Taking The Plunge, Again

January 6, 2019

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It’s a bit hard to believe that over a month has passed since my most recent arrival in BC. And, after a great three weeks of house/dog/cat sitting in Salmon Arm (where Chai, the dog, MAY have received more than a little spoiling from me – I couldn’t help it, I was almost powerless against her blue eyes) I’ve now returned to Peachland for house sit #2 of the season.

The timing of my return to Peachland was fortuitous in that it meant that I could attend my second consecutive New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim. Not surprisingly, I’ve now also NOT participated in my second consecutive New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim in Peachland, BC. Truth be told, in my youth (oh so many years ago) I remember thinking that such plunges seemed like a good idea. And I still think they’re a good idea – so long as someone else is doing the plunging.

In lieu of me setting foot (or toe, or even finger) in Okanagan Lake I once again took to the sky to capture the event. I’m happy to report that at no time did the drone come in contact with the water – retrieval would’ve been more than a little unpleasant! Fortunately, the same can’t be said for the 89 registered swimmers for this year’s event and the swim seemed to be another success … and, with an air temperature of about 2°C and water temperature of 5°C, it was practically balmy compared to last year’s -8°C conditions.


It’s Not Easy Being Green

Tappen, BC

December 25, 2018

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Despite the unseasonably green winter solstice, nature opted not to grant my wish for a green Xmas. Of course, a green Xmas would’ve made this video much more challenging. Either way, BC remains my favourite province. Hard to believe I only have a couple more days before I move on to house sit #2.


Is This Thing On?

November 7, 2018

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Remember me? One could argue that this update is more than a little late in coming. Of course, I suspect that ONLY one would make that argument since that’s probably the number of people still checking out this site. And that one is me. Sigh. I have only myself to blame. Shame, shame, shame.

I did manage to get out for a couple of warm rides. So nice!

In my (weak) defence, it’s not like I haven’t been doing any writing. I have. A lot, actually. But none of it has ended up on my blog. Or any other public venue for that matter. For reasons not entirely clear to me, I decided to embark on the daunting task of writing a book of my cycling trips. Well, my trip in 2014 anyway. Not surprisingly, the book has taken some time and, well … pages. A LOT of pages actually. Clearly I have a tendency to babble but when put in book form, well … that tendency becomes all the more obvious. And it makes for a very big book. As such, I’m now deciding if I need to brutally cut down the content or split it into two books. I mean, the only thing better than having one book that no one wants to buy is having TWO books that no one wants to buy. Plus, it would double the number of books on my bookshelf … well, if I had a bookshelf. Either way, there is still quite a bit of editing to do before I get to the printing stage but, in theory, the bulk of the writing is done. Emphasis on the word “bulk”. Sigh.

As for other activities, my summer once again had a noticeable dearth of cycling. Even less than last year. It wasn’t without activity though. For the third time in as many years I found myself back in Kenya – this time to finish off the shooting for the ongoing documentary project with my friend Gage in Philadelphia. It was another great trip. Kenya really is fantastic. As is Lucy, the subject of the aforementioned documentary. Although, I’ll admit it was sad to leave the beautiful hot and humid weather we were experiencing in North America to go to the more temperate climate in Kenya. First World problems, of course.

The road to Wote in Kenya is more than a little picturesque


As for the rest of the summer, well … the four weeks prior to going to Kenya and the three weeks after returning from Kenya, were spent in Philadelphia editing the documentary. That editing has continued since returning to Ontario in September (interspersed with some corporate work to pay the bills). The documentary still isn’t finished but it’s getting very close. I have to say, as projects go … this one has been an incredible experience. For a whole lot of reasons. Hopefully the documentary will garner some interest and actually get shown somewhere. Time will tell.

Jack, the dog.

In the meantime, I’m now getting ready to return to my favourite province for three months of house/dog sitting in beautiful BC. If all goes well, I’ll be sitting for three families – two repeats from last year (i.e., Jake, the cocker spaniel in Peachland, and Jack, the border collie in Killiney Beach … the latter has been proudly watching over my blog since my previous entry), and a new place near Salmon Arm (there’s actually a dog and a cat there). Anyway, that adventure will begin early in December.

And thus endeth the update. Now I have to go find some more photos to include. If you don’t see many in this update that means I was unsuccessful in that endeavour. (I say that as if anyone is still reading!)

Sigh.

Update: I found this video from one of my daily hikes in Killiney Beach back in January. I had put it on Instagram but now it’s here too. I love BC.


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