It's a cool , rainy Friday in the Okanagan

The snow that fell in Vernon last Sunday night had gone by Tuesday, but there is enough in the hills now for Sovereign and Silver Star to have opened for Xcountry skiing yesterday. I will not be among the first to try it out. I still can't even walk any distance. But I'm ramping up the remedies. I saw the doctor again yesterday and convinced her to get me on the list for an MRI. She convinced me to start taking an analgesic because the pain was making me move in weird ways that were causing pain in places other than my left knee. I am continuing to do the exercises the physio gave me and on November 21 will finally see the physio who helped me so much with my shoulder problems years ago. He's very popular for good reason. Of course I'm expecting that he will preform a miracle. And as is always the case, the day after I finally made some serious moves my knee feels better than it has in ages. But that's probably the analgesic talking. I haven't been drinking. 

Jin came for dinner last week and will again tonight. She has helped me with a few heavy jobs and we have a good time together, at least for a few hours. 😇😇🤣

In my sedentary period I have read and spectated more than usual.  On October 26 I went with Miriam to watch Massenet's opera "Manon" at the Vermon Cineplex. It was live from the Met. I'm not a big fan of opera, but that one was wonderful. I do love dance, and last week I saw the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet at the Vernon Performing Arts. I've seen them before. They are inspiring, especially when you have to stand for a few seconds to get your footing before you can hobble out of your seat at intermission. And last night I drove to Kelowna with Miriam and Bill to listen to Robert Fisk speak. He was brought in by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East. His presentation was entitled, "Trump and Chaos in the Middle East". After years of covering the Middle East, he has many well informed insights. His sympathy for the Palestinians is undisguised. His direct contact with the area, its leaders and people make his comments well worth taking into consideration. This morning I listened to a few minutes of the tv coverage of the public Congressional Hearings into the Trump impeachment. That was enough for me. The US has put more effort into educating a minority of its citizens in the exchange of legal semantics than it has in explaining to the majority how a democracy works and their place in it, which is understandable given that it is above all a materialistic, capitalist country and the law pays. The wealthy minority certainly has never wanted the increasingly numerous much less rich majority to understand anything about how democracy works let alone that they could control government. So what I saw this morning was an exchange of very slick semantics. As Antonio warned Bassanio (I realize that neither of these characters was without predjudice) in "The Merchant of Venice",

" The devil can cite scripture for his purpose"

I'm beginning to think that Leonard Cohen was wrong. It's not democracy, it's autocracy that's coming to the USA. 

Enough. 

Now for some pictures of real people. 

Min and her friend at her 20th Birthday dinner

Jay and May at Min's Birthday dinner


November 16 was dad's birthday, so I include my favorite picture of him with Jay and one of Jay in James Bay Park, taken when we were visiting mom and dad.