. Instead, it’s a villain of a different kind. A viral kind. We are all so tired of hearing about covid and its seemingly endless variety of variants. It has been almost two years since we first heard about the coronavirus covid19. I know two years ago if anyone had told me that we would need to be vaccinated to enter the Black Forest Lodge at Big White Ski Resort, I would Read more…
Barrman looked at the clock through the slits of his eyes. Red numbers flashed back at him, “5:15.” It wasn’t time to get up but he knew it would be hard-pressed to go back to sleep. He had a job to do and the day could wait… Two hours later Barrman poured himself a cup of delicious life-giving coffee and popped open his laptop. He sipped fresh java and waited for the computer to boot up. Let’s see what facebook Read more…
Sleep escaped me as my mind wandered endless corridors of restless confusion. I cracked my eyes open and saw the clock – 5:15. I confirmed inside my head, yes that was am. I rolled over and snuggled with the cat. She was there searching for some love. I wasn’t ready to get out of bed so kitty snuggles were a good second choice. My mind kept stirring and I thought about the day ahead. It was going to be a Read more…
Barrman could barely sleep, the night seemed to drag on. He was like a kid at Christmas, the morning couldn’t come soon enough. Barrman rolled over and looked at the glowing numbers beside his bed, “5:55 ” might as well get up. He felt the warmth of his cat as she snuggled in closer for a bit of loving. He sighed, kitty love was good, but fresh tracks on snow would be better. With a deep pull of breath, he Read more…
I awoke to a blanket of white coating the Okanagan valley. A deep blanket that embraced our world with a thick cover of snow. They didn’t call for this. The experts that are supposed to warn us of environmental storms missed the mark as winter decided to pay our beautiful valley a visit. Ten centimetres of light fluffy Okanagan Champagne Powder filled every crevasse and covered my boats. I do prefer it would stay at the tops of the mountain. Read more…
Dave looked out his window, what he saw was something he couldn’t quite believe. A wave was headed his way – on the wrong side of the dike. What the hell? Dave looked into the parking lot and saw his car. Water was beginning to lap around its wheels. He knew he had to move. At Eighty-eight years old he wasn’t moving near as quickly as he used to. The octogenarian walked through the lot and opened the car door. Read more…
Big White opened for the season on Friday, November 26, 2021. It opened with meagre coverage but a lot of anticipation. People were anxious to get outside and breathe the mountain air. No masks, singles allowed – please make fours. Skiing in the coronaverse was inching back to normal. If only Mother Nature would cooperate. I was not disappointed that I missed the opening day madness. Others lined up overnight. I wasn’t that excited to stretch my ski legs on Read more…