Montage

Mt. Knox, British Columbia

The day proved quite a montage of experiences. After a fine breakfast Dwight and I took our bikes out to the Mission Creek Greenway for a ride. This Greenway is the result of a community development project Barbara worked on for several years. The greenway allows one to ride about ten miles along a scenic small river, sometimes under the canopy of a fine forest. We had a fine ride until suddenly stopped by the disappearance of the trail under a steep landslide. We made a detour and hauled our bikes up a steep cliff and continued our ride on the other side. Coming back we made the decision to save a lot of time and arduous climbing by going over the landslide that obliterated the trail and part of the riverbed. We did what probably could be considered reckless behavior and carried our bikes over the unstable fallen rock. We survived intact and finished up a nice bike ride.

We actually got back in time for a really grand luncheon of a rich soup that Barbara had made for us. I ate three bowls of this along with a large quantity of crackers and cheese. Dwight does get to eat very well.

The afternoon was given over to attending a rather fine art festival in Winfield. Hundreds of vendors were present and the quality of the art was amazingly good. A number of musicians were wandering about and the ambience was pleasing. On the way to the festival we picked up a friend. I had e-mailed with her ten years ago and she was lost to me in a darkness of the soul that came over her. It was nice to finally connect with her in person after all these years. She is quite guarded but does seem to be in a much better place in her life than she was years ago. Like so many people I have met in the past couple of years, she has taken refuge in the keeping and caring of animals.

After the art festival closed for the day, we attended a private fund raising reception for the arts organization that operates in Winfield. Fine young women wandered around and passed out hors d’oeuvres while a musician played competently on a harp. The artsy ambience was certainly in great contrast to hiking our bikes over rock falls. We watched the sun settle down on the horizon as the reception wound down. It was a nice experience that was certainly off the tourist grid. I think I will be able to stay off the tourist grid for the most part in the next weeks.

Mt Knox is a promontory next to Kelowna that offers spectacular views the 70-mile Lake Okanogan and the city below. It made for some grand images at the last of sunset. There is something expansive about being on top of high places taking good pictures. It is interesting that the times I feel most engaged with life is when I am capturing it in photographs.