Getting Ready for Christmas in the Okanagan

As we approach the big day, we see more and more signs of the impending season.

December 1 featured the Christmas Day Parade in Osoyoos, and it was a lot of fun to watch.  I believe the fire department contributed half the vehicles in the parade.  Local businesses such as one of the grocery stores participated as well, but it was a lot less artificial than a big city parade.

When Mr. and Mrs. Claus arrived, the children went absolutely nuts, and it was clear that no one had given away the secret.

As I may have mentioned, many of the major roads on Anarchist Mountain are named after local wildlife, and there are some amazing bronze statues at the entrance to the road.  The people on Wapiti obviously got into the Christmas spirit(s?) early, because Mr. Wapiti was looking quite festive on December 2.

As December came to be, there was considerably less snow than we had at this time last year, and plants seem to have no idea it was supposed to be winter.  On December 4, I took a picture of the shrub roses blooming vigorously outside the dental office.

A brief cold snap came, and the city water fountain bore mute testimony to the chill.

We started getting into decorating, and Sinister and Dexter flung themselves into the Christmas spirit.

It seemed a shame that no other statues were matching the splendor of Wapiti, so a quick trip to the dollar store rendered Eagle, Sasquatch and Caribou more festive.  That appeared to spark a little competitiveness because when we came back to take a picture of Mr. Caribou, his decorations had been enhanced by someone else.

Mother Nature added to the picture briefly with a beautiful dusting of hoar frost.  (It can be very cloudy/foggy here to the extent that we can see nothing from our windows.  Sunny Okanagan is sometimes a veritable myth……)   One of our local spiders must have been shocked to see the new decoration of its web.

Naturally Christmas includes some great food, and one of our mountain traditions is to have a pot-luck dinner at our local fire hall in the middle of December.  The food is tremendous with a huge variety, and there are draws for door prizes.  About 125 people sat down for this event, completely filling the hall.  We are extraordinarily lucky in our volunteer fire force which is apparently the largest in Canada for a volunteer team.

A number of things happened last week.  One of the wineries here features a “Communal Table” where the chef features a 3 course meal based on a specific theme.  We previously went to a meal based on native recipes from the Haida Gwaii, and then the last one in December featured “Christmas in Piedmonte”, an Italian area.  It’s called a communal table since everyone eats at a long table, and servings are presented family-style.  You can get wine pairings with each course if you so desire.  Seventy people sat together for this meal.  The food was divine.

We still have very little snow on the ground, but the cloud patterns are fascinating.  It will very likely be a green Christmas in Osoyoos because there is no snow today, and the temperatures continue to be mild.

The spirit of competitiveness notched up big time when the folks on Sasquatch got the boy fully dressed up, and Mr. Moose got festive according to a long tradition from one particular occupant.  The few undressed statues remaining will probably get a lot more attention next year based on boxing day sales.

Brian and I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season, and look forward to sharing with you in the New Year.

Winter in Osoyoos, Christmas in Osoyoos and 20 year-old Ankles

Winter in Osoyoos, Christmas in Osoyoos and 20 year-old Ankles

Winter in Osoyoos has been much more benign than that of last year.  Last year at this time, we had two feet of snow on the ground.  This year, we have minor patches from 2 weeks ago.  This is a picture of the valley taken at 3 pm this afternoon, and you can see there is no snow.  In addition, rose bushes had fresh blossoms at a dentist in town.  Beauty!

In the meantime, Christmas moves inexorably forward.  The evening of November 30, Osoyoos had its Santa Claus Parade.  The event was so fun.  From 5 pm to 6:00 pm, businesses were open and if you came indoors you were treated to a big variety of home-baked goodies, teas and coffees and Christmas drinks as well as a considerable amount of bon homme even if the Quebecoise didn’t know about the desert.

At the local Home Hardware, which is legendary for its marketing and offering of goods, a very good choir sang songs until the Santa Clause Parade started.

The parade was a treat because the kids were terribly excited, but well behaved, and marshals paraded up and down to keep control.  They were clearly fearsome beings.

The floats weren’t necessarily sophisticated light festivals but they showed the Christmas Spirit perfectly.

Kids weren’t fooled by plastic Santa, but the real Mr. and Mrs. Claus at the end rendered them completely hysterical.

So often the simplest of things seemed the most fun.

The next day, there was a Christmas Craft Festival at Rock Creek, a teeny community about 25 minutes to the east of us.  I meant to show a picture of the indoor hall, crowded by customers and vendors, but I couldn't even raise my arms to take a picture since it was so crowded.  This is essentially a farming community, so the sign in the fairgrounds parking lot said, "NO unloading of livestock in the parking lot".  We parked elsewhere, just to be safe.  Our trophy was a beautiful outdoor arrangement, 3 ft long by 3 ft high by 1 ft deep for a mere $40.  

In our neighbourhood, most of the named streets (all about wildlife) have amazing copper statues at the entrance of the area.  Our neighbours on Wapiti have already challenged the neighborhood with good Christmas Spirit.

On Friday, November 30, I saw my surgeon for the last consultation on my ankle.

When I entered the room, he seemed quite excited to see me.  Then he asked the question, “Did you hear it break?”  I was puzzled but answered that yes, I heard my ankle break.  Then he said, “No, but did you hear the screw break?”  I am now horrified, but I said I did not.    He shows me my X-Ray and one of the two screws holding my leg bones together has broken.  Oh, dear…………..To my complete surprise, he says, “Excellent!!!” and asks how old I am.  When I reply that I am 65 he says, “This normally happens in 20-year-olds!!!” 

It turns out that there were two screws holding the fibula and tibia together to prevent motion below while the fractures on each side healed.  Once I started healing, motion started to occur, and instead of further exacerbating the fractures, the screw failed.  Well!!  I can’t be more pleased.  With this, it means that there are no longer compelling circumstances to have the hardware removed, which means no requirement for another surgery which is a risk in itself.  Wait for information on the upcoming dancing classes………………….

(The picture below is way too much information, but we have to boast about what we can.)

Diwali: The Indian Festival of Lights

Living in the Okanogan supplies us with more cultural experiences than we ever expected.  For example, Mexican food is excellent here, partly because many of the fruit pickers are Mexican.  The grocery stores have ample supplies of Mexican foods, such as fresh hot peppers, so you can easily create more authentic cuisine.

One of the other major cultures represented here is East Indian, for many Indians have migrated here to run orchards, nurseries and vineyards.

One vineyard of note, Kismet, not only has an excellent Indian restaurant to complement their wines, but they have started hosting nights featuring Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, in the late fall.

According to Wikipedia, Diwali is one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, symbolizing the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance."  At the peak, people wear their finest clothes, decorate everywhere with many lights, partake in family feasts and have fireworks.

Four of us went to the winery to experience Diwali, and it was a blast!

People were invited to wear their best Bollywood outfits, and when we arrived, the women were given scarves, and the men were offered turbans.

Brian (as well as several others) opted for the turban, and he got suitably wrapped by an experienced and dignified expert.  The cloth used is surprisingly long.

Now we looked authentic.

One of the traditions is creating artistic designs with coloured sand, and we got a chance to decorate the word “Kismet” in many colours.  (This is for luck.)

When we arrived, we were offered a glass of champagne.  Then the food started flowing.  We were offered a buffet with three cold dishes and four hot dishes, and the food was excellent.

(See all the lights decorating the inside?)

We had eaten well and just settled down to see what was going to happen next.  The our hosts announced that we were going to have a display of Indian dancing, followed by the main meal.  (What?!?!?!  That was just the appetizers?.........)

Out came some of the younger women and did a nice display.

Then the buffet was replaced by another full set of cold and hot dishes, and belts started to make popping sounds.

More women came out to dance and then the women in the crowd were encouraged to join.

Finally, a large dessert buffet was laid out, and now it looked like dancing was going to be a mandatory weight loss regime for the next 10 hours.

Eventually, we were ushered outside, (again beautifully decorated with lights) and were treated to an excellent display of fireworks.  The evening was a resounding success.

PS:  Apparently the winery had introduced this event last year, for one evening.  It was so successful that this year they ran it for two evenings.  Given the crowd this year, I bet they could easily extend the event next year.

PPS:  Last week in the Globe and Mail, a brief news item indicated that the fireworks in India this year were so extensive that the level of air pollution was at its highest level in history.

More Autumn in the Okanagan

After a couple of weeks of absolutely beautiful weather, I cannot help but post a few more pictures of the fall sights.

Fall produce abounds; look at this lovely squash field.

A friend suggested we check out an annual Okanagan fall ritual:  salmon spawning.  Now this was a first!

The river (canal) runs through Oliver, and a lovely public park runs beside it so you could get a good look at the activity.

Here is the approach...

Followed by a big leap up........

Frankly, I don't know how the fish do it because I am certain humans would be able to navigate this upstream.  (The water noise here is deafening, and there are signs all around about how dangerous this portion is to humans.)

Finally a chance to rest....

In this picture, you get a better idea of what the fish are doing--the one on the left is actually protected a bit by a rock, so they are not as buffetted by the current.

It looks a little calmer going forward, but there is still a strong current..........

And as you could see, the water is beautiful and clear.......

I was able to take pictures quite nicely from a bridge, but there is always an avid photographer who tries to do just a little bit more.....

Just to add some information, the salmon are sockeye salmon, about 4-5 years old, and they turn the bright colour only when they are spawning.  Theyse guys have already had a huge journey because they come up the Columbia river system, and have hundreds of miles to travel.  By the end of the journey, they literally die because their body tissues have deteriorated badly due to the rigours of the journey.  They make a good meal for bears and eagles, but the fish is actually mushy in texture and unsuitable for our consumption.

The section where I was taking pictures is part of a huge river restoration project.  A large canal was built in the southern Okanagan to provide irrigation water for the agriculture around Osoyoos.  The law of unintended consequences ensured that a lot of native habitat and water control was destroyed (and salmon spawning was diminished) so now there are efforts made to rehabilitate the area.

What a great adventure day!