Cal's Journal

Kaydee thought that her birthday celebration was fantastic. She and a group of her girlfriends went out on her husband Barrman’s boat for an evening cruise on her birthday. Her 60 years on planet Earth have gone so fast, now she was celebrating another milestone birthday with her mom. But don’t tell anyone that her mother was turning 90. All their lives they have celebrated their birthdays two days apart. Yet they have celebrated in completely different ways. Mom never Read more…

July 19, 1963, you entered the world. Brant and Dagmar Ducey celebrated the arrival of their first-born daughter, Krista.  In July 2009 you entered my world.  Time flies when you’re having fun. And what a fun ride it has been so far.  When I look into your eyes, I see the little girl inside. It’s hard to believe that little girl is sixty years old today. I know, shhh… I’m not supposed to tell anyone that. But it is something to Read more…

The Bank of Canada hiked interest rates again. This is truly the definition of insanity. For the past year, they have increased the prime lending rate in Canada by over double what it was. And inflation keeps rising. Part of the inflation that has been rising is caused by interest rate hikes. Can someone please tell these elite bastards that the rate increases are only hurting the working people? There are so many people on a bubble of barely holding Read more…

A week flew by in the blink of an eye. One minute I was watching the sky light up with Canada Day Fireworks and the next I’m rolling the throttle and riding to the top of the mountain. Big White Mountain.  Summer has enveloped the valley with a blanket of heat. After days of movement and stress I got on my trusty Honda and rode to paradise. A mountain paradise. I rode through the city, sweat oozing off my tired Read more…

I set out in the morning full of optimism, undercut with a jagged edge of nerves. The wind was brisk and the trees shook in the morning breeze. I had a tour of the lake with a group of girls celebrating a stagette party. Then it was off to Peachland for the fireworks. Captain Rob had a bigger day yet, he was on two tours of the lake and his last one was a trip up the lake to pick Read more…

The movie screen was filled with his face. Eddy Haymour sat there, larger than life. He stared into the camera, “It is my Island, and I want it back.” the words echoed through the movie theatre. It was a local screening of the movie Eddy’s Kingdom. We were a couple of the lucky ones who got tickets before they sold out. The story has been told countless times over the years. It is a story of tragedy and triumph, a Read more…

The forecast called for rain. Barrman’s boat tour asked to postpone for fear of the oncoming storm. A storm that never arrived. He sat inside and watched the sun peak out from behind the clouds, he looked at Kaydee, “Should we go for a ride to Bg White?”  “The forecast isn’t the best to ride a motorcycle.” Kaydee stared out the window and shrugged, “It looks like rain.” Barrman grabbed the phone and called his buddy Mick who lived at Read more…

My stomach sank and I felt a raw tinge of fear in my bones when I walked out of the door and sniffed the morning air. The smell of smoke wafted into my senses.  With the amazingly warm temperatures has come the nemesis we all dread. Fire. Only weeks after Alberta was battling huge blazes in the northern part of the province and days after the east coast fought the same battle, BC has come face to face with a Read more…