“In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place, and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below” I heard the powerful words that touched my soul and filled my heart with a sorrowful pride. We stood together, apart. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month, we stood silent for those that gave their lives so we could breathe freedom and Read more…
They stood on the side of the ski run, watching the flames devour the wood and melt the snow that surrounded the pit like frozen sentinels. Six people stood in pairs staring into the flames, mesmerized by the dancing shadows of energy and light. He stood watching them from the distance, curious about why this group would be there. He was sure they were his friends that lived on the mountain. With cautious optimism, he approached the fire pit. They Read more…
President-elect Biden. I am unsure if I expected to read those words and hear the news. I am relieved that the election in the good ol’ USA is over. It feels like they have been in some form of election that never ends. In Canada and around the world we have waited, holding our collective breath, as the count finished and a winner declared. Many people the world over now breathe a little easier. Will Trump be a man and Read more…
Groundhog Day. It’s as if we are living in the movie Groundhog Day. Every day feels the same this week. I turn on the TV and there it is; election results. The same election results, no clear winner has been declared. Then there he is, the sitting president of the United States, spewing off about how the election is being stolen from him. Complaining like a schoolboy that lost the election for school president. But this isn’t high school, this Read more…
Two old white men have dominated the news for far too long now. In an election like no other, things have finally come to a head. The United States has hijacked the world news with incessant coverage of their election in the coronaverse. Today the final votes were cast and the world anxiously awaits the results. We may not know who the new president of the United Mistakes of America will be for days, perhaps weeks to come. In the Read more…
He wandered down the hallway, passing the rooms on either side. There was no pausing at the doors; he knew exactly which room to go in. The other beds were empty, the rooms waiting for the anticipated rush; a rush of patients yet to come. Would the expected rise in cases result in hospitalizations? He didn’t know. All he knew was he was going to see the man in the bed at the end of the hall. The man in Read more…
Fires lit the roadside, goblins and ghouls stalked the night. Zombies guarded the gravesites. Small groups gathered in circles performing ritual sacrifices of random liquids. Two young girls braved the darkness, they stood alone watching, waiting. “Hello, Marijke, Bailey,” a boy’s voice broke through the creaks and moans that echoed into the night. ”We were waiting for you, are you ready?” Marijke gave him a mischievous look. She was happy to see her new friends Bailey and Jackson, they would Read more…
I lay submersed in the water, soaking in the warm embrace of a mineral enriched bath. I was hoping to drown my pain, ease my aches, and alleviate my distress. Losing myself in the moments there was nothing but the pressure of the jets. I felt the release I craved and let myself go and floated away. With a start, I knew it was time to move. I willed myself up and weakly crawled from the cooling touch of the Read more…
Big, fat, fluffy white flakes are falling into the alpine. In the valley, the leaves have turned from green to gold and brown. On the mountain tops, the trees are being freshly coated with a layer of crisp white snow. Okanagan champagne powder has been piling up on the slopes and in the trees. It looks to be an epic season of snowfall, the base is growing steadily and even the village is gathering snow. Mother Nature and U’lr the Read more…
Mondays have come and gone in the days of the coronaverse. It was a Monday in March and the winter snows still clung to the ski runs and rooftops of Big White. It was a Monday I won’t forget. The first Monday I began my journey exploring the new normal I found myself in. Reality had sunk in and our ski hill closed for the season. Many other businesses soon fell victim to the panic that the pandemic invoked. Now Read more…