April has
managed to finally provide some excitement in our long-standing dull
lives. With Covid restrictions lifted,
we were able to resume our neighbourhood get-togethers, fondly called “TGIF”
for Thank God it’s Friday. These events
always highlighted copious amounts of junk food and mind-liberating beverages,
making for very entertaining and talk-filled evenings. Because we featured it on April 1, we decided
to turn it into a more formal evening with fancy duds and hors d’oeuvres (as
well as copious amounts of mind-liberating beverages). This was an instant hit with everyone, who
responded fully.
Both the
ladies and the gents turned out in fine style.
Our two
military men present were instantly recruited by other ladies to feature in
tuxedo-style pictures.
We had hoped
that April would bring clear signs of spring, but that hasn’t been the case. Temperatures were cooler than normal by a
couple of degrees.
The month
was also about 20% drier than normal, which didn’t appear evident up at our
level.
Imagine our
pleasure waking up to this view! Yes,
winter fog in the valley, and that 4-letter S-word. The cacti Did Not Like It, but the intrepid spring
wildflowers acted as if this was nothing unusual.
Later, we
got a new view of what it is like to have Water “Front” Property.
Water to
the Left Front, Water in the Middle, and Water to the Right Front.
Things have
been so cool in the valley that farmers running cherry orchards were hiring
helicopters to keep air circulating over the cherry trees to prevent frost.
Nice
sunsets were the saving grace after wild weather days like this.
In the
middle of the month, we took a break on the Easter weekend. Brian succumbed to Omicron BA.2 on Good Friday,
and I followed on Easter Monday.
Although we were testing negative 6 days later, we are still fighting fatigue
and coughing. The only consolation is
that we have much better antibodies than we did a few days prior.
On April
30, our community had its annual Wildfire Preparedness Day, featuring
information how to mitigate against possible wildfire damage to your home. This year, BC FireSmart has a new mascot, a
fox named “Ember”. Ember was very popular
with the children, and the human inside benefited from costume warmth since it
was a very chilly damp day. Ember has quite a bushy tail, and getting tail
lash appears to be a common hazard when it turned around.
Finally, a
little bit of trivia for April. With the
release of new census information, it was determined that the median age of
people in Osoyoos was 62, making us the oldest community in the Thomson Okanagan
region. Furthermore, 44% of the
population is over 65. Clearly there is
going to be a run on long-term care homes soon.
We might have to start looking!
Thanks for
visiting!
