Curly Kona

    Because Kona can be such a wild dog, we have been keeping a leash on her whenever we walk her outside.  Yesterday I thought since I was going to be gathering hay out in the pasture, I would just let her wander around on her own, like a real farm dog.  

    Fortunately there were no wild animal smells around so she didn’t tear out into the bush to investigate, she stuck fairly close to where I was working.  It was a very hot day (30C, 86F) so when she got hot and thirsty, she waded into the pond to drink and cool off.  When she walked back out, her legs black with pond muck, so we had to give her a shower when we went back into the house. 

    I towel dried her and when I was done, this is what she looked like.  I was impressed with her hair; so curly and interesting.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

 

Fox Keeping To Its Regular Schedule

    I keep a pretty regular schedule: I get up, eat, then after breakfast I drive Kona down for a walk in the park.  It seems that the neighborhood fox keeps to a regular schedule too, because our schedules always seem to intersect as I drive home from the park.  Numerous times now I meet the very young fox trotting down the road with breakfast in its mouth.  

    I drive really slowly and the fox just keeps going down the road until my car gets right across from it (that black blur in the lower right hand corner of the photo is my car’s side mirror), then the fox ducks into the bushes on the side of the road.  I sure hope the fox doesn’t get hit by a car because it always seems to be on the road.

You can see my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

 

The Beaver on Beaver Mountain

    Beaver Mountain, or “The Beaver” is one of the prominent mountain peaks that can be seen from the townsite of McBride.  It was always a bit of a mystery to me why it was called that when we first moved to the area and viewed the mountain from town or Hwy. 16, because we could see no obvious reason for the name.  Then many years later while visiting with friends on Hinkelman Road, I happened to glance up at the mountain from that direction and the name became obvious, because you could see a rock formation on the horizon of the slope that looked very much like a beaver.

    Last night while visiting outside with those same friends, my lawn chair faced Beaver Mountain and I just couldn’t help but take a photo of “The Beaver”.  Below is a photo showing how the mountain is usually seen.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

 

Ghost Finger

    People are curious and often ask me if I can feel my missing finger.  The answer is yes.  My finger is "there" but it's not there.  It is very strange and bizarre and I would have thought that after a year my nerves would have figured out that my finger is no longer there.  If I lay my hand down on a table, I can feel all of my fingers touching the table top except for my ring finger, which feels like it is lifted up so that it isn’t touching the table top, but it seems like it is still there.

    I can “move” my finger; lift and lower it, although it no longer exists.  When I make a fist with my left hand, there is a tightness, like a stiff muscle mass is preventing me from closing my fist  completely, although all of my other fingers are closed completely to my palm.

    I am happy to report that I can pretty much play all the chords I need to on the guitar, although not as efficiently, and I have been able to adjust my typing.  My left hand is still sensitive in the “digital gap” where my ring finger was (almost like getting a mild electric shock) and unfortunately, every time Kona comes and wants a pet, for some reason she always jabs her nose right in there, causing me to flinch.

    I have adjusted and my life hasn’t really changed much.

You can view my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

 

Day Lily Leaves

    Drops of water usually make for an interesting photo.  I took this one with my iPhone after a rainfall.  I was quite impressed with how well the photo turned out.   We’ve got a rainy day going for us today, so it seemed like a relevant picture to post.

You can view my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

 

The Landscape I Love

    People live in various places for various reasons.  One of the main reasons I live in the Robson Valley is because of the ever-changing beauty of the landscape.  I love to watch the shadows cast upon the fields and mountains as the clouds roll across the sky.  I took this photo the other day when we took Kona out for a walk on Jeck Rd. 

    I am always a sucker for green and there was such an intense green in the foreground which stood out strongly against the dark shadows of the Cariboo Mountains, that I had to take a photo, even though not much else is going on.  Because I love to take photos, it’s really nice to live in a place that offers so many opportunities to take beautiful ones.

You can take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

 

Living With Danger

    The other day while looking for a map of our waterline, I came upon a map I had totally forgotten about.  In 1999 people in the Robson Valley who were living in areas of potential hazard received a map from the Regional District showing where those dangers were.  I guess like everyone else, I looked at the map, worried for a couple of days, filed the map away, then forgot about it.

    Last July after really heavy rains several houses were wiped out by a mudslide: 

 (http://www.davidmarchant2.ca/Color_and_Light_2/Blog/Entries/2020/7/5_Dramatic_Mudslide_in_Neighborhood.html)

    That exact area was shown on the 1999 Hazard Map very precisely as being in danger.  I was impressed by the accuracy of the study the map was based on.  Property we own is also shown on the map (shown below) as being threatened.  

    I remember as a teen about hearing that California was going to fall into the sea because of earthquakes, and I thought, “Why would people lived there?” 

    There are not many places on this earth that aren’t threatened by some kind of danger:  earthquakes, floods, droughts, fires, volcanoes, disease; there is always something out there that can get you and everyone has to weigh the threats and hope for the best.

 

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca