Summerland KVR Trestle Snowshoe Blues: Monday, February 10th!

I see too plainly custom forms us all. Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed belief, are consequences of our place of birth. -Aaron Hill, dramatist and writer (10 Feb 1685-1750) 

Dueling felines!

Etta is really starting to assert herself with respect to Duke, of late. She wouldn't let him near the cheese toy when I put it out after I fed them, little cat-nip junkie that she is!  Dueling felines!

Hi Snowshoe and Armchair People! Thanks to the Lumbago Lumberjack, [aka Tall Timber!], for putting aside his painful back, [Thanks, of course, to Snowshoe Woman for doing all the hard work of strapping on snowshoes!], and leading us, along with binding plagued Chuckerini, on a wonderful, wonderful jaunt! The day couldn't have been grander with nary a breath of wind, sunshine overhead and crunchy snow beneath. Perfect temperature even though a number of crew, [The names have been withheld to protect the Guilty!], were overdressed and rest of us had to wait, interminably, while they whined and moaned and reduced layers!

Great to see Tyrannosaurus in the IGA parking lot, before we left, even though he would not approved of the non-bushwacking aspect of the outing had he been able to join us. Apparently he had an appointment for a facial and a pedicure! Tough Love Tinka! Hip Hip Hooray! Cheers, Patrizzio!

I'm a day early and hunkered down in the garage with the still running and a good book in my hands. Wim Wenders! Hi Book Bound Moonshiner! Missed you this evening as I had a more than marvelous time, not only selling 50/50 tickets but also listening to Laila Biali. Her husband, drummer, fabulous indeed, was part of trio, along with wonderful bass guitarist with an amazing voice to boot, I'd seen last summer with Dan Brubeck, one of Dave's sons. Had seen Laila last June, with Josinta and Aarturos, but I think I enjoyed her more this time. She is a dazzler on keyboard and her vocals were pyrotechnical. Her stage presence was more relaxed and her introductions to each song were wonderfully sketched short stories. 

Had you had a chance to tag along Hazel said you would have been able to stay for performance. At any rate, I had occasion to chat with quite a few very interesting couples from as far away as Prince George to closer to home: Coldwater, Lake Country and Kelowna. Also bumped into Wendy and Robert McKenzie, local architect in town and one who designed the stunning home, just past Robinson, south of Naramata Road, of close friends, Lynne and Peter Lighthall. They sold last May and are now living in Victoria. At any rate, W/R are a lovely couple and we got to know them through L/P at various social events, etc. He also designed Burrowing Owl, Spirit Ridge and, most recently, Play.

Speaking of wineries, another couple, Leslie and Jim D’Andrea, were there as well. Good friend, Pamela Webster, is in our book club, and she and her husband, Bill, are very close friends, Bill and Jim having gone to school together. At any rate, a couple of years ago I introduced myself to Leslie when we bumped into her at Noble Ridge, explaining the connection. She remembered me and we had a great chat. I'd not met Jim before but he was extremely friendly and pleasant. Funnily enough, our book club will be hosted by Pamela on Thursday.
 

Earlier that morning I joined the regular hiking and snowshoeing gang, [Small group of only five this time.], and we had a terrific outing. Parked at the KVR trestle near Sumerland Sweets. Crossed the trestle and then veered right to climb into the woods, following a number of fairly well trodden trails. After about an hour and a half we stopped for a quick bite, enjoying grand views of Giant's Head and Okanagan, glowing burnished pewter in the glorious sunshine. Following that we retraced our steps, more or less, and when back to the fence enclosing the The Summerland Research and Development Centre we followed it south to reconnect with the KVR and then made our way back to the trestle.

Marian and Tim Dunn, "The Cousins" bumped into a number of neighbours and former neighbours so it was fun to meet them and their pooches. Pretty relaxed outing in terms of terrain but most enjoyable as not a breath of wind and snow underfoot was crunchy rather than icy so footing was not an issue. We repaired to Summerland Sweets for java so a wonderful way to cap off junket. Have to pinch myself after every such outing as what a blessing to have this incredible countryside right on our doorsteps. 

Trust the Poitín flowed freely! Lady Dar and Chloë/Rowan James will leave for Kelowna tomorrow to collect the Little Chap's passport for his first trip to Tinsel Town. See you and The Lovely Rita on Wednesday. Stay well. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Rowan James taking a break from watching Oscars this past Sunday! Robert and Wendy; Laila and band; moon on walk home! 

Hi Patrice, Thank you for the account of the recent goings on of the Penictonians, very sorry to hear about Corrine’s bout of the flu and hopefully she wasn’t affected by too many Corona’s!. I hope she is well on the mend by now and feeling up to shoveling the walks..under your direction of course. 

Funny that you refer to us as the S.V. socialites because we have not been up since the 2nd of Jan for various reasons including the weather which of course has been horrible at times. Given that it takes the better part of a day to really get the cabin up to a comfortable temp. 

It doesn’t work to just go up for less than a few nights this time of year, we do plan on heading up for the family day weekend and Colleen is teaching a bender ball class at the rec center. We have been working with the ratepayers association which at times has been an adversary of the SCCC but we have ditched the past negative history between the two and are now working together for the betterment of the community.

That’s really neat that you heard the interview with the indigenous weaver woman! I will have to try and look it up and have a listen as well. 

I agree, somewhat biasedly of course, that art is a very important part of our culture and even if contentious (as much of it can tend to be) enriches the fabric of our life experience be it arguing for or against a given piece or just enjoying the visual emotional experience that comes from it. Not to mention has been earning me a good portion of my income the last decade 😊. 

I have been busy finishing the bench ( the seemingly never ending project ) but made very good progress the last few days and am ready to hand it off to Germaine so she can work on the electronic interface between the console and pedal units etc.  

Here’s a vid of the new pedal mount system in action https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHmEeaNsIqQ It will go for powder coating..( pink! so she informed me the other day ).

I tried not to show my disdain but couldn’t totally hide it and we had a laugh. Whatever I guess, as long as the cheques are good. I have to admit I haven’t been working too hard on her stuff as I have also been working on my own projects and walking Clover etc. too. 
 

The next project which is a series of flagpoles with rotating pennants on top for the outside of an apartment complex in Brentwood has a large budget and is much more straight forward and easier or me. At first I was going to work for an hourly rate and would not have necessarily made that much on it but I talked Germaine into paying me a salary and is going to help in a big way with the many extra hours at a flat rate I did for the last one. This works great and I can pick away at it at different times when I feel productive and work on my own things in between.

On a less than happy note I have to report that on of the reasons we are sticking close to home is because of Sue’s condition which has deteriorated rapidly over the last month or so and sadly we don’t expect she has more than a few weeks left in her. Her sister Lisa, her husband Mark and their daughter Kellyn have been visiting and staying at Maureen’s while she has been in India for Jeremy’s wedding. She no doubt will have been shocked to see the decline from when she left and she just arrived back yesterday mid day but we haven’t spoken yet. As I am sure you can appreciate there is a lot going on but everyone, including Sue have been holding up pretty well all things considered. Sue although obviously less than happy with the situation is facing the reality that she won’t be around much longer and trying to look after things. Gerry, while outwardly holding it together has lost a significant amount of weight and no doubt internally is feeling the stress of the situation but putting on a brave front. Colleen has been spending a lot of time with her Mom and taking her to all of her appointments etc. and being very supportive and I have in turn been supporting her and the family wherever I can. 

To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead. -Samuel Butler, writer (1835-1902)

I feel badly that Sue has wanted to keep all this on the d.l. except for but a very few people but can understand although for friends like yourself who care very much about her well being ( which I have no doubt is understood) are kept at arms length. At this point I am sure a note expressing your well wishes would not be unwelcome but don’t feel you need too. Like I said to Sue, we are all heading that direction and just some of us sooner than others and there are many waiting for us just as there are many that will miss us for a time until we can reunite.

It has been a ray of sunshine here, seeing all the pictures of Baby Rowan and all the joy he brings as well as the promise of a new life and grand adventure for all of you. We do look forward to seeing him and the rest of you as soon as the time works out but for now lots of love and hugs to you all. And we will keep in touch. Xoxo, Al

Pictures: the new project called still flowing which I think is referring to a nearby creek near the complex in Brentwood. Rotating pennants atop flagpoles of various heights. Clover and I on our walk through one of my favourite places called Byrne creek ravine here on the south slope. 
 

A guitar sculpture I started for Jake, the seat for the bench, the new to me Honda Goldwing I bought back in September, the garden gate I built the last couple days with the Clover friendly window at the bottom.

Hi Big Al! Thanks for your news filled message. First and foremost, we are both deeply, deeply saddened to hear your account of Sue's precarious health and her increasingly rapid deterioration. With the Durston Family just having undergone a somewhat similar situation, with Marlo, our hearts go out to you as you struggle to come to terms with this more than terrible situation. 

You mention a note and we are wondering how best this might be accomplished, in terms of sending it to her. Would an email to you or Colleen, that could be passed along, be appropriate? Please let us know and we'll do whatever you deem fit. I know we would like to speak to her but perhaps that might be too difficult, for her and Gerry, never mind us, so will let you decide what you think best.

Hard to go on, knowing how difficult your lives remain, but I must say how much I enjoyed the snaps you included. The guitar is wonderful and the bench, spiffy indeed. Clover is a doll and I know she'd love to come snowshoeing with me! [See album below!] Pennants look like they would fit right in to a medieval jousting tournament. Unfortunately, for you, I have added yet another task to your endless Burns Street Bistro Chore List: a new, improved set of cat doors for the resident felines, à la the Clover friendly window! However, I am still wondering when you will grow up, given your majestic Goldwing. Always remember it isn't how many "toys" your own but rather how large your Malt cabinet happens to be!
 

Must away to vacuum before Lady Dar has my head atop a spike! Need to check-off my Burns Street Bistro chore list, [Something you are obviously not particularly good at, Big Molly!], before I am the focus of her ire. Fondestos from Her Imperiousness to you both. [Let us know about how best to contact Sue and we'll plan accordingly.] Take care of each other. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Rowan James taking a break from watching Oscars this past Sunday. Robert and Wendy; Laila and band; Moon, on walk home, along Penticton Creek, after leaving Dream! My low-tech feline firewall!

Fine Dining in Mumbai: I’m now in Goa for some R&R (travelling is HARD WORK!) Among other things, it’s providing an opportunity to catch up on blogging. While in Mumbai, I went to a South Indian restaurant near my hotel called “Taste of Malabar.” It’s a very unpretentious sort of place, frequented by locals. I was shown to a table with space for 4-6 and, as usual, asked for Fresh Lime Soda (Sweet Version).

Also, as usual, I struggled with the menu. There are a few familiar items that I recognize immediately, but always sticking with the “known” is a bit limiting. The menus can be a bit impenetrable, though, and quite often, the servers don’t speak good English and find it difficult to answer questions.

 

On this occasion, however, there was a couple at the next table and the woman looked over and asked if I needed help. When I replied “probably,” she (Bidisha) and her husband (Anurag) assisted me in placing an order.

While I was waiting, the “maître’d” (not quite the right word in the context but you get the idea) brought two complete strangers to my table and sat them down opposite to me. It felt a bit odd and awkward (I doubt that we had a great deal in common — they were very young). So Bidisha and Anurag invited me to join them at their table. (According to Bidisha, it’s not uncommon for strangers to be put together in restaurants if space is limited. However, permission is usually sought and she was surprised that I wasn’t asked).

Anyhow, Bidisha and Anurag were super-friendly and interesting. She’s an actress and artist and he’s in the financial industry. I had noticed before we spoke that they were speaking to each other in English and when I asked about that, they explained that they are from different parts of India and don’t have an Indian mother-tongue language in common. So they use English and Hindi. 

Conversation flowed pleasantly and easily, so much so that they invited me to accompany them afterwards to their favourite chai stand a block or so away and bought me a masala chai. It came in a terracotta cup and they showed me where to leave it afterwards — in a trash bin. I was surprised, as it was definitely washable, but they explained that it wouldn’t be reused. Apparently, what happens is that the discarded cups are recycled into new cups. I had to get back to the hotel to prepare for departure-to-Goa the next day, but it was just a really nice way to wind up my time in Mumbai. (More about Mumbai in a future post). 
 

Loyal readers may recall my fine dining experience in Delhi, which — although the food was good — was a bit of a debacle. “Taste of Malabar” truly WAS a fine dining experience . . . because of the people. It was amazingly inexpensive too: INR 216 (= CAD $4) for Fresh Lime Soda, a vegetarian main course (can’t recall the unfamiliar name) and Butter Naan (an enduring favourite).
Bidisha and Anurag and I exchanged contact details and I hope that we’ll keep in touch and meet up again either in Vancouver or India. I can’t post a photo of this lovely couple, as Anurag is photo-shy and is not on social media despite being very tech-savvy. To Bidisha’s surprise, I persuaded him to be in a picture, but I promised I wouldn’t post it. Here’s a picture of the chai place though.

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