Still playing and ranting

The best part of last week was getting out from under the inversions, which have shrouded Vernon for quite a while.  Every morning, I rose above the grey, through the lace curtain of hoar frost and into the sun.  I was sometimes only up for 3 or 4 hours and there were light clouds at times even there, but it was bright and exhilarating compared to down in the town where even though there’s hardly any snow and it’s quite warm, between -2c. and 7c., it’s dull and damp. 

I tried snow shoeing for the first time on Tuesday and really liked it.  I borrowed Jane’s snowshoes and joined her and the VOC crowd.  It was fun to see the people I hadn’t seen since hiking stopped in Nov.  The trails for snowshoeing are very narrow and bordered by great blobs of snow that bend the young firs and spruce trees way over.  It’s beautiful and would be peaceful if the gang didn’t keep up its usual patter.  But even we shut up sometimes to appreciate the silence. 

I’m still playing with the i-Phone.  I really love it and am not afraid to try new taps and swipes.  This technology is terrific.  “The times they are a changin’”, but not always for the better.  I remember when the following Q and A was considered funny:

Question: What are the 3 fastest ways to send a message?

Answer: Telephone, telegraph and tell a woman.

Woman’s Lib., political correctness and advances in communications technology have made that joke both dated and ‘inappropriate’.  Many people would have ‘issues’ with it.  I have difficulty keeping up with the ever-lengthening list of things, words, comments and behaviors that are now considered to be ‘inappropriate’ and that cause people ‘to have issues’.  In fact it seems to me that 2 overused contemporary killjoy words are ‘issues’ and ‘inappropriate’.  That’s enough of that.

This afternoon at 2, I’m going to the Vernon Hospital for a stress test.  I’m glad I got that off my chest beforehand.  Now my results will be much better.  I found out last week that I have high BAD cholesterol as well as high GOOD cholesterol.  I’m going to take the test but no matter what I will beg the doctor to let me try to lower the bad without medication because I think that by altering my diet I can do so.  I get plenty of exercise but since I’ve been living alone I have indulged in too many eggs, too much cheese and more crispy chicken skin than is good for any body.  No more of that.  

The Vernon Outdoors Club goes snow shoeing

A view of the inversion below from a cross country trail, TJ's Corkscrew, at Silver Star.

Kay Donna on the snow shoe trail