Life and Random Thinking

Robert Frost said;

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.

Life certainly hasn’t stopped here, the fire goes on to find new fuel and the fight goes on in different locations in this province and elsewhere in Canada.

Link to Emergency Map BC here

Life goes on for the evacuees in West Kelowna also and most have gone home, most delighted that their homes have been spared and they having gained a fresh perspective on their homes and the importance of being prepared.

Life will go on also for those evacuees who have no home to go home to. But sadly, for them it was their possessions that are lost, many precious memories will be lost and nothing will be the same for them.

There are sad stories but also stories of kindness and help from unexpected sources. Headlines shout the loss of homes and tragedy as that sells newspapers. But the survivors themselves are positive mainly and optimistic about the future and they are happy their community survived.

Smoke does augur fire and loss but also opportunities for kindness and unselfishness and those stories are just starting to be heard. Those are heard from people in person, but not on front pages of newspapers unfortunately.

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Meanwhile, farther south down the Okanagan Valley, your scribe feels like a hobbit beside a giant sunflower.

In Penticton we had rain overnight, and it freshened the air. Yahoo ! I opened the front door that morning and was greeted by a freshness and clean scent to the air that I had always likened to crawling out of a tent. So sweet it smelled to me, yet impossible to duplicate, but wish I could ♥

I stood that morning after the rain and waited silently for quail to appear. First came the small birds, their quick movements and ability to land alight up one one of the 50 or so 8 foot tall sunflowers in the front yard.

The birds alight and twist over the top of the flowers to peck at the seeds precariously. Many sunflowers seem to have smooth foreheads due to the loss of the seeds.

Then the quail arrived, timidly creeping out from the Oregon grape plants. They eat the seeds and small insects and were introduced to the Valley long ago to cut down on weeds (because they eat the seeds). The quail are so cute and often perch on the small brick wall that separates my yard from my neighbor. The width of a brick and yet a superhighway to these plump feathered inhabitants of the city.

In the backyard the tallest of the sunflower reigns supreme with his army of follower plants lined up like troops on parade along the back deck.

New flowers are still bursting forth, late bloomers per se, welcome late arrivals to summer and to the bumble bees who dance in the middle of their yellow flowers to celebrate their arrival. Late for the party these sunflower are perhaps but they continue growing because the warm weather also continues albeit the nights are cooling down. Summer losing it’s grip I suppose but many warm weeks ahead.

It certainly feels like the door of summer is closing now and the door to autumn is opening.

Today the temperature will be 87 F (30 C) and tonight it will dip below 60 F !

The imminent arrive of autumn I notice when I go to the lake now for a quick swim. I have to be much braver now than I did a few weeks ago. When I go my top half is in the sun, all warm and toasty, and I am walking tippy tippy toes as long as I can.

Oh hooo! the waves are cold as they hit above my bellybutton.

Refreshing like the arctic or Skaha lake in the last weeks of August. LOL

Thank you dear friends for stopping by to read this post. I look forward to your comments here and visiting your blogs. – ♥ David