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…
So busy, life has gotten almost out of control busy. The last three weeks went by in a blur. I’ve had so little time to stop and reflect, little time to it and write. It feels far too chaotic. I almost miss the days of covid when no one could go out and we were forced to stay home – almost. I feel bad I haven’t taken the time to write about all of my adventures lately. But I’ve been Read more…
The sun glowed in the distance. It was a red ball in the sky, shrouded in smoke. Smoke that covered vast tracks of Western Canada. The heat simmered in the valley and it felt like your typical August day. Except this was Mid-May. Northern Alberta is a blaze and the smoke has spread for thousands of kilometres. Reminders of a tragic time a few years ago when part of Fort MacMurray was consumed in a fiery inferno. Some people still Read more…
To all mothers everywhere, I hope you had a fantastic day. A day filled with love and connection. I lost my mother just over a year ago and lost my mom thirty-two years before that. At least I was lucky enough to have two mothers in my life. My adopted mom passed away when I was nineteen years old. She was only fifty-three, way too young. Then seventeen years later I met my biological mom. I had the great fortune Read more…
“Long live the king.” The call echoed through the streets of Britain this past weekend. There was pomp and ceremony, pageantry and opulence. Months after his mother died Charles from the House of Windsor became the newest King Of Brittian and the Commonwealth. After years of speculation and waiting he became the newest monarch in the world’s oldest continuous monarchy. It was a scene right out of a Disney movie. Some might argue that it belongs in the movies. Not Read more…
Happy Cinco de Mayo. What used to be another day in May has become a Canadian and American excuse for a Mexican holiday. An excellent excuse to drink Tequila and eat tacos. And why not? There is nothing wrong with finding a reason to party. I like Tequila and tacos, so for me, this is becoming one of my favourite celebratory days. But when did it become a thing? Twenty years ago I don’t remember ever having Cinco De Mayo Read more…
Hockey playoffs have arrived. They are full of surprises. Toronto is in the second round, and Boston isn’t. Who would have predicted that one? The Oilers made it past the first round as well. And my beloved(used to be anyway) Flames are playing golf. And today they fired the coach… again. What a crazy world the NHL is. Coaches take the blame because some whiney millionaire player says their feelings were hurt by the guy trying to motivate them. What Read more…
Spring is in the air. Finally. The weather has been warming up all week and the days are getting longer. Time marches on. I find myself trying to keep life busy and my days happy. Yesterday I was on a roof in Penticton and it was beautiful outside. The sun gleamed off the glassy water of Skaha Lake and the sun reflected the feeling of optimism I held onto. Summer is right around the corner and flowers are peeking up Read more…
Four twenty was celebrated in Canada. It is a day that weed smokers everywhere rejoice in the legality of their herbal enjoyment. It wasn’t always that way. If someone had told me ten years ago that Canada would legalize the demon weed, I would have laughed at the thought. Yet a mere two years later the country elected a Liberal government that campaigned on just such an idea. It was one of the few promises they kept. It has been Read more…
The division still exists. I wanted to think that it was over. With the last gasps of covid19, I thought we could return to a time of sanity. A time like before when we may have disagreed with other people but still respected their right not to agree. That seems to have disappeared. I stood outside the bar on Saturday night. We were having a safety meeting, in the shadows. Suddenly my companion started a rant about how Trudeau and Read more…