August 2019

It’s hard to imagine that we are halfway through the summer—where does the time go?

Lots of interesting things happened this month!

Fine Dining in the Neighborhood

To begin with, some of our neighbors below us decided to have a long-table dining event for the neighborhood.  They barbequed pork loin, while the rest of us contributed pot luck to the meal.  Not only did they arrange for proper tables, tablecloths, and chairs but they hired a band of local musicians to serenade us while we dined.  We did miss the candles of course, but there was a fire ban on.

Fire Season

Speaking of which, the fire season this year has been extremely benign.  There never has been enough smoke to obscure the view, or even to cause some alarm.  Thank goodness!

One of the activities of our FireSmart group is to monitor the “Wapiti Firepit” every second Saturday morning.  A site used by the developer, which is essentially a gravel pit, is offered each year for people wishing to deposit yard waste like pinecones, trimmings, branches, etc.  The pit has been well-used, with over 120 loads deposited this year, preventing people from having to burn on their own properties with the risk of the fire getting out of control.  After the first snow, the local volunteer fire department lights the fire and tends it until it dies out.  (I’m sure they love that part!)  The only reason why I mention this is that as gate-keeper, you have more responsibilities that one might imagine.  I had a stare-off with the locals last weekend and it was unclear who was more curious.

Walking Around

As Brian and I prepare for our walking trip in Wales, we have been taking hikes around the neighborhood and in local environs.  Friends invited us to join them on a hike up the side of a little mountain at a town called Midway, which is just beside the US border.  It was a beautiful day with striking views from the trail.  The funniest part came at the top—we crossed over from Canada to the US to have a picnic.  (Heavens, we were at least 20 feet into American soil, and we weren’t even shot!)  The border is noticeable.

Midway had a number of several interesting attractions, but the best was the house of a local stone artist, with all kinds of funky examples of his structures.

Brian is Recovering

Brian’s neck has finally healed from the radiation burns, but is still very sensitive.  He has embarked on the immunotherapy, and has responded well, but is starting to show increasing signs of fatigue.  I am sure he will be so relieved when this is over.  He did finally get out kayaking this year in the middle of August, at Christina Lake, and enjoyed it hugely.

Introducing the “Bomb”Pit

New neighbors are providing us with huge entertainment.  We haven’t met them because they are merely preparing their building site on a small knoll below us, and we see heavy equipment.  Things then became more notable, because I heard a strange electronic warning signal.  I just happened to be looking at the side when there was a huge blast and a column of dirt rising in the air.  They were dynamiting rock to prepare the site.  The first blast tore out the side of a stone outcrop, the second blast spread more rock around and down the hill.  (Boulders were easily 4 feet cubed!)  On weekends we would walk by to see what had been done.  Finally, I heard the warning when I was near the camera and caught a small blast.  Going, going, gone……

Beasts

Naturally, I save the best parts for the end of the blog, when I get to talk about the various fauna sightings, and this month we had many.

I am proud to announce we have our own rattlesnake.  We “caught” this guy, who was about 2 ½ feet long, crossing our driveway.  Fortunately, there was no need for a standoff.

We put the game camera alongside a well-traveled deer train, and got to see fawns, mom with fawns, and then the stags who are developing their horns now.

There is no photo evidence to offer, but we have seen a solitary turkey as well as ruffed and dusky grouse. 

We had a big surprise with a sighting of a little guy about the size of a loonie, lurking on a doorsill in the morning.  It is a toad, it might even be a spadefoot toad which is considered endangered here, but how the heck did it wind up 3000 ft high on a dry mountain?

Another big surprise came with the sighting of a big guy.  Naturally, he was attracted by the bird feeders, and had a nutritious protein-laden snack to help build up weight for winter.

As a clear sign of impending fall, we note what things we haven’t sighted.  We got up on the morning of August 15 to sit outside for coffee, and it was eerily quiet.  In a bit we realized there were no wrens (the family had been there days before), and no hummingbirds!  A couple of hummingbirds straggled through over the next week:  they were transients from the north on the way south.  Birds are starting to flock, and the shadows are certainly getting longer.  We have bought our ski passes at Silverstar again this year, and I guess we will have to start looking forward to the next season.

Hope this finds you well and happy, and thanks for your interest!