Well hello dear Bloggie,
Coming at you from a hotel room in Kelowna, British Columbia on this fine 3rd day of September – which would have been my 7th wedding anniversary. (Or would it? Hmmm…I’d like to think I would not have divorced my mentally ill, betrayer of a husband had he not died from cancer…but who knows what alternate reality I would be living by now had things turned out differently…) Anyhow, I don’t have a whole lot of emotion surrounding this day anymore…and I think that is a good and healthy sign.
August has been a stressful month for me. My sister has been quite ill and in hospital here in Kelowna – hence my presence. Most of the month I was on pins and needles, not knowing when her surgery would finally happen or if she would be healthy enough to even qualify. This, plus lots of goings on at work made the month both drag on and fly by simultaneously, if that makes any sense (and it does to me).
I did manage to get up to see my other sister (Me Too) and her wife at their lovely lakeside home, on the Civic Holiday Long weekend…and stopped in at a National Park (another one crossed off the list) along the drive up there.
And I did get to Riverfest Elora 2017. A fantastic festival with such a great vibe – I think this will be an annual event for me. Hopefully next year I can convince someone to join me. I didn’t mind going alone, but naturally it would have been even more enjoyable to have company.
As I fretted and stressed the month away, I decided to pour my feelings into the paint I was applying on some canvases.
I did find some time to get on the river.
And then I got word that my sister’s surgery had finally been scheduled and was happening within 48 hours, so it was a mad dash to get plane tickets and book a hotel. I arrived in smoke- and ash-covered Kelowna on Tuesday. This has been the worst season for forest fires in 60 years, I’ve been told.
My sister’s surgery was a success and she is steadily improving. And the skies have cleared up too!
I have booked my flight home for this coming Tuesday. Now there is nothing left to do on this Labour Day long weekend but enjoy visiting my sister and eat my fill of Okanagan peaches.
Rock on,
The WB
Oh dear! I’m late to this post and I hope by now your sister is doing well and recovered from her surgery.
The Okanagan area is one of my favourites and we visited there every summer for about 8 years as Husband – and then I – raced Ironman Canada in Penticton. In 2003, I remember well the firestorm around Kelowna. So sad – and rather scary – to see the sky and lake shrouded in smoke. We watched bomber after bomber picking up water off the lake. Your photo of the orange coloured sky hazy with smoke brings back those memories 🙁
I love the picture of you with the little Parks Canada logo on the fence behind you 🙂 I still have yet to get to Thousand Islands National Park! Must get there soon if I’m to do it this year!!
Thanks Joanne! It’s not a fence behind me. There were 2 bright red Muskoka chairs set up, side-by-side, on the rocky point. I think perhaps all National Parks have them, for taking selfies or just chillin’. Cool idea. Not sure if I’ll get to all the parks in Ontario this year. Spent most of August fretting over my sister and other things – and it’s amazing how much time and energy fretting can take up (and still get you nowhere fast). Hope you are enjoying the summer that finally showed up. I am doing my best to make up for lost time and hope to have another picture-heavy post on the blog soon.
Now that you’ve mentioned it, yes, it does look like a chair. Silly me. I had heard about those chairs and I believe they are in all the parks. Sadly, at the rate I’m going, I’m not likely going to hit my target of 4 out 5 Ontario parks this summer. This current spat of July weather in September is much appreciated though … even though I’m not a fan of humidity.
Looking forward to more of your great photos.
I really respond on a very guttural level to almost everything in this post because it feels like a very personal diary. Of a day, of an era, a time period. With so many life events ( death, illness) and small but important joys of life like peaches and time on a river.
Peta
Thank you Peta. I guess that is what this blog is to me – an online diary.
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