A Walk in the Fall Leaves

The cat is everywhere, but mostly under my feet when I am trying to change from my inside shoes to my outside shoes while sitting on the porch ,  or when I try to navigate the thin sheet of ice on the stairs that lead from the deck to the ground.  

That is when the cat is either curling around my right foot  or my left foot or between or trying to stabilize itself between both of my feet.

I try to give him a few knocks with my walking stick.  Not enough to knock him out, but enough to let him know that there is plenty of other space in the universe than space that is one foot or less away from me.

Then when I get walking I forget the cat until a see a picture that reminds me Cruise sometimes likes to be a few yards ahead of me as if leading the walk for the full 1,500 steps to the tracks.

I like walking this curve in the road, the poplar leaves still falling from the tree, half covering the road until a CPR truck churns them up with the power of its exhaust and the speed of its huge frame.

The truck passes us and the leaves continue to settle.

A lovely time had by all.

Arta

The Fall of the Best AppleTree on the Property

"Oh no! Look at Wyona's apple tree!"

Those were the words that drew my attention lakeward.

And yes, the tree was laying on the ground.

While Glen and I stood looking at the tree, Bonnie went onto Greg's porch, knocked on his windows, on his doors, made noise going along the porch, trying to see if he were home or out on his daily 2 hour walk.

How could this have happened?
We found bear scat, fresh bear scat within a few yards of the tree.

" No!" again from Bonnie. "The best apple tree on the property."
She took an apple in her hand.
"At least they are low enough to pick."

"Please take all you want," said Greg,

"The fallen tree may be from the weight of the snow," said Glen.
As we had been walking from my place to his, we had stopped at 5 Corners
and looked down Pilling's Road. 
"Dave Wood is going to be happy to see all of these fallen trees when he gets back," said Glen. 
Without Glen bringing it to our attention, I wouldn't have seen all of the deciduous trees hanging over both sides of the road, bowed as though in a military arch.
"What has happened," questioned Bonnie.
"The leaves haven't finished falling.  The roots just aren't strong enough for the weight of the snow that is on the leaves," explained Glen.
I have spent the days since the snowfall, enjoying the sight of the leaves that can fall, no longer floating down as they do in the late fall, but twirling with speed -- it must have been the weight of the snow on the leaves that I was noticing.

"Are we going to be able to fix this," Greg asked?

"If you can get the apples off, there is a possibility that the tree the tree can be uprighted," explained Glen, standing as he was with a broken scapula.  I think that is the reason the pronoun was you and not we.

Cruise, who thinks he is a human, has been following us from my house. 
"I like that cat,"  Glen had said.  "He does what cats are supposed to do.  Mouse."
Soon Cruise was playfully running up and down the fallen trunk, in and out of the leaves and the apples and the bits of snow.

When we called Wyona to tell her the news, she asked, "Which way did the tree fall?"
Glen told her, "Down."
I would have said, "In the direction of Moiya's house.

This is my poor attempt of giving Wyona a close-up of what the roots look when exposed.

Arta

A First Snowfall

 

Bonnie told me there would be snow today.

I haven’t put away all of the deck furniture.

I am trusting that this is only a first snow fall that will melt and that I can get those last pieces of furniture under the deck. 

What I have never seen before is snow gently falling and at the same time rust coloured leaves from the deciduous trees twirling down, speeding actually, as if they have an important place to go. 

What I am noticing is the two different speeds: that of the snow and that of the leaves.

It must be the weight of the snow on the leaves that makes them fall, and that probably gives them the speed I am noticing. 

A privilege to sit in this moment of falling snow and leaves that need to be grounded.

Arta

The Lonely Apple

 

Bonnie and I have been watching the apple trees that Glen planted on the 66 foot road, and indeed, we picked up windfalls – three of them.  We placed them by the side of the road to pick them up on our return to the house, but then we took a different way home.

Again, Bonnie took a walk to see how the tree was doing, and all that was left was one lonely apple.

The bear took everything from three trees except one apple which she  brought home and we kept on the counter for a while.

Dave Wood came over and Bonnie asked him if he would like to taste the only apple. 

 He said yes. Then she asked him how it tasted, and the look on his face told all. I was wishing she had asked me that question about would I like to eat the apple, before she asked David. 

In fact, I thought Bonnie and I were going to share that singular apple, after using it as a table decoration, and further, talking about it so many times. Even photographing it.

Ah well, grieving the loss of one apple when I have fifty in my fridge that were picked from the apple tree of David Camps. 

What’s up with the human heart. 

Mine has to travel the road until it is as generous as Bonnie’s.

Arta

Stratford’s Taming of the Shrew

Stratford's production of Shakespearee's The Taming of the Shrew

Last night Bonnie set up a projector in the living room, put a large fabric on the wall to simulate a screen and we watched the Stratford Production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.  This is not the first time I have seen The Taming of the Shrew, nor the first time I have seen it done by the Stratford Company. 

Indeed, its memory is recent in my mind for it is the production that I watched with Michael Johnson a few days ago.  I wondered how long I could keep him at the screen with me.  Too bad that I ran out of the last half of the large Cadbury Milk Chocolate Bar that I had been hiding in my blanket cupboard before the film ended. 

I was hiding the chocolate bar from myself, so I knew where it was. 

My desire to keep him at the screen was greater than my need to keep back some candy for myself for random snack attacks.  I had the closed captions for Michael, but mostly for me.  He was reading them out loud as the actors were speaking them, not a practise I would have allowed in a classroom setting, but a practise I fully believed in at that moment – anything to keep him at the screen. 

I backed the bed up against the door to lock it so that we would not be interrupted by his younger siblings.  

Together we watched the show.  He kept viewing all the way to where the wedding between Petruchio and Katharina was to occur.  In the passing of that amount of time, we had seen a lute smashed over a scholar’s head, a master and servant switch costumes, and seen a man wearing pumpkin pants who also suggested to the audience that wearing them was both comfortable and stylish.  We had seen a man dressed as a woman, to be presented later, to the character, Christopher Sly, as his wife.  We had observed the writing style of setting a play within a play.  We listened to a medieval band of travelling musicians, and we observed fight scenes, screaming matches, sleep deprivation, the handcuffing of siblings buy siblings, and shrewish behaviour to parents, … oh, the list is only half started.

The next day, Bonnie read the Lego Version of The Taming of the Shrew to Michael and Alice, both so wrapped in attention  at the story that they were either leaning their bodies on hers, or peering over her shoulder and even reaching over it to turn to the next page, not really a comfortable position for her. 

Last night, Bonnie and I were alone in the evening so we engaged in another practise – now watching the show as a 300 year old systemic practise of taking away autonomy, of taking away the right to free speech, of the practise of objectification of another person, all the while cloaking this in humour. We watched starvation, the enactment of homelessness – there are plenty of academic essays on all of these subject, for The Taming of the Shrew.  The show is still on festival bills, now seen through a modern lens. 

When the show was over, we stayed up to talk about it for two hours – we didn’t get to bed until 3 am. 

Watching this show was a thrill in three parts.  One was to have an 8-year-old boy by my side, showing him Elizabethan English and a certain story form.  Secondly, I was reminded of how 300-year-old long systems of entanglement are still practised today. Third, I got to watch my daughter read Shakespeare to my grandchildren.

Now over to you, Rebecca.  I know you have some notes on this show.

~ Arta

Lake Projects

From Mary:

Naomi found these rollerblades in the shoe section of Churches Thrift Shop in Salmon Arm. 

The sign say all shoes : $1.

We was disappointed to get to cash and find out they were $3 but decided it was still a good deal.

She brought them back to the cottage and sanded them so they would take spray paint.

Next, back to town to buy some spray paint.

 Now she is cutting out stencils of roses to add some detail with another colour of spray paint.

(Posted for Mary by Arta)

Looking into Lords of Waterdeep

So?  Who wouldn't want to return 2 and get 3?

Last night Duncan informed me that on the web for the game of The Lords of Waterdeep, he has found information about all of the buildings and the characters who own those buildings among other things.

I got that piece of information because I landed on a tavern called The Three Pearls and being interested in Pearls, I was casually wondering why the pub had that name.

He told me it is owned by 3 sisters who take part in every conversation, each having 1/3 of each sentence they speak.

A conversation like that is cause enough to play Lords of Waterdeep.

The terrible moment of scoring comes long after our tokens have gone around the board. What has happened with in our quests is what makes the difference. I have always come in last in the game. But last night was a first for me. I was second to last. As I was closing down for the evening I was thinking about how I am getting better with practice.

Arta

Churches on Monday

 Wyona and I weeded our respective gardens this morning, one of us for over an hour. Our collective reward for doing this hard Monday morning work was to go to Salmon Arm and visit our favourite thrift store: Churches of Salmon Arm. We had a discussion as to whether the shop was open, since our friends told us it would be closed. But the internet, that carrier of all truth, said the store was open and it was.

Wyona found two small wicker baskets shaped like garden hanging chairs, but they were sized for a child’s doll.

 She bought both of them.

She is going to hang them from a tree in her yard.

She also found some lovely crystal: one piece to be used for spare earrings and the other just the right size for snacks left on the kitchen table.

... the large red checkered picnic table cloth thrown in for free ...
... plus one set of blue napkins and one set of white cloth napkins ...

I found a wicker picnic basket – not fully equipped, but I didn’t learn that until I got it home.

Still it had a big red checkered table cloth, four blue napkins and a full set of white cutlery plus four plates.

Whatever pieces are missing, I am sure Grandmother will be able to supply for a never ending backup of glasses and bowls.

The whole intent is to use the basket to go into the woods for a picnic.

 Lucky for us, the woods are only 15 feet away.

I also found a copy of Edith Fowke’s Red Rover, Red Rover: Children’s Games Played in Canada. I shall be studying this book during my lunch hours.

For the curious I shall list the Contents:

1. Starting a Game
2. Chasing Games
3. Catching Games
4. Seeking Games
5. Hunting Games
6. Racing Games
7. Duelling Games
8. Exerting Games
9. Daring Games
10. Guessing Games
11. Acting Games
12. Pretending Games
13. Miscellaneous Games
14. Marble Games
15. Word Games

The cost of the book on the internet is $309.00 new and  $27.95 used.

This copy at the Churches of Salmon Arm Thrift Store was $2.00.

What if I can find a way to just do one new game a week with the Richard and Miranda's little childen?

 A lovely what if....

Arta

On Writing Every Day

... the white flowers are dogwood tree branches ...
... the purples flowers are wild lupins ...

Ria tells me I should be writing every day.

 “But when would be, that hour in the day?” I ask her.

To me every job seems more important to get done that the following job: the pure love of writing.

She told me that once Toni Morrison gave herself this question: which things in life would you really feel a loss about if you had to give them up.

Morrison found that for her, writing would be that loss and so she stopped her day job and began writing.

And thus Blue Eyes came to be.

A part of me understands that loss.

I think about writing when I have the garden tools in my hands, when I am doing dishes, when I am preparing food, even when I am waking up in the morning.

I laugh at myself and think, “Do I have to write so that I know I exist?”

I can’t think of any other reason.

... Ria brought me a new vase as a gift ...

I told Ria that there is one thing harder than writing.

That is, finding someone who will read what you have written.

She shakes her head in disbelief – I am guessing that the disbelief is how there can be so much written material available that we have become overwhelmed with where to even start reading.

Just backing up, it is still hard to find time to write, even with an audience.

The morning hours are sacred hours in the summer.

They are the long cool hours when I can work on my yard.

Later in the day when the sun is high, I can feel sweat dripping down my forehead and running off of my nose.

wild orange honeysuckle
lupins
buttercups
other unnamed white and yellow flowers

I don’t mind it when I am on all fours.

Then the sweat just drops directly off of my forehead and into the soil.

As an aside, I wonder if the earth knows this is just sweat and not some woman’s tears.

I don’t like having salty sweat roll down my forehead and into my eyes.

I think I found a motion yesterday where I can interrupt that sweat and flick it off of my nose without so much as having to raise my hand to my face.

Just a quick sharp, shake.

I must not have done much sweat-work in the world to have arrived at this idea so late in life.

Arta

A New Toaster

Ria and I went to the thrift store today, The Churches of Salmon Arm Thrift Strore. I was looking for a used toaster. I purchased a Silex Proctor model ($2.00), a fistful of Lego ($5.00), and 2 wire cooling racks ($2.00). I was wondering why I had to get the cooling racks. I have 5 already. Still, sometimes I am looking for just one more place to put a pizza or cookies that are coming out of the oven faster than the batch before is cooling.

After that big cash splurge, Ria and I kept strictly to my list – except in the grocery store. Why is it that just walking through the isle of Save-On Foods triggers ideas of other products to buy: celery to put in the turkey soup tomorrow; eggs for breakfast; avocados for guacamole – none of them on our list but all of them floating in my mind?

The day was hot. The pavement in parking lots was blasting the heat back to the heavens. Even tonight at 6 pm the temperature is 30 degrees in Sicamous. The temperature at the lake feels cooler. The first gentle breeze of the katabatic wind is at my shoulders as I type and I can feel the temperature dropping.

Ria and I have eaten all of our meals in one corner of the porch. There is no feeling of loneliness although there are only two of us. During the day we have seen the shine on the water as ducks tip their heads down looking for fish. The alpha crow flies through the air, cawing and taking care of its territory. The traffic of the trans-Canada is a gentle hum behind us. Ria can hear the quiet buzz of insects in the trees.

There is a vase of lilacs on the kitchen counter: purple flowers and each bud is rimmed with a white edge. I cut 3 fuchsia peonies for our table at lunch. Ria asked me where I would move if I went somewhere else. Since we are well into Spring and everything is so perfect here, a move anywhere else would be a move backward.

Arta

Hose and Tent Clean up

Running from one end of the ground sheet
 to the other is a sure way to add steps
to the 10,000 that I must do every day.

Do not leave your mother with the job of folding up the tents at the end of the summer.

I successfully folded two of the tents into their bags, though the poles from them ended up in one bag.

Someone will have to sort that out later.

Probably they will be grumbling but by that time no one will remember who put the tents away the year before.

The bigger problem was folding up a humungous ground sheet.  I finally got two long ends together and then pinned into the frame of the swing.  Then I could deal with the other two ends.

This was much more difficult than folding a queen sized sheet or a banquet-sized table cloth.

Moiya suggested that I post a list of jobs so that when people ask at the end of the summer, "What can I do to help?",  that I will have some choices for them.

One of the alternate jobs would be to run the water out of the hoses.

Glen told me just do it by gravity, so I have one hose that I drag right up to the top of the raspberry bushes, and the hose extends down the hill, past the house and continues down the path to the stream.  This hose is so long I can water something anywhere on the property.

Moiya went down the end of the hose to look and see if all of the water was out.  She told me that my method wasn't working, because no water was coming out.  That made me laugh for to me it meant that the plan had worked and the hose was now empty.

Arta

Karate Class Warm-Up

I took tai chi.
But seeing David doing karate?
Now maybe I think I took the wrong martial arts.

I know the ground is not flat.
How does he manage to stand on one foot on a slope?

Don't let me be on the receiving end of that punch.
The only person I ever knew who could do that was Uncle Greg.
He could break a 10 pound slab of chocolate with his fist!

Happy Martial Arts

And the pictures made me homesick.

Arta

Wyona Paints the Shuswap

Many years ago Wyona took Chinese paint brushing lessons and practiced a great deal.  She has picked up a paint brush again and while at Shuswap Lake created these stunning water colour paintings.

Several cousins, aunts and uncles have requested copies of the cabin pictures.  Pricing is still being decided.  :)

Views of the Shuswap from the Bates' cabin.

A stunning copy of a peek-a-boo view of the Shuswap.

Greg picked wild flowers for Wyona and she painted them.  I believe Glen was able to name every flower and berry.  Which ones do you recognize?

The most recent painting of the loud cabin as it looks now including the moss on the roof and the small tree growing through the porch.

Keep painting Wyona and creating beautiful works of art!

- Tonia

Benches

Feels good on this side.

From Catherine and Hebe:


If Hebe and I had $99 we would buy this for the cousins to use this summer at the lake.


Find it at Home Depot if you are interested.


Arta replies:


I was thinking about summer furniture as well.

And it feels good on that side.

There is a great picnic table at Costco for kids.


Then I saw a hammock with a canopy at London Drugs.


Next I saw a gazebo to cover the BBQ.

Cool!  Now 2 benches and a table.

Richard and I were planning for something even harder.

How to keep the summer furniture off of the grass, so that when he goes to mow, there isn't 1/2 hour of moving furniture out of the way first.

Holy cow!  So much summer furniture.

So little summer.

Arta


 Honouring Arta's 75th: Third Quarter Quell, Day 21

Nostalgia ... a little more

From Bonnie Wyora:

What a great image I have in my mind now of you two shining the outside of your train window.

My mouth is watering, savoring those last pastries, cheese and yogurt from John Lewis.

I have never shopped at John Lewis before, but if Wyona and Greg buy there - that is enough for my mouth to start watering.

As dusk was falling I started running around Lot #3 taking pictures to send to Arta.

It is so beautiful out here right now. It doesn't seem right for it to be all just for me, and for David when he knows cousins are on the property. So, I enjoyed it for all of you.

... dusk falling on Lot 3 ...

I took in the fragrance of the lilac tree for at least 10 people.

I studied the volunteer chives that have sprung up by the stream for at least 5 people.

I took pictures of the wedding reach, quiet now, but in my mind still filled with the crowd from Miranda and Richard's wedding.

I got very close to the baby blue eyes flowers in the Meadow reach. I think Glen told me they are Laynie's favorites so I enjoyed them for her.

I studied the rock wall and called to Ron, "Come back and see how well it's holding."

I photographed the rocks that Ina painted down by the missionary reach of Campbell Creek.

I lingered where Trell and friends go to smoke, to protect the lungs of us nonsmokers. The birch logs still lay across the creek where he last placed them.

I photographed the sky for Rebecca, pink clouds with a sliver of a moon seeming to hang suspended between the upper boughs of two Douglas Fir Trees.

I collected over a dozen nerf bullets from the Victoria Day weekend battle between David and his Robertson second cousins.

I parted the strawberry plant leaves and craddled the ripe strawberries weighing pros and cons. I was of two minds - bite down and taste that fresh BC taste born of Arta's labours at the compost and in the garden or leave them and see if I can lure David to come look for strawberries with me on the weekend.

Can't wait for the most important part of summer.

The arrival of the rest of you.

Bonnie Wyora

Preparations for the Nerd Gun War

Bonnie Wyora here:

... give everyone a chance
to read the rules ....

There has been a cousin sighting at the lake.

David has started planning for a party.

He is going to put out a sign like the LaRue 50th Anniversary Party sign from last year with an open invitation.

He has written out some rules.

He has done some push-ups and challenging sit-ups ... and he can't wait to begin.

... warming up for the games ...

Free for all

1. The person who has been hit the least amount of times wins.

2. If you hit someone in the head it counts as you getting hit twice and 5 push-ups.

... I can do some of these quickly as well ...

Teams

Half of the players are on one team.

Everyone else on the other team.

Same rules as free for all but with team.

He adds: Don't shoot your allies.

Checkerboard Cake - Take 1

Ta-dah!
Can you imagine how I made this cake?

Answer to Question Above

My mother is part-owner of a cake pan
made for this purpose.
Noella's mother owns the other half of the pan.

James Despot

From Janet:

a cliff, a bay of water and
there could be a fish
right around the next corner.

Shuswap's best friend and neighbor passed away yesterday.

James Despot had heart surgery last summer and he never really recovered.

He fought a strong battle.

He had a couple of heart attacks that we knew of over the years.

Doral enjoyed fishing with Ray and James and they would often get together and discuss their catches and tactics. James was a great school teacher, administrator and  Superintendent of the Board in Ashcroft.

He was a great counsellor. James had a very soothing fatherly/big brother manner. He would speak his mind, though, and let you know if he thought you were in the wrong. People gravitated to James. If there is one person that all of the Annis Bay residents/part-time residents knew, it was James.

Ashcroft, Annis Bay and I suspect Kamloops (where he and Yvonne were living) will miss him.

For Glen and I as well as our children, I have to say it is like losing a family member. For me personally, since I was 19, the Roger’s have always been there. Even with only getting together on an average of twice a year – they are always supposed to be there. Caring and fun to be around – great hosts – knew how to have a good time.

Easter as well as New Year are always set aside and worked into our calendar to get together and catch up. Never enough time but enough time to affirm the tie between us. I will not forget him and in fact I now add him to my thoughts on Valentine’s Day along with my Mom and Dad’s wedding anniversary.

To you, my family, I leave you with a couple of thoughts from James. He and Yvonne would often talk to us about the past, the present and the future at the lovely Shuswap. Those visits with him were always rewarding and comforting.

In our Annis Bay Community we take efforts to hold strong for each other and to do what needs to be done for the good of all. I guess we can add all of Annis Bay will feel the loss of James.    

Glen commented this morning that our every day problems seem small compared to health and wellbeing.

Eat your veggies please.

Love Janet and Glen

The Cousin Week Begins

Hebe Plays Zoo
;... the hippo is submeged in a tupperware cage of water (upper left corner)...

... Jenga blocks provide zoo walls
feeding time for the hippo

We watched a storm come in from Queest (pronounced Quest) Mountain, an unusual direction for a storm to come.

Usually one comes down through what seems to be the Narrows, if the wind is blowing from that direction.

Most of the family was out on the porch taking a look.

We could see where the rain was hitting the water.

The demarcation was apparent from
the porch.

The fir and larch trees were bending with the wind. There was only a bit of moisture in the air for us, not enough to send us running for cover. Doral was finishing BBQ-ing the chicken.

Church was over.

Families were coming home in different groups. There was lots of food and we were enjoying the last day of partial cloud. Now it is going to be 30 to 33 degree for five days.

We will be longing for the cool of the basement once it is noon tomorrow.

The evening was spent at the board game table.

There were two tables.

... the money needs food too ...

One for beginners and one for the more seasoned players.

What had been a dining room table for dinner has now been turned into the permanent game surfaces, so that the intricate pieces don’t have to be put together every evening. Marcia, Art, Gabe, Zach and Audra came over in the evening – welcome additions to the places that had been set around the gaming table.

Glen, Laynie, Janet and Landon came over with water balloons.

... this was a complicated board game ...

They hid them all around the land – some by the large rock at the row of raspberries, some down where the devil’s club used to grow at the stream, some on the shoe rack at the front porch, a bucket right by the LaRue bush, more down by the fake Italian marble fountain of a little girl pouring water.

But the storm rained us out, so the balloons will be thrown tomorrow and not today. In the afternoon some people watched one of the Harry Potter films.


Downstairs was a good place to enjoy buttered and salted popcorn and a well loved movie.

Catie found a treasure in the dress-up basket.

... Hebe practises taking a selfie ...

She wore the Egyptian pharaoh hat she found there. Upstairs Hebe played zoo with her Aunts Anita and Bonnie, making cages for the animals and even making sure they were fed during play time.

There was a late afternoon walk to the beach. Only one of the cement pads of the ramp is showing, so you can imagine how little beach there is.

... and can you see who might have lost? ....

The Little Canadian Stream has no reach at all. It just comes out of the bushes and hits the water within a yard or two.

As the summer goes on, that will change.

Arta

Take me off your list

After my breakfast of Red River Cereal and a mango  (who could want more?) – Bonnie said,"Do you know what you look like?”

“I know, I know,” went through my mind, “specks of rye and flax seed on my cheeks and mango on my chin.” Aloud I said, “I will wash  up when I get off of of this chair. I just want to sit a little longer and if I grab a serviette, it just won't be big enough.”

“You march right into my bathroom and look in the mirror.” There was military tone to her voice.  And when I was to the mirror it was "Look at  your neck," and then “now, open up your blouse.”

... an absolute win for the no-see-ums ...

She was checking if what she was seeing on my neck were bites or a rash.

I knew it to be bug bites. But I didn't know I had that many.  I had felt them all morning on my neck and my ankles and calves, those little devil no-see-ums.

I am out in the yard so early and when I shake the foliage under where they live they can smell blood. I didn’t know if it was better to press them when they bit, or remain calm, the Buddhist way, let nature take its course and be mindful.

I choose the latter, thinking it would be good spiritual practice. I told her that I only heard myself talk to myself once. That is when I was in a precarious position on the slope of a hill, feet pointing downward, trying to reach just a little too far for a tool, and the gravel under me gave way. I could feel myself sliding down the hill and gave myself over to the trip, knowing there was no way I could stop it once the momentum started. “I am going down the hill,” I heard myself say.

I was instantly reminded of a talk I heard Blaine Hudson give in church. He said that he met a man who said that his children always obeyed him. Blaine wanted to know how the man had trained them so well. The man said, “If we are walking along, I tell them to go right. If they don’t but go left, then I tell them again, go right.  If they continue left, I say, ‘O.K. Go left’.  They always obey me”.

I think I was practising that art on myself when I slid down the hill, since my intention was originally to finish up the weeding at the top of the hill.

I am writing this because in a month, I will wonder, where did all of these boulder-like bruises come from and if I write today, I will remember in a month.

When I left my weeding to come inside for a snack, Dave Wood was here, asking if I wanted to go to town with him. He had offered to take me to the auto wreckers to find a left rear tail light for the 1992 Osmobile I am going to drive this summer.  I have never been to an auto wreckers.   Wouldn't want to miss a trip like that in my Best 100 Days.

I call the car in question my Temple Car, since it is pure white (well, maybe a few patches of grey on the roof)and Dave’s parents bought it when Vi was the Temple President.  Dave reminds me it was the Cadillac of vehicles in 1992.

The Shuswap Auto Wreckers is on 1st First Nations Street.  "I don't think I have anything to help you," said the man in charge. "Most of the vehicles here are are only 10 years old, much newer than your car, I could see that when you drove in."

"Mmm,  He is not that good with bedside manner,” I told Dave when he made his report to me.

“I like guys like that,” said Dave. “You know they are honest.  And he gave me these cutters and told me to go find what I needed.”

We tramped through the baked clay of ground underneath us, so rutted with the tracks of cars that had been dragged in there when the ground was wet, that there was no flat space to put my feet -- just the ridges of car tracks that splayed the acres of cars.  Dave found the right unit.

Cost?

$5

Bonnie has had to tell Dave not to come home teaching to her anymore. Three people on his beat have died lately. “I don’t want to be the fourth,” she told him. “Take me off your list.” He has relayed the message up the line. I hope her communication makes its way, uninterrupted all the way to heaven.

Arta