…and the heavens wept.

Bawled their eyes out is more like it.

This absolutely gorgeous spot below is where we daily lay down our carbon footprints

Quite lovely, right? Stunning vistas no matter which way you look, that’s very true.


Unless the heavens are bawling it’s eyes out. Like yesterday.

Then the view is this

It was a day of 44 quadrillion MPH winds coming from all directions, buckets and buckets of rain never stopped dumping.

It. Was. Horrible.

At one point I thought that it had switched from a torrential rain storm to hail…looked outside and saw a dream nightmare

There was soooo much rain even my most adaptable West Coast dog Watcher was unable to get into a walk. We went about 100 yards and he dragged both our wet ass’s back home.

Apparently we have a couple more days of wet stuff

oh stop snivelling…because sunshine on Thursday!

What a whiner.

As you can probably tell, I am donedonedone with this rain and wet. And unless the snow intends to stick around and be all fluffy and stuff, then it too can fuck right off.

I do appreciate it for the loveliness and beauty it brings.

But I long to see these babies renew themselves.

Return To Stoneman Mountain

I fell in love with Stoneman Mountain while there last year and definitely had to get there again this year. It was as gorgeous as I remember. And holy crap, this time I saw deer! A doe and a buck crossed the road, started stripping off Fireweed flowers, and then walked on into the forest. I don't think I breathed the entire time.

Stoneman is approx. 5000 feet at it’s peak, about an hours drive on a couple pretty rough forest service logging roads so a 4x4 is a must. It could be done in a car about halfway and that would still make for seeing some glorious mountains and valleys and views.

Set out about 10 a.m. on a beautiful sunny day, stopped every 3 feet ( almost ) and took photos, got home just as the thunder, lightening and rain gong show began. Honestly, that in itself was almost as exciting and beautiful as Stoneman!

This felt amazingly terrific, it was a sweltering day. But only for a minute...it is glacier water and gave my feet a headache! 

Grandma’s Excellent Adventure

Yesterday I made the long and tortuous journey into Vancouver, to visit with my most favorite people in the world, Kelly, Sumeet and Logan.

And because he makes my heart go wild when I see/think of him I’ve decided that Logan’s newest middle name is Be Still My Heart.

Between Sumeet leaving for work and Kelly coming home from work I had FUNFUNFUN with Logan! We listened to cheesy Christmas tunes, we read some Christmas Carols and stories, we walked around and around the apartment where we got stuck at some point by the table. On the table was a baby food cookbook, and on the cover of the book is the adorable face of a happy baby. Logan was mesmerized by that face. He spoke the language that only other babies can possibly understand….baby gibberish.

Which reminded me of a story that Sumeet had told me before she left for work. She was standing in a line-up with Logan in his carrier…in front of them was a baby approximately Logan’s age. Logan made full eye contact and began speaking to the other baby. What do they say to each other? What is the thought process? I still can’t stop thinking about it.

Once Sumeet left and it was beyond obvious that Logan had no intentions of falling asleep I set him down and we took some photos. Cheesy Christmas photos…I love them!

By the end of all the mind tiring fascination with all the beaded garlands and large plastic Christmas balls, and the strange red hat he was exhausted, as was evident by this last photo.

I absolutely cherished my first foray into grandbaby-sitting. More please!

Life Lessons

My sponge-learning years as a kid, living at home, were from 1957 till 1973. ( I left the family home at 16 )

My father, in an earlier role in his life, was an RCMP member. He patrolled in cars and *walked the beat*, but he was also an RCMP dog handler, and before that a member of the Mounted Squad. Apparently, in those days the *brass* encouraged members to be well rounded in all aspects. Through my father I was taught the basic core thinking of animal respect. And that is that every animal is a sentient being. Once I realized that, my whole world opened up.

I have known since then, that all other animals outside of the human animal, inherently have rights. My worth is of no more importance than theirs.

The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That, is the essence of inhumanity. ~ George Bernard Shaw.

As for a life lesson in race relations, I learned that through example. Not one time in my parents home did I ever hear one racially skewed term. Not once. Not in joke, not in anger. Nor from anyone else who came into their home.

So, I spent a very small amount of time working on racial issues with my son as he was growing into a man. I remember only once being peeved with him concerning it. He had come home from grade 4 singing a little Christmas song he had overheard on the playground. I can’t recall all the words to it, but they were derogatory. After a short discussion concerning race, hurtful lies and exaggerations I gently reminded him that he himself was a mixture of races, Caucasian and Cree on my side and Sicilian on his father’s side. He was ashamed of himself. Ever see a 9 year old boy ashamed?? It’s the most pitiful sad thing ever.

Because of the way I was raised, with good and decent core beliefs, and my passing those on to my son, ( and the wonderful same values from Sumeet! ) I know my first grandbaby Logan is going to be empathetic and kind all the way around. Of that I have no worries.


There’s a great group of organized folks with a grass roots website called Empathy Symbol. Some wonderful literature and links there. Click on their logo below to check them out.