Wow weekend!

This past weekend has been one of those rare ones where I see the majority of my friends in Chetwynd, rest up and recharge for the week ahead and have a clean(er) house.

Another girlfriend has left town for a promising work opportunity and she called together her town friends and coworkers from the last two years for one last bash on Friday.  Pub-filling laughter bounced off the wooded walls before we spilled into the Indian summer night and wished each other well with intentions of staying in touch.

Happy and (mildy) hungover the next morning, Dan and I set out on bicycles to meet friends for breakfast at the pub we had left mere hours before.  In small-town style, we saw nearly all our friends that morning.  At the post office, thrift store, library, in their yard, ahh.

Mild house and yard work filled the time until we popped out to friends house outside town for dinner.  A stellar meal was in the making - roast moose and garden spuds, carrots, onion.

We resigned ourselves to a sleepover, made arrangements for a friend to come to the house and feed our foster kitties when another friend dropped in after (unsuccessfully) hunting the same animal we had just eaten.  Conversation flowed, laughter filled the vaulted ceilings and we bummed a ride back into town for the night.

A delightfully leisurely day followed with light walks, board games, BBQs and kitty cuddle time.  

Ride the trail for Elizabeth

Ride the Trail for Elizabeth: Cyclists Ride Together to Create a Safer Trans-Canada Trail

EDMONTON, ALBERTA, August 2013– Cyclists, supporters, family and friends will ride in solidarity to show support for Ride the Trail for Elizabeth, a cross country campaign to raise awareness and promote the completion of a Trans-Canada Trail that will be accessible and safe for cyclists.

Elizabeth Ann Slovis got on her first bike at the age of 50 and immediately fell in love. An avid outdoor enthusiast, Elizabeth, alongside her husband Edmund A. Aunger, would spend their summers cycling the Trail. Though the Trans-Canada Trail was not always smooth or safe, Edmund recalls Elizabeth’s passion for the Trail she loved, “she wanted to devote her retirement to getting the Trail properly developed and completed - ensuring accessibility and safety for all cyclists”. On July 14th, 2012 while Edmund and Elizabeth were biking along the Trail in Prince Edward Island, Elizabeth was struck and killed by a drunk driver. She was 63.

Survived by her husband and her three sons, Edmund S. Aunger, Richard Aunger and Gregory Aunger,Elizabeth’s dream of a safer Trans-Canada Trail lives on. Edmund Aunger has carried on his beloved wife’s vision and started the Ride the Trail for Elizabeth campaign. A campaign that will see Edmund cycle across the country in five stages each summer, beginning the first leg of his journey on July 1st, 2013 in Victoria, British Columbia and finishing in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on July 2017.

Edmund will be arriving in Edmonton on Sunday August 25, 2013 marking the completion of his first leg. We invite you to join Edmund on the steps of the Alberta Legislature on Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm as we rally in support for a safer Trans-Canada Trail. More importantly, we invite you to celebrate the completion of Edmund’s first leg, the power of a united cycling community and the realization of Elizabeth’s dream. We hope to see you there. Ride on.


Please join Ed on his ride. He will be leaving Devon around 9am, cycling on Highway 19, and then into Edmonton, Trans Canada Trail from Terwilliger to Hawrelak Park. He will be leaving the Hawrelak Park pedestrian bridge about 2pm and continuing to the Alberta Legislature for a 3pm rally, followed by a ride to the Trans-Canada Trail head in Louise McKinney Park.

For more info: http://www.ridethetrail.ca

It's beginning to end

As a Swedish girlfriend (working in Norway) is lamenting summer's end and equally anticipating fall's transition, I too am noticing:

The dawn and dusk chill that comes too soon to the north.  

Days are noticeably shorter and August is not yet out.  

Leaves are turning.  

My vegetable garden is getting harvest-ready.  

It's difficult for me to process that summer is winding down when I feel I've had so little of it.  Cheated out of a "normal bush season" by a lay off and subsequent scramble for employment I have not spent nearly as much time in the woods as I usually do.  

While I have caught some of the seasonal boreal changes on day hikes and dog walks, truly I have missed the full season experience of looking for my favourite boreal gems and tracking their progress from leaf out to flowering to seed/berries! to die back.  

Fall is approaching and so is a time for contemplation, dream time and mentally, physically and emotionally regrouping.  

Industrial spray season, vol II

Six years ago my forestry summer job dried up before it even started.  This year it happened mid season.

Both times, a minor scramble followed to get myself back on someone's, anyone's payroll.  I had to expand my search outside of the community I live(d) in and the forest industry that typically employs me and settle for employment outside the province.

Like last time, I've signed on with Ace Vegetation.  As before, it's just for now, to tide me over, help them finish off their spray season.  I haven't decided if supervising suits me better than spraying but it's certainly more flexible.

It's definitely not a long-term fit for me, but it'll do for now.  

Job insecurities

I am used to having my boots full at this mid-point in the summer field season.  Work was slow at the beginning of the season with the entire company anticipating it picking up after BC's provincial election in May.  Rather, the workload stayed constant and then declined.

I've been filling my time walking dogs, playing with our new foster cat, baking bread, planning a winter trip and applying for temporary work like a boss.

Unable to find something suitable in town or even in province, I am headed back to Alberta tomorrow for an expedited training session then up to the Alberta and BC Peace to finish out my field season in the lucrative herbicide industry.

My mother maintains I'll enjoy it.  While I disagree, I know it'll fill the thirsty bank account.

Millie Vanillie

Millie Vanillie is our newest foster cat from On Our Way Home Animal Rescue.  She's a black and white short hair kitten (three to five months?) and has been with us for just a half week.  She's a total cutie pot pie that likes window sills, snuggles, hunt-the-feet-in-the-bed game.  Millie is off for her spay surgery on the 25th and she'll be available for adoption a week later.  

Dry July

As my brother is on a waiting list and daily checking in with an alcohol rehabilitation centre in Alberta, I too, am off the booze - for the month.  Inspired my a Kiwi friend's musings, a few too many big nights alarmingly close together and my bro's brain injury as a result of alcohol, I'm hoping to use the next 29 days to reflect on alcohol's role in my life and consciously make active and healthier (booze-free) choices.

Dry July is a fundraiser for the month of, you guessed it, July in Australia and New Zealand where Dry Julyers (DJers) go booze-free for the month to raise funds for adult cancer patients.

With work uncharacteristically slow (seriously, it's mind boggling difficult to find stable, seasonal employment), I'm not logging the kilometers and elevation gains I have in past summers.  Suddenly I'm worried about the grams of carbohydrates and the liquid, empty (delicious) calories in a cool, crisp brew.

The price of recreation is this town is absurd so I've been keenly attending all the budget options I can find.  Toonie Wednesday swims, free Pickleball at the Rec Centre, free Canada Day Zumba (Jaana says I have to put an (r) here), dog walks, mini hikes up Baldy.  Great as these all are, I half miss the views, uphill slogs and exercise that employment usually affords me.

Glasses up for Dry July!