Cal's Journal

Captain Brad stood at the helm of the 24-foot pontoon boat. Waves crashed into the port side of his vessel and the cascading spray coated his face with a cold stream of water. He had every faith in the boat staying on top of the four-foot swells rocking his world. The doubt in the back of his mind was getting it on the trailer.  His day started out well enough when he launched the Triple Or Nothing. He was confident Read more

We stood and stared at the calm waters of the Georgia Straight. It was a beautiful autumn day, a great day for a boat ride. It looked to be a good weekend for a trip to Vancouver Island and the scenic city of Victoria. My honey and I made it for the 3 pm ferry from Tsawwassen to Schwartz Bay. We enjoyed the connection with the water and each other. My wife and I were trying to breathe for a Read more

Debbie stood at the edge of the road. Cars raced by as she teetered on the edge of reality. She knew she needed to cross the road to get home. But the cars were so fast… Debbie had only recently celebrated her seventieth birthday. Celebrate would be a bit of a stretch. She had no one to celebrate with. Her daughter was in Calgary and they’d only seen each other once in the last year. Her son had left for Read more

Summer ended with the same warm glory it began with. It was official summer closed out with a mild day on the water. It has been the warmest summer I remember in all my years on the third rock from the sun.  It was also one of the craziest. June was full of promise. we had two Biltmore boats for Luxury Lake Tours and the calls were coming in fast and furious. The summer was shaping up to be the Read more

Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada just spent 650 million dollars of taxpayer money on an election we didn’t need or want. The result? Nothing changed. The Liberals still have a minority government, the Greens still have two seats and the Bloc Quebecois have the same amount of seats in Quebec. Meanwhile, Trudeau continues to spin things to try to make himself look good.  What a waste. The Prime Minister of Canada claimed victory because he could do Read more

The drummer’s smile was infectious. His presence lit up the TV screen as he sat at his drum kit. Ringo Star looked at the camera and cracked wisely, “What key is it, Robbie?” He laughed and spoke again, “F, demented.” His smile grew wider as the screen went blank. Robbie Robertson beamed as the camera lit his face and he began strumming his guitar in Los Angeles, California.  The scene shifted to Marcus King standing at a microphone in Greenville, Read more

Snowbee sniffed the air. She could smell him. At least she thought it was a him. Her fur stood on end and her nerves were sharp as the claws on her feet. She remembered the smell from a couple of weeks earlier.  It was that little bear cub. He was back. What was he doing in her neighbourhood again?  The little white cat looked around, the light was fading but she wanted to know. She wasn’t sure what to think Read more

Weak, I felt so weak. My head pounded, cold sweats soaked my skin. Only hours earlier I felt fine, a bit tired but fine. My back ached but that was nothing new. Was it the pain killer and muscle relaxant combined with a puff and a beer?  Couldn’t be, could it? The inevitable question arose. Was it covid? I have two vaccine shots, it couldn’t be the dreaded virus, could it? Man, every time anyone gets sick the inevitable questions Read more

My phone rang, it was my girlfriend. What could she want? Did I forget something at home? It was 11:15, I just got back to my office and it was just another Tuesday like any other workday.  When I heard her voice on the line I knew it would not be another day at work. “Do you have a TV? I can’t believe it! Someone flew a plane into the World Trade Center! I, uh… I can’t believe it, where Read more