Out with the old

It's December 31, 2015.  Life in Vernon carries on as I guess it does in most families with three generations living together and trying not to dwell on the small stuff.  I'd become used to planning my life in advance because when you live alone that's what you do if you don't want to be by yourself all the time.  I continue to do that in the part of my life that I have some control over, but for the rest I find that the best times come when I least expect them, when I sit back and see how the others shake things out.  Christmas Day was a good example of one thing leading happily to another as if it had been choreographed when the real reason why it worked so well was that it hadn't been.

 The one constant here is the glorious sun and snow at Sovereign and Silver Star.  Cross country skiing this morning, amidst the tall spires of dark Montane Spruce that appear to pierce the luminous blue sky, unbent by their burdens of snow, was as uplifting an experience as my Protestant spirit could bear.  

I was thinking of going back up to Silver Star this evening to watch the torchlight parade and fireworks as I did last New Year's Eve with Mo and John, but I couldn't muster much enthusiasm among the other members of the family.  It's cold and dark, so we are going to eat Korean food that May and Jay have made and then settle down on the Christmas couch and watch the new James Bond movie, 'Spectre.'  That is, Jay, May and I will do that.  Min Hee is out with her boyfriend, and Jin Hee has just declared that now that she is a teenager, she has to stay by herself and text her friends, her many friends.  She is pleased to be popular and quite prepared to do all the networking that that entails.

More Peace, some Joy and Good Health to all in 2016.

Miriam skiing amid the Montane Spruce at Sovereign Nordic Centre this morning.

FIVE MORE SLEEPS

CHRISTMAS IS COMING.  The goose isn't getting fat, but the turkey is out back keeping cold in Jim's Eccentricity.  We haven't put any pennies in any old man's hat, but we left out lots of canned food for the Vernon realtors to pick up during their food drive for the homeless.  The woman realtor who has organized that program for the last few years received the 'volunteer of the year' award this week.  She deserves the recognition.  Her system is really efficient, and they collect MANY boxes of food for those who don't have enough each Christmas.  Whether you have a ha'penny or not, may God, in whatever form you imagine, bless you, wherever you are.

Our family has a lot to be thankful for in 2015.  Min Hee and Jin Hee are adjusting well to school in Canada, especially Jin Hee who is younger and more enthusiastic.  But Min Hee is making a real effort; at 16, life is not as easy as it is at 13.  Now that May and the girls are officially immigrants, they can take advantage of all the help that Immigrant Services offers with training, job searches and just providing a staff that can answer most of their questions and give them a place to meet others.  As I'm a volunteer ESL teacher with IS, I am also invited to some functions.  May and I went to a great Christmas lunch there last week.  The food from all over the world was delicious and the ambiance was lively.  Jay is working every day with a framing crew.  They are roofing a huge home at Predator Ridge, a golf 'venue' just outside of Vernon.  They're working at quite a height, but he likes it and takes pictures of the views of Kal Lake, etc. from the peak. They have all gone through a lot of changes since Bert and I picked them up at the Kelowna airport in early July.  

Who knows what 2016 will bring.  

Peace and good health to all, I hope.

Ghost trees on the snow shoe trail at Sovereign Lake last Friday morning.

Our house in the setting sun, around 4:30 that same afternoon.

 

Bringing in the tree

The first Noel in Vernon for all of us is fast approaching.  I have spent every Christmas since I moved west in Victoria with mom and dad and Barbara and Terry.  Jay, May and the girls say that Christmas in Korea is a very 'maimed rite.'  So this year we are going to do it right.  At first I thought we would never get underway, but that's because I'm still getting used to Filipino teenage time.  I had the weekend schedule planned.  On Saturday we would drive up to Silver Star to watch the turning on of their Christmas lights.  I've seen it once before.  It's a beautiful spectacle with hot chocolate, blazing fire pits and tall dark spruce instantly glistening with lights.  We didn't do that.  My enthusiasm was not contagious enough to infect two teenage girls intent on becoming the most popular people in their schools.  Dates and sleepovers came first.  My hopes were dimmed for Sunday.  Would we make it to the Christmas Tree Ranch in Lumby to get our tree.  I had never been there, but the web site looked good.  MILAGRO!!!!!  We went.

Everyone was keen.  We took two cars; mine for the tree and Jay's for the gang.  I got us lost, but that just meant we drove down more backroads in the Lumby countryside.  The ranch was great: lots of trees, an outdoor fire with benches around it and a workshop/ hot chocolate place to warm up in.  We went for a walk along a semi frozen stream to a perfect miniature house and back to the main ranch. Jay had brought a saw because we intended to cut our own tree, but just before heading out we decided to look at the pre cut trees; one of them was plump and the perfect height.  The tree rancher came over to explain that it had been cut earlier in the morning and then abandoned by the feckless people who found it because they had broken its top branch.  We happily bought the orphan at a $10.00 discount. We don't have an angel to place at the top anyway.  It filled my car from door to door to door.  From that moment everything went from Filipino/teenage time to a New York minute.  Jin Hee and Jay put up the tree.  It was Jin's first time and she wasn't spared either the excitement or the cursing that always goes with that ritual.  Jay began confident in and proud of the tree stand he had bought, but he descended into frustration and the odd curse as he struggled to make it work, while Jin and I took turns holding it and Min Hee sat near by, looking up from her cell phone once in a while when asked to tell us whether the tree was perpendicular to the floor or not.  Before this part of the season's traditions was completed, I left to enjoy a Sunday hot tub and dinner with Mo and John, as I do every week.  When I returned around 9:00pm, the house was transformed for Christmas.  The tree was alight, decorated and even had presents under it.  It turned out that May, planning ahead as usual and only too eager to shop, had beaten us all and bought some Christmas presents last week.  The lights were strung in the livingroom window and the whole house was aglow.  Today there are even more gifts under the tree.

So  our first Vernon Noel is well underway.

At the ranch

Walking along the stream

Skiing with Mo today

Our chubby tree