Avoiding hyperbole

It's hard not to be drawn into hyperbolic argument in these days when superlatives pepper every sentence uttered by the man who considers himself to be the most maligned president in the history of the USA. Should he not instead be thanked by its citizens for generously including them within the walls of his narcissism, protecting them from the threats presented by all manner of foreign degeneracy, evil and failure to meet debt payments? Don't try to argue otherwise. Words will only bounce back; little's ever penetrated that badly thatched head. So abandon rebuttal; just refuse to accept and carry on. Let us not exaggerate. We're not the first to live through a 'post truth', would-be tyrant's time. In the sixteenth century,Michel de Montaigne wrote:
" Truth for us nowadays is not what is, but what others can be brought to accept."

In the Okanagan, we have gone from winter to summer with a cool, wet intervening spring that caused flooding and dropped even more snow on the higher elevations. The water levels are at record heights and are not predicted to stop rising until late June. It's been in the 30s for a few days now. I'm in summer mode, outside until about noon, indoors until around 4 and then out again in the lovely evenings. I inflated the kayak on Sunday morning and paddled with Jane from her place on Lake Okanagan across to the other side and back along the north shore looking at the flooding. Most of the houses are back far and high up enough to be unthreatened but the water's close to some and it hasn't peaked yet. We kayaked among the trees on the shore at Kin Beach.

May and the girls are in Korea. Therein lies a tale that I won't even begin to relate in this blog. I might be accused of exaggeration. Jay came over for dinner last evening. We sat out for quite a while and then repaired to the kitchen counter to eat lasagna and salad, an old family favorite. The dining room table is still covered with plants because the sun room is still full of stuff that doesn't belong there, as is the second bedroom. The tile is great and the baseboards are back and better than ever. The basement is the only holdup, and I'm hoping it will make it onto Brad's to-do list soon. Restoration is a mixed blessing. House cleaning would be futile, so I don't do any, which is great, until you get sick of dodging around things that aren't where they should be, not being able to find stuff and feeling drywall dust, etc. on your fingers every time you touch a surface.

Today I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. O'Brien, the same one I saw when I dislocated my shoulder in 2012. That time he was going to operate but as it took 21/2 years before I was called to get a date for surgery, I didn't bother. I can move the arm well and although I have very little strength in it, I have no pain. Today he advised waiting for a couple of months to see if the knee heals itself as the shoulder did. I'm game for that; it is improving.




Horse Chestnut flowers on the tree in the back yard



Kal Lake as seen from the rail trail




Jane on Lake Okanagan