Have you ever noticed that the coldest moments of the night come just at dawn? Frost will form just as the sun is about to appear. Sitting at my new desk and looking out over my neighbour’s roof to the harbour has repeatedly confirmed that this winter. It is 08:08, under a cloudless sky and it is happening again. I think I undestand the phenomenon but it is complicated to explain. And do we need to dissect every bit of life with science? We just need to understand that things happen and we don’t have to try to change anything. In fact, I enjoy a certain degree of mystery in the machinations of the universe.
Spring…well, a promise thereof.
How the human race manages to stumble on in spite of itself is amazing to me. I grasp that I’m jaded. I could easily come to believe that nice people are simply assholes who want something. It does seem that way somedays. However I know enough folks who can easily prove me wrong. Here I go but for the grace of a few charitable, loving souls. In the days I see ahead it is important to avoid close-ended political rhetoric. We will be demanded to choose a side and that is always dangerous. I prefer stealth tactics. A seasoned US journalist, David Cay Johnston, in his poltical comments about current events says that the reason we are in the mess we are is that fifty percent of North Americans are semi-literate or worse. When people dismiss the value of the cornerstone of their culture, language, they also dull their critical thinking skills. When folks don’t ask intelligent questions they fall into a mindset of herd instinct and unquestioning direction. I just cannot say baa.
‘Reborn’ She was apparently built in Scotland in the 1930s. This is a sad way to die.Dogpatch, the bay of broken dreams. In a quest, or necessity, to live off-grid, some folks see buying an old boat as an easy answer. They cannot grasp that the price of freedom is responsibilty. Old boats are cheap because of the overwhelming burden of maintenance. Then comes a sinking feeling.The independant. I admire this character. They are tidy, unobstrusive and apparently self-sufficient. No-one bothers them. It must be miserable under those plastic wraps in the morning but they soldier on through the winter. Kudo’s indeed.
So, once again I sit watching another clear-sky winter sunrise. It is only minus five outside the window but there is a damp cold I can feel in my bones. I don’t want to concede to anything geriatric but I do wonder if plaid blankets are warmest. “Oh lord I’m beggin’ you please, for a new set of glow plugs and if you can; spare me a pair of grease fittings for these creaky old knees!”
Forest texturesMore texture in the woods. No skating!
A few mornings on it is now snowing furiously. Think I’ll stay off the greasy roads and post this blog. It is so very peaceful.
Snow coming.InboundOutboundGit ‘er done. After a two-day breakdown the crew finishes discharging their cargo as winter closes in.It happens. For our few snowy days each year it is best to just stay home. Well-seasoned in the extremes of the Great White North I’ll stay off this coastal wet white grease and avoid other drivers who don’t know any better. I have nothing that needs proving.Jill’s Flying Circus. I really don’t know which button I pushed by accident to achieve this effect. I’d sure like to find it again.
“ I have never once in my life seen a fanatic with a sense of humour.” Amos Oz
“Nothing is permanent in this wicked world-not even our troubles.”
I’ll shoot! A juvenile CANADIAN Bald Eagle guarding his perch area. Is this a prophetic view of politics to come?Three young eagles. They gave the dogs a close scrutiny. Yum!
Saturday morning, January 11th. I’ve been sitting here since 05:00 winking at my reflection in the window. It is now 07:20, ther glimmer of dawn appeared about a half-hour ago. It has been a pristine night with a sky full of stars over the harbour. Now puffs of fog are forming under a clear sky. I may see frost when the light brightens. Yep another sleepless night since 04:00. I used to work the mate’s watch and stood at the helm from midnight to six am. There was no daylight on that shift in winter and upcoast on the afternoon watch it was often dark by three-thirty in the afternoon. I’m used to it and I hate it. This old flower needs his sunshine. Official dawn is forecast for 08:06, sunset is to be 16:40. That’s a little over eight and a half hours, no time for laying around today. The first sunlight we saw this year was a for few minutes on the 6th. That light is precious.
I’m still nineteen with all the frustrations of that time, yes ALL, and even more nasty is the seventy-something decrepit body I’m trapped in. I truly did not think I’d live this long and so did not look after myself. I’m the classic cliche. The memories of all the foolish and daring things I’ve done don’t thrill me much now at all. Like most younger folks I once looked on geezers as some sort of separate species. Now here I am. I just hope I don’t carry any of those old man smells. This too is coming to you.
My dear sister made me two bags filled with buckwheat. I put them in the micro wave oven for two minutes and have some delightful and enduring warm comfort on my old knees. One knee was replaced last year but so far the pain is equal in both. I have always loved ambling up mountains and into valleys beyond, along beaches and country roads. Now I realize that those days may be gone but damnit, I’m gonna to force the issue every way I can. Meanwhile the simple joy of a bean bag is bliss.
Bean bags. With two very warm beanbags between my knees it didn’t take my wee girls long to find them. Awwww! Bliss! Their added warmth is appreciated.There’s that neighbour’s roof again! 10:00 this morning. Clearly the solar panels were on standby. Hopefully the little sloop at the guest dock across the bay has a good heater. At the moment this is the depth of winter. No snow yet. Green shoots are appearing in the flower beds.In a hedge here today.
And yes, there is frost. It is now January 20th. T-Rump Day. That character has been issuing edicts and making declarations since the day he was re-elected. His decrees came from a Florida country club, not the White house and folks seemed to accept them even though he had no official voice. Now he’ll be singing “Back In The Saddle Again!” We are living in a neo-version of the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ and seem determined to embrace a mass lemming sillyness. Up here in Canada we love to have something to whine about. We are a nation that claims to hate Americans yet most of us live within 50 miles of the US border even though the country runs north and south as far as it does east and west. We are finally realizing we have no political leadership, and have not for a long time. A bully has moved back in next door and we’re crapping ourselves. Well frankly, I perceive that we’ve been the 51st state since WWII and not much is going to change in that regard. Trump calls us the “Big faucet” up north.
I incessantly rant about Canadians consuming foreign food products. I discovered a lovely-looking frozen vacuum-bagged filet of salmon in the freezer. It had come home with the recent shopping. It is claimed to be sockeye. It looked great. I checked the fine print and discovered it was a product of Chile! Chile? I live in British Columbia! What are we famous for if not our salmon? Chile may be on the same beach as us but it is well around the far side of the planet! . WTF? Then Mr Brain-dead here bought some bagged tree bark to landscape the front yard. As I finished slashing the bags open I noted the labelling. It was a product of Rexford, IDAHO. No! We can’t even supply ourselves with our own tree bark? What else is this province noted for if not it’s timber exports. And I bought into it. I want to break into my sailor expletives but what’s the point. It has been said that “If rape is inevitable, relax and try to enjoy it.” ‘Fraid not!
Chile! THIS is BC! Where did the BC salmon go? It is also worth noting that this filet is not represented as being wild and the mention of antibiotics is a strong hint. How much of the price went to paying for diesel to ship it up here? Think local! Think green! UHUH!
Not this very binary old bilge ape. My finacial acumen is minimal but I understand that for a nation to build a strong economy being able to feed itself is a huge advantage. We certainly possess all those resources and once fed much of the rest of the world. Now we operate like an egg farmer who goes to town to buy eggs for himself at retail prices. Third world economics sell their resources wholesale and buy back finished products retail. Sound uncomfortably familiar? Maybe a global economic wizard for our next Prime Minister is not such a bad idea.
What’s his name again?
Ayre visits troll station number one.Heron in the wind.A bump in the night. The trunk is about four feet in diameter. A few feet further on another old giant lay in exactly the opposite direction. It was a wild and vicious wind.You go first.I wanna think about it.Rose hip. A ghost of summer past.On the writer’s desk as I make notes about what we import. Irish whiskey is awfully tough to compete with.
“Nothing is more deadly to achievement than the belief that effort will not be rewarded, that the world is a bleak and discriminatory place in which only the predatory and the specially preferred can get ahead.” – George Gilder
Yes Really! January 6th, Gabriola Island. There’s hope! Happy New Year.
It’s January 10th, already! My little life here on Vancouver Island is very quiet and that is not necessarily a complaint. I sure ache to feel the caresses of fragrant warm breezes fluttering the napkin beneath my sweating margarita and then whispering off through the cacti above the beach. Certainly my arthritic old bones also ache from the chill damp of another coastal winter. But considering all the other places where I could be dying of some terrible affliction I believe I am blessed to be in one of the best spots on the entire planet. And if I have to wrap my ugly mug in a mask on the odd occasion that I have to be among the public, it’s a small price to pay to not be quarantined inside my home. My reclusive lifestyle has not changed much.
Reflections on the year ahead. It’s looking weird but we still have some freedom.Too wet to plowToo wet for heifersDefinitely too wet for farmingThree generations Nurse stump, mature seedling and offshoot.
A friend in France, each time she needs to go out for a few groceries, even to walk the dog, is first required to apply online for a permit number to allow her an absolute minimum of time within the parameters of the described activity. If an official catches her without her specific number, or outside the area as described, it’s essentially off to the glue factory with you. It is nowhere near that here…YET! But there are folks working on making it so.
Old jungle girlsReaching for a little lightSwirls and complicationsFLIRT A little colour on a dull day. Even the cover is a thing of beauty and the boat is something to quicken a sailor’s heart. I can feel the bend of the oars and hear the water gurgling by simply by looking at her. What beautiful lines!
We’ve all heard some of the tales from those who were either civilians or military folks during WWII. This pandemic is a picnic in comparison. No one is dropping bombs on us or trying to starve us. If our expectations and notions of entitlement were not so ridiculously high we would be a lot more content. “WHAT? You’re out of mint chip dip!!” If you don’t like today, try missing a few.
Quick as a flash The Coho keep on comingFish with no end. It’s lovely to see and the eagles are watching too. The fish at the top is a female making a bed to lay her eggs. Two males standby.Eagles ThreeOld Fish Farts HisselfI’m just a lonely fish lonely and red.The stump is big enough to park a small car. It seems tragic to knock down an old-growth giant and just leave it to rot. The parks people call it “helping nature.”A swan in the corn. The rain continues.
So far as comments on pandemics and politics, I’ll let the following quote say it for me. I’ll just post some local photos of daily life around Ladysmith.
The sensible dog. This is a rare moment for Ayre, the eight-month old Min Pin Chihuahua. She’s nuclear and usually a blur. Jack retreats to his bed in the closet when she’s on the rampage.
“Due to travel restrictions this year, the United States had to organize a coup at home.” Martin Mesquita Watguri Hardie
Try to out-cute this! Arye is a six-month old Mini-Pinscher/Chihuahua cross. I guess I’m her sort-of grandfather. Wish I had some of her energy. Photo is about life size.
Sometimes the obvious is just too close to be seen. I am chagrined to admit that a friend who lives way over in Eastern Oregon sent me a link to a wonderful article in Hakaii Magazine. This is a weekly online publication housed in one of my favourite buildings here on Vancouver Island, the old Customs House, which overlooks Victoria’s inner harbour. The magazine has articles of a coastal theme from here in the Pacific Northwest to stories and photos from around the world. Go figure! The publication has been up and running for several years. Why I have not known about it before is one of life’s mysteries. Among the crap out there it is a diamond with well written informative and interesting articles with excellent photos. Check it out by googling up the name.
King of Camp Runamuck. Photo by my pal Niels. After a recent autumn downpour this gravel bar is probably not a good place to be. Still, town life is a distant second choice. The boat is now stowed and packed ready for Mexico.
Since I’ve returned last week from the old camper road test, autumn has descended with an indelible thud. There’s not much else to report. Mercifully we’ve been spared a Canadian federal election, our provincial election is a few days away and hopefully the US goon show will pass without an attempt at a military coup. I reminded a friend recently that we live in a pretty darned nice part of the world, politically, climatically, economically. I don’t know why certain folks are so determined to change that. Frankly, folks from foreign countries who have come to this country and then insist on complaining about everything must agree that if you truly don’t like living here, well… the best thing of all is that you’re free to leave; today! So go!
A fantastic marker for a forestry consulting business. A tree had to die to carve the fist in this very healthy stump.…And right next door! Note the sign on the tree, “Turn Logs To Lumber.”
No-one is going to put a gun in your ear and insist that you stay. Perhaps first pause a moment to chat with one of the refugees who fight so hard to get into our countries. This morning another friend sent me a photo of a US election poster. It says, “NOT VOTING, #1 CAUSE OF UNWANTED PRESIDENCIES.” So I took my voter’s card and Covid face mask and headed down to the advanced poll. Voting is not just a right, it’s an obligation and even a spoiled ballot is a clear political statement. So get out there and seize the day. Vote!
“…And that’s all I have to say. Remember to vote for me.”
Our little town has a common hall used for several public functions including that of advanced polling station. It sits next to the traffic round-about at the foot of main street which, when I went to vote, was ringed with a crowd of goons waving election posters and thrusting them at my windshield. I found it intimidating and infuriating. They represented the party I was going to vote for. I’m confident their chances are minimal. My vote would be one against, instead of for anyone, and would pique my conscience the least. Not now! I abhor mobs and herd mentality and refuse to succumb to mindless mass persuasion. If you want the gombah vote I refuse to be among them. Reverse effect guys! If I am going to be bullied at least leave me the illusion of making my own choice and effecting a difference, even when there is really no-one worthy of a vote. A politician is still a politician regardless of the lies they tell and no election ever displaces and changes the bureaucrats. Hopefully we end up with the least of weevils.
After the rain. In Bowen Park, Nanaimo.Kayaking anyone?After the rainRed Toadies season. Not to be eaten.All things pass.Quickly at times.More to come.Just a few leaves, most are still on the trees.The rare feather maple.Fall flowers.Three maples in the drippy woods.Mourning doves flight planning, southeast, Covid procedures in effect.Failing to flight plan. First, check the weather. Jack plods toward the wreckage.Dog patch dawn after our first serious autumn wind and rain storm.Meanwhile in the East.
Here are some local photos of the changing season. Note the lack of rocket launchers, burned buildings and military uniforms. There is no snow, not one heap of dead plague victims and there are still line-ups in the drive-thru’s of every fast food and coffee shop outlet. Someone still has a little money. Despite our personal woes we are doing just fine.
The End
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” Plato
