‘Windchill of minus 25 in the alpine’ screamed the headline on the Big White website. There it was in bold letters surrounded by red on the top of the page. It was a warning, a caution for those that feared the biting cold. I texted my neighbour Brad and wondered if he had taken his two sons and headed to the mountain. His answer was no. Too cold for his kids. I told him the Gem lake chair was closed Read more…
Superbowl Sunday in the coronaverse. It was almost normal to watch the yearly sporting spectacle that takes over the TV screens in North America every February. Almost normal. I tried to care, I tried to find a reason to pull for a team of millionaires chasing a pigskin around a one-third full stadium in Tampa Bay Florida. I tried to care; I couldn’t. It wasn’t the same without the parties. At least the NFL got to play its championship game. Read more…
Blue sky and sunshine filled the valley in the morning as I stood atop the tallest building towering over Kelowna. I looked over the scene in front of me in awe. We were putting a swing stage on the building for the glazer and I stood and stared at the snow-covered mountains lit up by gleaming sunshine. In the mirror of the lake, you could see the reflection of paradise. It was like a painting by an inspired artist; the Read more…
Our little city is growing up, stretching taller toward the skies. There are three brand new residential towers being built right now with four more just completed in the last couple of years. The next building planned is a 40 story complex that will tower above our scenic downtown core. The next few years are a time of massive growth in The Okanagan Valley. With mixed emotions I watch our beautiful city change. Today I went downtown Kelowna and worked Read more…
White, a dirty white, I was mixed and confused. The horizon mingled in my mind and I couldn’t see the slope in front of me. We slid off the top of the T-Bar this afternoon, searching for the next path of fresh powder. At this point, we were searching for which direction was up. We knew the fresh tracks were out there near-by. Not very many people were intrepid enough to brave the near-zero visibility of the alpine at Big Read more…
Sensalia ran through the forest in a daze. She had a flash of a memory, someone yelling, telling her to go. The fleeing young woman ran as fast as she could from all she knew. The further she went, the less she remembered of her life. She had brief glimpses of growing up as a human girl in the elven kingdom. A kingdom separated and isolated from the human world; the world she was now in. Sensalia raced on through Read more…
“He wear no shoe shineHe got toe jam footballHe got monkey fingerHe shoot Coca-ColaHe say I know you, you know meOne thing I can tell you is you got to be free Come together, right now, over me” The poetic and nonsensical lyrics of the song ‘Come Together’ by the Beatles is an appropriate song for the times. The musical rhymes stirred my soul and awoke my heart. Jon Bos sang the iconic song as he stood behind a glass Read more…
A crisp breeze blew down the streets of Kamloops as I parked my truck in a small lot in the downtown core. I was working in the mid-sized city in the heartland of BC. As I exited my truck I felt the chill winter air of a January day. I walked towards the front of my Chevy Dually and headed for the management company inside the building in front of me. I was there to drop off a business card Read more…
“It is my pleasure to introduce the forty-sixth President of the United States, Joseph R Biden Junior.” The words echoed in the cab of my truck over my radio as I cruised the Coquihalla Highway to Kamloops this morning. A smile crossed my face as a moment many have looked forward to came to pass. Trump was no longer the so-called leader of the ‘free’ world. Joe Biden was now the new ring leader of the American political circus. Some Read more…
Sunshine glistened off the freshly fallen snow that coated the ski runs. The intermediate and beginner runs all funneled toward the dual chairlifts of the Snowghost and the Ridge Rocket express. Crisp morning air sparkled with ice crystals that danced above the newly coated world. With anticipation, we put our gear on and stepped outside to greet the day. It was another glorious day at our mountain home of Big White. The real world hung in the shadows as we Read more…