Fire burned the tinder-dry forests all around us. Ashes coated my car and I could see it falling like warm snowflakes in the sky. Smoke has descended back into the valley so thick I could taste it as I breathed in the air. The weather has remained hot and dry and our forests have had no relief. Much needed rain has eluded us for the past months and we are paying a heavy price. And the vast swaths of timber Read more
Sam swam lazily, his body pushing and turning. He glided at the edge of darkness between the depths and the light. Beneath him was a coldness that stretched hundreds of feet below. Above him was a warmth that sapped his body and slowed every motion. The water felt different, he could feel the thermal effects of the beaming sunshine from above. Sam was hungry, he was searching for a meal on the edge of the depths. The squawfish had been Read more
I met Eric Stemmer in January 2021. He was a friendly, conscientious man who wanted what was going to work safely and best for his job at Brooklyn Tower. I had a swing stage and he had concrete work to do. He seemed very sincere and honest and was concerned with the safety of his guys. We agreed to work together to get his job done. Now he will never get to do any job again. Ever. When I heard Read more
Barrman stood at the helm of his pontoon boat and soaked in the warm air of the Okanagan Valley. It has been a hectic couple of weeks touring people on the shimmering waters of paradise. He had mixed emotions about how so many others have discovered the Okanagan paradise. He grinned widely at his fortune, he hurt an ankle in the boat launch when he stepped into a gap in the concrete. Luckily it was only a flesh wound on Read more
Microscopic creatures swam in a flowing stream of yellow and red fluids. Erythrocytes rushed by in a hurry to spread nutrients to cells in the furthest parts of the system. The nanites darted throughout the pathways. In a sudden union, they joined with the leukocytes to seek and destroy any invading force. But they were getting weaker. The nanites were injected into the vascular system weeks before. They needed reinforcements. Like a military insurrection, the microscopic bots and white blood Read more
The acrid smell of smoke filled my nostrils as I rose from my slumber. My eyes burned with the microscopic particles of ash that have invaded the atmosphere of my Okanagan home. I noticed the weight of the air in my lungs and dreaded what could be the beginning of a long summer of smokey skies. The heat and dry conditions have been ripe for the start of a terrible fire season in the Northwestern part of North America. A Read more
BC entered phase three of its reopening plan. The hated masks are no longer mandatory in public places. It was a wonderful thing to see a strange face once more. Along with the masks we are allowed to gather again. Festivals and concerts are returning and live music is back. Many people are rejoicing at the lifting of restrictions and infection counts of the dreaded covid are way down. In our beautiful province, they have told us that it is Read more
Intense rays of sunshine continued to burn on our faces and our shoulders. The heat overwhelmed to the point it had a presence. It was like a wall of sweltering air that greeted me when I stood in the parking lot of the Cook Road boat launch. It was a heat I have never felt in my fifty-plus years on our planet. A planet that is being transformed by climate change unprecedented in recorded history. I am one of the Read more
Buzz crawled slowly through the grass. The heat was overwhelming, all he could do was survive the day. It felt like an extra weight pushed down upon every fibre of his being. He had never felt the intense temperature before and the sun scorched his back with burning razors. Buzz had to escape. He crawled deeper into the grass. His search for flowers, for pollen or nectar of any kind, was forgotten in his need to survive. He was caught Read more
Searing heat enveloped Okanagan Valley this week as my life spun into chaos. Summer has arrived with intense warmth as the days melted together. I cruised the refreshing water of the Okanagan Lake with my dear friends Brad and Byron. We splashed into the water and soothed our bodies scorched by the raging heatwave. We trolled the glassy surface of the waters in search of an elusive lake lunker… “Beep, Beep, Beep!!!!” an intense alarm brought us from our relaxed Read more