A Photo-Worthy Morning

     These are the images that welcomed Kona and I when we first went outside this morning.  It is finally looking like “Winter in BC”.   It is alright to look like winter, as long as it doesn’t “feel” like winter.  I probably am pushing my luck to say it, but so far we haven’t experienced any really cold temperatures.  They have been just hanging around the freezing point.

    I always call the photo below, “The View” because I have taken photos from that vantage point thousands of times.  Each one shows different colors, different weather, and a different feel.

Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

The Old Ballpoint Pen Finally Gave Up

     I don’t like to throw things away if they are still useful.  I guess that is why I still had this Province of British Columbia ballpoint pen.  I worked for the BC Forest Service for 23 years, and have now been retired from the job for 22 years.  I must have gotten that pen sometimes before 2003, and since then, while I certainly didn’t use it every day, periodically I would, if it was the first pen I saw when I needed one.  

    Today I was using it to write out a cheque for the local food bank, and suddenly my writing turned into a faint blue line; the pen finally ran out of ink.  

    I find it amazing living in a world of planned obsolescence, where things are made to become useless just shortly after you buy them or just after their warranty runs out.  I had to replace a battery for my pickup truck that quit just a few days after its warranty expired.  Days after the warranty on our hot water heater expired, our hot water tank quit working.  That is the way most things work these days, but not this old pen.  I don’t know what the lifespan of a ballpoint is supposed to be, but it is certainly before the age of 22.

    I have a story about another Province of British Columbia pen.  When my wife and I were traveling down in Mexico and we went to visit the enormous pyramids of Teotihuacan.  As we were wandering around, I was approached by a peasant who was secretly hawking “Aztec-type” artifacts.  He suspiciously looked around, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a dirt-smeared clay image and wanted me to buy it.

    I was pretty sure it was a fake artifact made by some local cottage industry, so I shook my head and tried to explain I didn’t have money on me, but old man was persistent.  I waved my hands to indicate I didn’t want it and started to walk away.   The man then pointed to the Province of British Columbia ballpoint pen that was sticking out of my shirt pocket and indicated with his hands that he would trade the clay image for the pen.  

    At that point, I thought, why not, and we made the trade.  I was happy to have the clay image and I guess he was happy to have the pen from the faraway Province of British Columbia.  I hope his pen also lasted 22 years.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Our Subdued Color Palette

     After the rich colors we experience from Spring to Fall, as we move toward Winter those brilliant colors we saw outside, become more and more subdued.   I certainly felt that this morning as I walked around the pond.  The thickly overcast sky that we have, added to the dullness of the surroundings.  As you can see, there is still some colors around, but they don’t have much punch.

    Our forecast for the week ahead, shows no sunshine, but only more overcast skies with either flurries or periods of snow.   Our forecasts are generally not very accurate beyond two days, so hopefully, we will get some sunshine peeking through sometimes during the week. 

    Our temperatures are warmer than usual.  Normal for this time of year we get temperatures of Maximum:  -4°C (25°F)  Minimum:  -12°C (!0°F), but it looks like instead, we will get maximums and minimums hanging  just a few degrees above or below freezing, certainly a lot milder than what has been normal.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Another Memorable Kid Quote

     On my November 14 blog I mentioned some memorable things the students in my one-room school had said.  Last night at our jam, we were telling humorous Christmas stories, and I remembered another funny thing that happened in our isolated rural school in 1973.

    It was my first year of teaching in the fly-in lumber camp and I was struggling to keep on top of things, in the start-up school that I ran in the camp’s recreation hall, because we didn’t even have a school building.  As Christmas approached I was starting to get unwanted pressure from some of the parents who wanted the school (me) to put on some kind of Christmas program for the camp.  I was not keen on creating another project and didn’t really know what to do, since our resources were pretty nonexistent.

    Although I am not at all religious, all I could come up with for a Christmas program was some sort of nativity thing, featuring the kids.  With the handful of students that made up our school, I figured that would probably give a part to everyone.  I explained to the class what I was thinking.  I told the kids that we would need a Joseph, a Mary, three Wise Men, and some shepherds.  I told them to think about which part they would like to play.   

    At lunch time as I was standing by the door of the Rec Center as the kids filed out to go home to eat,  Darwin, one of the kindergarten students stopped in front of  me, looked me in the eye, and seriously told me,  “I want to be a German shepherd.”

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Snow Shoveling, My Winter Exercise Regime

    For me, winter is generally a pretty laidback season.   During the rest of the year, I get exercise outside working on projects, maintaining the garden and lawn, and just puttering around, but with winter’s colder temperatures and snow covering the ground, there is not a lot of things that I can do outside, so I end up spending hours in the house, reading, doing things on the computer, or sitting in front of the television,  all things that don’t burn off much energy.

    All of that changes when we get a snowfall, and that is when my winter exercise regime kicks in.  Depending on the amount of snow that falls, I go outside and grab a snow shovel, or crank up the snowblower and clear the snow off of my driveway.   That job certainly qualifies as exercise, because my driveway is not a short stubby thing.  

    Our driveway is 255 feet long ( 77 m.).   The area I shovel, which includes the turnaround spot and the wide entrance up by the road, totals 2,200 sq. ft.  (200 sq. meters).  

    Overnight we got  about 4 inches (10 cm) of light powdery snow, and because that didn’t seem to justify getting the snowblower out I shoveled it.  It took me two hours.  We are lucky living in the Robson Valley because most of the snow we get is the light powdery kind, that doesn’t stick together and is easily pushed aside.  I didn’t have to lift and throw heavy shovelful.   I am always feel sorry to see the people on the news that have to deal with the wet heavy snow.  

    When we start getting snowfalls of more than 4 inches, I will start using the snowblower.  While that might seem easier, maneuvering the bulky machine around up and down and back and forth the driveway, also gives me exercise, and it does allow me to clear the driveway of a lot of snow, much faster than if I had to shovel it.

    I do have another source of exercise I get during the winter.  It is our weekly evening of square dancing, which is a lot more fun than shoveling or snowblowing the driveway.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Oh, I Forgot To Clean The Car's Backup Camera

     We bought our Subaru ten years ago.  We were impressed with all of the fancy electronic features it had, one of which was the backing up video camera that showed what was behind us.   Once I got used to looking at the rear view camera in our car when I back up, I found it really helpful.  However every winter I have to remember to clean off the camera before I back up, or else I can’t see anything.  (Photo above)

            Winter is really a dirty driving season for vehicles in the Interior of BC.  I drove up to Prince George last week, and while there was no snow;  the highway was wet and there had earlier been a bit of ice so the Highways Department had put down sand in a lot of places.   The water and very fine particles of sand sprayed up on the back of the car, coating the car and the video camera, thus rendering it useless for backing up.

            During the winter, I have to always remember to wipe off the backup camera every time I put the car in reverse.  That becomes a bit of a hassle, especially if I had forgotten to do it before I got into the car.

            I don’t know if other cars have their cameras in a different place, thus avoiding the problem, but the placement of the camera on our Subaru, sure isn’t very well thought out for our winter driving.     The photo below shows how dirty the camera (and back of the car) gets.

Take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

Ice Floes on the Fraser River

     I always feel like a real Northerner this time of year, when the temperatures get colder and I see ice floes starting to form and begin to float down the Fraser.    I noticed these floes a couple of days ago when we went over the bridge on our way to McBride.  What really caught my eye were the wonderful hues of blues reflected from the clear sky that were coloring the river.  I just had to pull over and take some photos.

    Seeing the floes indicates that with continuing below freezing temperatures, it won’t be long before the Fraser River is completely frozen over and then covered with snow.  Seeing a bit of color reflected in the flowing water is always a lot more interesting than seeing a frozen mass of white on the river for months and months, but what will be, will be.   

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca