Winter's Wonderland

We've had a week full of winter activities and I need to include this photo to make everyone aware that the sun can actually shine in the Kootenays in December! This picture was taken on Christmas Day at the lake near Fletcher Falls. We had an early morning walk there (well 10 o'clockish) before opening presents. A quick trek to the inukshuks (sorry no good photos in that light) and the beautiful Fletcher Falls themselves rounded out the a.m. journey. Other activities this week have included a few hours of back country skiing on my new touring skis while I break in the boots. On the 23rd we all spent the day at Whitewater Ski Resort so I had a chance to use the skis as downhillers. The skis are way too advanced for me and my son-in-law refers to them as "boats" but they do manage powder really well. We're also getting out the snowshoes and enjoying the deep snow pack only 15 minutes from home. I used to only get to do those winter wonderland walks a couple of times a year and now they are becoming a daily ritual. So good to spend some time within a Robert Frost poem.

pro on pst

We're almost to the shortest day of the year - I think it's only two days away! We are really into the darks in this part of the world and it's partly because we live on the eastern edge of the Pacific Time Zone. Across the lake, the good citizens have opted to go onto Mountain Time and they get to be light until 5:30 p.m. while we have the dark totally descend by 4:30 p.m. As well, we've had 8 days of very low cloud and I've missed seeing "my mountains" - the amazing Purcells across the lake. In this kind of weather - lots of gray cloud against gray rock and a somewhat gray lake I'm supposed to call it silver - it's a silver day, as my walking friend Candace remarks. I'd have to say that I'm generally pissed right off on pst in the winter, but the good things are that it's light at 7 a.m. when I usually get out of bed and I get to put the Christmas lights on in the middle of the afternoon. Somehow, I think NOT having a picture accompany this post really suits the mood of it.

Taking On Bragging Rights

My daughter, Andrea, never gets around to blogging and after our phone conversation last night I figured I'd take on the task of bragging to the world about her latest race results. Going to Las Vegas seemed an odd choice for Andrea and Demitri but they went with more of their athletic friends and celebrated one of the clan turning 30! Can a 30 year old run a marathon must have been the cause? Andrea entered into the half-marathon (as a mere 27 year old) in Las Vegas and had great results - she was 41st out of 4, 776 women and 9th out of 806 women in her age group. You go, girl!! Demitri did the full marathon and finished in 3:03 - will the next step be Boston?

A Bridge With A View (and a Roof!)

The Kaslo pedestrian bridge has not yet officially opened but on Wednesday this past week, I crossed it with the Wednesday Walkers. We did have to pass underneath a scaffolding and there was a generator making a bit of a racket, but we could do the Kaslo River "circuit" for the first time. The picture of the roof at left was taken last Friday and the small creature you see on its top is Silvio, kind of the energy behind Kaslo Trail Blazers. He's also a baker so he gets up early, gets all the bread and buns made and then comes to work on our bridge for the rest of the day. Luckily for him, it's dark by 4 p.m. so he does get to quit early! He has done an unimaginable amount of work towards the completion of this project. The middle picture is taken from the bridge looking straight down but the most treacherous water is actually right underneath the bridge. A new friend, Catherine, took my picture this a.m. on the bridge as we did the circuit, and yes, that's sunshine in the background, messing up the exposure. Today was actually a real winter's day in the Koots - we had a temperature of minus 10 and I think there was something that might even be considered a windchill. However, the blue sky backdrop to the snow-capped mountains make it 'very heaven'.

Three Cheers for AA!

I simply have to report about my passport. I sent it away on October 15th and was told by my MP's office that they would work on it to ensure delivery in 6 weeks. It arrived in the mail today! So let's hear it for my MP, Alex Atamanenko, NDP for B.C. Southern Interior, and his staff. We had really good results by calling his staff in Ottawa, who promptly returned phone calls and told us that everything had arrived safely in the mail in the early stages. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that more passport clinics were being made available in Castlegar because of the heavy demand, but it was another case of "first come, first served". It's not every day that one's MP does something for an individual constituent but I have to say that AA is a man of his word on the passport issue.

The Clothesline Speaks

Last week on The Current there was a bit of a debate about clotheslines. I find it odd to read about how hanging out clothes is the latest environmental fad and smile to myself every time I see it in a "going green" article. I come from a family of clothesline users. It interested me to hear how many subdivisions in North America ban the use of clotheslines. Apparently people feel that it undervalues their property if washing is on display. Of course there are plenty of clothesline users who defend its use and speak about the beauty of clothes on a line and the joy of being in nature while doing the laundry task. I haven't hooked up our clothes dryer yet (well, bugged Dave to do it) and the item pictured here is one of my indoor clotheslines. Alas, I have to move indoors this week as the temperature has not been over zero and the sun is too low to reach my outdoor clothesline. With the woodstove going in the basement the clothes dry in a reasonable amount of time. I inherited this little clothesline from my exchange partner in IOM and it works quite well. I used to love seeing clotheslines in IOM - everyone uses a clothesline over there (with the wind the clothes dry quickly) and from the vantage point of a double decker bus it was always enjoyable watching laundry showing off in the brisk breezes. If any readers are doubtful about clotheslines, I say give it a try. Hanging laundry is my favourite household task.

Dignity in Death

B.C. news media is full of the taser incident. This morning, I heard a woman from Kelowna being interviewed about how her husband had been tasered a couple of weeks ago. This was apparently done in an argument over a traffic violation. The entire interview seemed to focus on what the police had done and how distraught her husband is now. I really wish the interviewer would have taken the time to ask the woman what her husband had been doing to warrant this kind of behaviour from the police. She also reported that she could only "watch the taser video once". At this point I had to turn off my radio.

I'm not trying to defend the police in any way about the incident at Vancouver airport. However, right from the beginning I've had to question why someone would even begin taking pictures of someone in distress. Everyone that I say this to replies: "Well, I'm really glad he did." In this case, some awful truths will come out. I continue to question what prompts people to take pictures of violent incidents and people in distress. Is this for the "15 minutes of fame" that might come their way?

Another thing that is bothering me about this incident is that the police are really coming out as "bad cops" in the British Columbia media. It does seem that there are many deaths of individuals while in police custody in this province. I've read enough novels to know that there are plenty of "bad cops" out there, the same way that there are bad teachers, bad lawyers, bad professors and bad librarians. Personally, I've never met a bad cop. The police have to do a pretty thankless job and I'm glad that they are here. Most of them are doing a great job and are truly helpful. It's been a hot topic of discussion in our household and an alternate point of view can be found at: http://newmtnview.blogspot.com/

My next concern is the viewing of the video. I have refused to watch this and so far have only met one other person who feels as I do. I think if we really want to do something "positive" in this unhappy affair is to give Mr. Dziekanski some dignity in death and refuse to watch his execution.