Outdoors
The Changing Face
Every day I drive by this a few more of the cherry trees are gone. In the last week they’ve really kicked it into high gear and taken out a few hundred. And every time I drive by this ‘orchard’ I think of my cousin Jeremy. His passionate distaste for the clear cutting, or at least his vocalization of it, sticks with me whenever I see another victim of progress.
I imagine they’ll probably put in a vineyard here… it seems to be what they’re all doing. There’s just no money in apples and cherries any more. Or that’s what they say, at least.
And vineyards are nice. Who doesn’t like to see the familiar rows upon rows of green? At least they’re better than another multi-coloured apartment block (what is with that fad?!?!). If we’re going to be the next Napa Valley we’re going to have to kick it into high gear and start producing more wines. Who doesn’t love wine? Well… me. But that’s beside the point.
Wasting Time
This is how I like to spend my free time. Golf is such a relaxing sport, while still being a great workout. You get outside, you get fresh air, you get some serious stretching in (especially if you’re attacking the ball as hard as I do), and you get to spend some time with 3 people that you really enjoy.
Moving to Gallagher’s Canyon Golf & Country Club in November was probably the best thing we could have done. Not only do I get to be on a golf course, both living and playing, but the atmosphere and people here are unbelievable. We’re so happy.
Karen’s not really a golfer. That little itty-bitty putter she’s using is Kai’s, but when we have some family time we enjoy going down to the driving range to practice our short game.
And the weather has been weird! Waking up to snow, then it’s warm and sunny, and the next day it’s raining. Not normal for the Okanagan.
I’m hoping to golf more than I did last year… but I guess it’s not hard to beat zero. The Pinnacle at Gallagher’s is also here, about a ten minute walk, so I’ll probably get in most of my rounds on those 9 holes this years.
I’m Going For A Walk
Sometimes you just close your eyes and hope that it will all go away.
I suffer from a genetic disorder passed down through my Mom’s side of the family called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Basically it’s a really big, uninteresting word that says that I have EXTREME levels of cholesterol surging through my body at all times. My normal levels are nearly 4x what is acceptable in the human body. That’s a lot.
When I was about 30, a genetic case study was done on my family and after having visited one of the leading experts in the field at St. Paul’s Heart Healthy Clinic, I was told that if I hadn’t come in I would have been dead in 2 years. It shook me hard. Although, 6 years later, it shakes me even more.
My Grandma, the one I wrote about a few posts ago, has had many complications from this disorder. Triple bypass surgery on top of the abdominal aneurysm she has now to name one. It scares me to think what might happen later on in my life. How long do I have? Really. Grandma made it far into her twilight years… will I have the same opportunity?
And then this morning I woke up with pains in the left side of my chest. I decided to go out with the family for a nice walk in Okanagan Centre anyway, and the pain continued for the entire walk, slowly working its way to my shoulder and upper left arm. I’d like to think I’m reading too much into it and it’s all a trick of the brain, but if it’s not gone by tomorrow morning I’ll go visit the E.R.. Aren’t hospitals horrible?
The Okanagan
Isn’t it Spring yet?
The flat, featureless sky is looming over us today. Yesterday I received a beautiful sun burn, today it goes back to that blah that we seem to be smothered by for four to five months a year.
It must be that I’m forcing the issue. I *want* it to be Spring so bad. I’ve been doing the Spring clean-up on the yard the last few days and as much work as I put into it, it continues to look drab and brown and lifeless.
Come on Spring, spring to life! We’re ready!
Sitter
There are days when I really regret selling my 70-300mm lens. Today was one of them. Of course, I have had far more use out of the nice tripod I bought with the money from that lens, so I shouldn’t complain.
This guy was just sitting there the whole time as I crept closer and closer with my 24-70mm @ 70. Sadly, this is as close as I could get. The 70-200mm f/2.8 will one day come, but it’s going to be a long while.
The crop is terrible. This blog requires 950x425px and the shot was portrait, which meant I had to discard more than 2/3 of the pixels when cropping.
Life
Sometimes this is how I feel. Things move so slow through life. I wish they could hurry.
Maybe long term goals are a bad idea. “What’s your 5 year plan?” If I have one should it feel so painful to get there? Like this guy crossing the driveway. It took him hours. Was his goal this morning to get to those yummy leaves on the other side? Did he know it was going to take so long; so much energy and effort?
Let It Ride
Spring time means we are able to drag the bikes from their cobwebs and get out into the warm(ish) air. There are trails all around, but I couldn’t venture on to them with the family. A good thirty-five minutes on the Stinky was about all I could take today 
Karen, of course, was looking fabulous on her blue beauty. Layer Cake Mountain in the background helped.
The Boarder
This Winter has brought some major changes to our lives. We’ve moved into a much nicer neighbourhood (there’s a pool and a gym!), and we’ve moved from the lake, which means there’s a lot more snow. This was taken 500 feet from our driveway on the 5th hole of the golf course we live on. Beautiful scenery with our own ski hill.
Bleak
The weather hasn’t been especially good for photos lately. Unlike most photographers, I prefer a harsh sun with more shadows. At least the rain (and snow!) should mean more green in the days to come.
