Summer is an exciting time to live in the Okanagan Valley. It's hot. Very hot. And fire season is upon us.
Read MorePrairie Valley #11: Wildfires and Fire-dancers
Prairie Valley
Prairie Valley #10: The Work Commute, Circa 2022.
One of the better things to come out of Covid-19 is the ability to work from home. And home moved for me during the pandemic.
No longer in the hustle and bustle of the city, I live near orchards, mountains, and a steam train. Horses walk down my street, and the biggest pests in my neighbourhood are deer.
I still have to make the drive to work sometimes. Face-to-face meetings are important. This was my drive down the dreaded Highway Through Hell - the Coquihalla Highway on my way to work last week. Beautiful when the weather is nice. Deadly when it isn’t. This is the section from Merritt to Abbotsford, BC.
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Prairie Valley #9: My Town Looks Like A Made-For-TV Christmas Movie
We’ve all seen the stereotypical Hollywood Christmas movie where disaster threatens Christmas for the protagonists. These movies always seem to resolve in the middle of a small town with Holiday lights, snow, rousing music, and hugs all around. I live in a town that is straight out of a made-for-tv movie!
Read MorePrairie Valley #8: The Kindness of Strangers
Sometimes people surprise you. And sometimes, that surprise is just incredible.
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# Prairie Valley #7: Panic Buying: Lessons from a Pandemic
I hope that we, as a society, have learned positive lessons from the Covid 19 pandemic - even if the narrative we see in the news can be divisive. I remember the early days of the pandemic, where people were trying to get used to living with new social rules. People were polite, kind, and respectful. At least, until you got to the toilet paper aisle in a grocery store. Then all bets were off.
Read MorePrairie Valley #6: Good Neighbours
In 2005 I spent some time working in Iqaluit, the capital city of Nunavut in Northern Canada. With its arctic location and remoteness from traditional freight channels, people were different. People help people. A handshake means something, and your word is your bond. Perhaps helping your neighbour was about survival rather than just getting more toys. Still, I've never worked in such a collaborative fashion.
The people of Summerland have much of the same positive attitude, despite the threat of nature. The local Shopkeepers are friendly. Unknown people who are walking in town wave as you drive past. And I find that my new neighbours are extremely friendly.
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Prairie Valley #5: It's Not What Is Says On The Tin
Summerland. With vineyards and orchards. A beautiful lake. And warm, pleasant temperatures ideal for drinking wine in. In my past visits, getting into air conditioning was the main environmental concern. I mean, it says it on the tin, right. Summer-land….Tl;dr: Never believe the label on the tin.
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Prairie Valley #4: Prime(-ish)
When one has lived in a metropolitan sprawl for many years, one gets used to certain conveniences. A Starbucks close to one’s house. 24-hour grocery stores (or at least a Wal-Mart with a grocery section). And a choice of restaurants for any civilized hour. In the last year, like many in the world, I've come to rely on fast deliveries of both essentials and random Amazon purchases that I've only bought because of late-night shopping.
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Prairie Valley #3: The Great (un-)Resignation
I made my recent home move backwards. I sold my house and then had to decide where to move and find a place. Which wasn’t easy in the hot seller’s market of 2021!
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Prairie Valley #2: A Life In Boxes
Moving is hard. And not something I like to do. I lived at my last house for 22 years. And, if you stay in a place for that long, you begin to accumulate things. In my case, a lot of stuff! And those things have to be moved.
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Prairie Valley #1: The Stars
2020 brought a lot of things, arguably many of them harmful. Working (primarily) from home certainly affected how I felt about where I was living in the suburb of a large metropolitan city. And so, I joined the great migration of 2020/2021 and decided to leave town.
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