Today was Cinco de Mayo, May the fifth 2021. It’s a day like any other day in much of Mexico, in the rest of North America it’s an excuse to drink Tequila and Cervezas. For the last five years, our next-door neighbours have had a party to celebrate the day. We would pack up the margarita maker and go sit in their back yard with a group of people and celebrate Mexican culture and cuisine. This year Cinco de Mayo Read more…
We walked down our front street breathing in the fresh spring air. It felt like a pause in the race life has become lately. I have been busier at work than I have been in almost two years. My job rigging swing stage has exploded and life is suddenly going at full speed. Stop the world I want off. So honey and I walked to the local Mexican place looking for a connection. We were looking to pause and find Read more…
Sunshine gleamed on the Okanagan Lake as the calm waters beckoned me. It was time to get on the water and take Serendipity to her slip at the Manteo marina. Warm spring air filled the valley and I felt the energy of the day. Captain Rob has been hard at work polishing up Luxury Lake Tour’s 2015 Campion Biltmore. She gleamed as if brand new again. The deep blue and grey colour shone in the morning sun, and I couldn’t Read more…
A glow echoed in the distance blocked by the mountains. Beaming from behind its earthen cover, a sliver of the moon shone towards the sky. I stared in anticipation and awe as it crept rapidly upwards. The man in the moon stared back down at me, his face appeared over the peaks reflected in the shimmering water of the Okanagan Lake. They said it would be a supermoon. This was one time they were absolutely right. The glory of the Read more…
Muhammad stood looking at the shore, his stomach churned with emotion. A musty smell clung to him like an obnoxious blanket. He watched as the small boat approached, he stood on the bow of the MV Aman, his home for the last four years. That boat represented freedom; the freedom he hasn’t felt since he first stepped on the deck of the Bahrainian flagged cargo ship in May 2017. Trapped onboard a floating wreck, the seafarer’s life has been on Read more…
Sidhu grabbed his father’s hand and held it tight. Rasping breaths struggled to bring in more oxygen, the young boy held on pushing his fingers deeper, willing his dad to live. The boy’s mother was gone into the hospital three days before, they heard nothing more. He hoped to see her again. Now his dad was visibly suffering, struggling to fill his lungs. At the age of ten, young Sidhu cried softly hoping for some miracle, he wished for someone Read more…
Kelowna’s skyline is being transformed in front of our eyes. I am fortunate to be a part of the building of the newest high-rise condominiums being built in the downtown of Canada’s fourth fastest-growing city. Mostly fortunate… I think. It sure is hard work. My favourite part of being on the site of the highest building between Vancouver and Calgary was the view. Every day when I was on the building I tried to make a point of soaking in Read more…
It was 420 in the Coronaverse today. This year 420 didn’t seem to mean anything. To me, it has always been a symbolic day in the struggle to legalize marijuana. I don’t really care anymore, life keeps dropping f-bombs on us all. Case counts have been rising in the lower mainland. Ontario and the Maritimes have closed down. Here in BC, they have told us to stop all non-essential travel in the province. We are being asked to hunker down Read more…
The young girl stared in the mirror in front of her. She didn’t like the face staring back, it was tear-stained and the pain was etched across it with scars only she could see. Where were her friends? Why had they left her hanging? She paced the room, unable to move forward from the pain. Unable? Or Unwilling? She wasn’t sure. All she felt was the pain of loss, rejection, and fear. She felt like she wanted to escape her Read more…
I sat in my car looking at the line of traffic that sat stopped. One year ago that traffic didn’t exist. This week traffic was back with a vengeance. Where are all the people coming from? Where are they going? You would never know we are in the middle of a global pandemic based on the number of cars on the road. I turned on my radio and heard the announcer say the cars would be rolling again soon. Highway Read more…