The West Commences: Notes from the underground

I said goodbye to Barb and Terry in the dark some time after 7 on Thursday morning and drove to the ferry on a shiny black road in the rain. I caught the 9 o'clock ferry and for the first time didn't take even one turn around the deck. I rushed to get a coffee, muffin and seat at a computer terminal. I'm becoming quite a techie. I drove off into the grey and rain at Vancouver and continued nonstop to Kelowna. I kept watching the temperature gage in the car which read 10 in Victoria and Vancouver, 4 or 5 over the Coquihalla, 0 with snow on the connector road down into Kelowna and back to 10 in Kelowna. Almost all the leaves are still on the trees here and the temp. is around 8 today. I went for a good walk up the hill at the end of Bert and Peg's street, and took some pictures.

Now, I am sitting at the computer in my basement suite at Bert and Peg's. If I put on my glasses and look up and out the kitchen door, I see bright blue sky, a few leaves falling, and in the distance, a rock face fringed with dark green conifers. I've enjoyed finally organizing some of my stuff, including some very useful kitchen equipment that Bert saved when he sold the Boler. I've spent the last 2 days doing this, and visiting with Bert and Peg who are helping me find out how to make my way around Kelowna. At the farmer's market yesterday I bought a carving done in cottonwood bark by a local man. It looks like an old wood imp and is supposed to "ward off undesirable spirits, bring good luck and help to keep households safe". This combined with the fact that it's made from the bark of the cottonwood tree made me rush uncharacteristically quickly into my wallet to buy it. I will put it near the door of the Vernon house when I move in in April. April 1st in fact which is a rather inauspicious date so it's best to ward off spirits. There are a few strange coincidences revealing themselves around the house, and as it is Hallowe'en day, I will write them down and hope in that way to lessen any evil magic they might otherwise hold. The house was built in 1934, the same year that Cole Porter wrote the song, 'Don't fence me in", that has been haunting my head since I left Ottawa. He wrote the song based on a cowboy's poem for a cowboy musical that was never staged, and he said much later that of all the songs he had written, it was the one he liked the least. In that song the cowboy says he wants to ' listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees', so how could I not buy the carved spirit in the hope that it brings good luck to the house and that the purchase of it will complete the circle and get the irritating song out of my head.I got a call from Dan, the realtor who is renting our house, within 15 min. of arriving at Bert and Peg's. He informed me that there had been a leak in the sewage system and some sewage was in the basement, so he needed the insurance information in order to get the cleanup and repair started. What a downer, but that was before I bought the wood nymph, so I'm hoping that when I phone him tomorrow, all will be well.

Happy Hallowe'en to you all

Hallowe'en 2010 in Kelowna