August 2021 was devastating for the residents of Monte Lake BC. A spin-off from the White Rock Lake Wildfire roared through the community, sometime pulsing up a single side of a long driveway, and at other time consuming a historic church leaving picnic benches only feet away untouched. Images of the aftermath show residential devastation... Continue Reading →
Many of my better ideas come to me while cleaning up the dishes, loading or unloading the dishwasher (the right way) or generally restoring order in the kitchen. This is no less true that on Christmas Day. Kathie does most of the cooking though I am trying to improve my culinary capability, slowly and incrementally.... Continue Reading →
1In those days BonnieHenry (note single word, just like CharlieBrown) issued a decree that all should be vaccinated. (This was not the first vaccination as two others preceded it, but the latest booster remains the best plan for safety, security and stability). 2All this took place while John was Premier of BC, Justin Prime Minister... Continue Reading →
This year, 2021, may be the best experience of Christmas I have ever enjoyed. While the jury is still out and final adjudication cannot occur until the end of the full twelve days, I suspect this Christmas will be more relaxed, more celebratory and possibly the healthiest ever. In this my first year with absolutely... Continue Reading →
People are bummed out right now; about COVID; about frustrated travel ambitions; about difficulties around gathering, even outdoors. Here we go again, just like last year, which was supposed to the THE LAST YEAR of pandemic interruptions. We all just want to relax, and fly, just like the Snowman. Amongst the clatter of cash registers... Continue Reading →
Some things are so good they must be shared, in this case, annually. The choral music of Morten Lauridsen fits this category well, especially as we approach the threshold of Christmas together. From his home base on Waldron Island in the Sun Juan Archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, from where the... Continue Reading →
Here we go, it’s that time of year again. Christmas--the Feast of the Nativity, the holiday season, the day before boxing day sales, whatever you call it--here we go again. Some call it a holiday, others revere a solemn Holy Day. Some find it very unsettling, lonely, even disturbing. Others simply dissolve into the bliss... Continue Reading →
Did you hear the one about the Canadian peacekeeper who arrived in the middle of a conflict between two long standing national enemies? Hurling both insults and ammunition at each other, over historical grievances sometimes too old to remember, the Kanuck Keeper jumped between the adversaries, introduced themselves and shouted, “hey everybody, let’s be friends.”... Continue Reading →
Kamloops This Week Here in Kamloops it is time to turn our hands to the plough; well if not the plough, then the plow, the snowplow that is. With early winter upon us, the streets and sidewalks are slowly filling with snow. Next they thaw and then they often re-freeze. Vehicles, pedestrians and especially cyclists... Continue Reading →
In the Captain's seat So with Willie Nelson we’re on the road again, this time travelling from Victoria to Kamloops after a delayed departure following one false start due to extreme weather and highway conditions. Ken and Kathie had considered how best, and when to attempt travel back home for many days. Kathie was convinced... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 