Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Homecoming



Today I was wakened at 6:22am by the friendly sound of ‘Kakao’ emanating from my iPhone.  It was Jay.  We had discussed many things on Monday when we Skyped, so I was not too surprised that his message was about his coming to Vernon.  I was; however, disappointed to read that it would be the week of Oct. 6th to 13th.  Oh well.  I was about to reply that I would cancel my trip to Korea and see him then, when there was another ‘Kakao’.  It read, “ Oh Jesus, I meant September.”  Phew!  I was looking forward to what might be my last visit to Korea, and it will still happen.  He phoned me immediately after the mixup, and we worked out the details.  Speedy means of communication have their positive and negative aspects. 

The Okanagan continues to be hot and dry.  I’ve been hiking twice, biking once and swimming a few times but always in the morning before 11:00 or evening after 7:00, aside from hiking up at Sovereign or Silver Star where the altitude makes it a bit cooler.  The night temperatures are in the teens, so the house cools down when I open all the windows.  This morning I went right into the garden after talking with Jay and put in about 3 hours of back breaking labor with shears, trowel and rake, cutting back iris, etc., weeding and cleaning up the parched flower beds.  Today the temperature is supposed to reach 35c., but it’s overcast at the moment and there is smoke in the air so it might not get that hot.  We have an arsonist in the Vernon area who has set several successful fires in the last couple of months, but last night he seems to have reached beyond his grasp.  He tried to burn down 2 of the Tolko yards.  Tolko is the biggest lumber and sawmill operation in the area, so it could have been quite a blaze.  But both were discovered in time.  There was some smoke in the air this morning as I gardened and a helicopter flew in concentric circles overhead most of the time I was working.  It’s nothing compared to what is raging in Gaza, Iraq, Syria and the Ukraine, but it passes for a conflagration in Vernon.  

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