The weather outside was frightful, the day was nigh delightful. We really weren’t ready for snow, but it snowed. And it snowed, and it snowed. We set a record in the Okanagan for October, a dubious record to say the least. We recorded the most snow for an October day since 1899. One hundred and twenty-one years ago the settlements of Penticton and Kelowna were in their infancy. I am certain they were ill-prepared to deal with such a massive Read more
It’s the seventh month of the pandemic. Thirty Mondays ago they closed Big White and we sat in fear of the unknown. We left our mountain home in shock; we packed up and went back to the valley. Big White emptied and the world stood still. It feels like seven months of Mondays since they first locked us down. I have been one of the fortunate ones this summer. I was able to work outside and ride my motorcycle to Read more
I lost a piece of my youth this week. My first big rock concert was in 1984, it was a cacophony of sound and sight. It was bigger than life and I was a fourteen-year-old kid in awe. It was Van Halen. David Lee Roth pranced across the stage, legs spinning higher than any man had a right to. Alex Van Halen pounded the drums with Michael Anthony pacing the rhythms. Above and beyond it all was the incredible sounds Read more
My days were starting to slow down again. It was time to get busy and de-clutter my world. I stared at the disaster that is my garage, the mess that developed as if on its own has begun to overwhelm me. Someone must have put all that stuff in there. I no longer have a window cleaning business so I struggled to find someone that I could blame; until I looked in the mirror. Now it was time to clean Read more
I went down the rabbit hole today. I made the mistake of watching the news and heard Trump brag about healing so fast from Covid19. It made me sick; I couldn’t believe that he said he should kiss everyone at his rally. It’s hard enough to imagine that he is having rallies in the first place. I posted on facebook my feelings about Trump. I vented how sick I was of the way he acts and hoped that he would Read more
I have so much to be thankful for. Today is the day when we reflect on the fortunes that have been bestowed upon us. Today is Thanksgiving Sunday. Canada has celebrated Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October since 1957. At that time the Canadian Parliament decided to recognize that day as an official holiday. Prior to that people celebrated thanksgiving as they saw fit, usually from the middle of October to the first week in November. The first Canadian Read more
I leaned my machine into the corner, the lake on my right. It felt like I could almost touch the water as the road swept down the hill and back around the cliff face. I was at the beginning of my journey for the day. A motorcycle ride on Westside Road was the start of my road trip to Kamloops. Westside hugs the mountainside along Okanagan Lake. It goes north of West Kelowna and ends at the north end of Read more
A golden red sky rippled over the Okanagan Valley. It was another amazing sunset in a year I have watched more red skies than I can remember. My beautiful wife and I sat in the stern of Serendipity and breathed in the sights before us. It was a vista of deep reds hovering over a line of gold that caressed the mountains above the Okanagan Lake. We have seen many sunsets the past six months, this one was stunning in Read more
A first world tragedy occurred today. Cell phone down. Not just one, but two cell phones went for a swim in the lake. Too bad phones don’t swim. I started the day with a plan, a plan to go fishing. I was going to go on my motorcycle to the dock and then fish my way to Westbank and pick up my girls and her friends and family. The girls whined, they didn’t want to go on the lake. They Read more
Warm sunshine glowed down upon us as Indian summer continued into October. We sat in the bow of Serendipity soaking in the glory of it all. My Sister, her husband, my daughter, my wife, and I basked in the heat of the afternoon. A connection long coming, it was good to get some family time on the water. It was an escape from the world around us. I was glad to relax, to feel the warmth of the sun and Read more