The sun was shining yesterday as my wife and I enjoyed a drive in the autumn light. We drove about 30 minutes east so we could visit Keremeos, and a favorite fruit stand. The people there are friendly, we bought our 30 pound sack of onions, ate some samosas and came back.
The day was definitely autumn, but the inspiration came later in the day.
It was a lovely trip, cruising along through some valleys, past pastures, and we spotted a spectacular bald eagle at Yellow Lake but my cell phone would not have done that eagle justice.
The weather temperatures are dropping down for certain, in a few weeks I will be turning off the outside water taps so they don’t freeze.
The seasons of autumn and winter are still wonderful to me, how else would I enjoy as much the optimism of spring as the days grow longer, and endure the heat of the summer if I didn’t know that snow shovels were awaiting me in December. ♥
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Silver linings are wonder to discover, and virtual meetings for Toastmasters has been a silver lining for me. My club, Penticton Toasties 2196677, usually meet in person as do all clubs but during this covid challenge we have reverted to meeting virtually via Zoom.
What that has meant is that now we can be guests at clubs, virtually, at clubs all over the world and the world has literally been at our doorstep in Penticton also. We have been enjoying visitors from all over the United State, Canada, Japan and who knows where from next?
I had a wonderful virtual visit to the Beausejour Toastmasters Club in Manitoba last night and wanted to share about the guest speaker I heard last night.
Allow me to introduce you to Thomas Iland, he is a young man living, and virtually speaking from Santa Clarita, California.
He shared about his life, his challenges, and how he is not letting them stop him. He wants to help others overcome their challenges also.
Tom Iland is the world’s first Accredited Speaker with Autism
Lots of accreditations to share, and accomplishments for Thomas.
Diagnosed with autism, he has shown his grit to pick himself up and apply himself to achieve, over and over. He wants to do it for himself, but also to show others that they can do it also. He seeks to inspire people with autism, but not only people with autism.
Thomas achieved his CPA designation, not on his first try, but by determination and trying again. I loved how he could not succeed on his first or second attempt but kept going for his goals.
He has achieved many goals already, and has more ahead for himself. He is already a CPA, an Accredited Speaker in Toastmasters (only 88 in the world!) and he has spoken twice at the United Nations. He has written a book “Come to Life. ” Positive and well-spoken – I enjoyed his warm speech.
“Life doesn’t come to you; it’s up to you to come to life”
Thomas Iland
I will link below a few links so you can hear him speak also, this young man is “Batman” – achieving amazing without super powers !
Either of the following are worthwhile to hear all or a few minutes of – ♥
Thomas’s Accredited Speaker Speech – super hard to achieve the AS accreditation, here is the Youtube of his speech.
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Thanks for visiting today, Autumn and Inspiration in the Okanagan.
Life and Random Thoughts today – love to hear your comments. – David
Life and Random Thinking 
Lovely photos as always
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Much appreciated- I appreciate that you respond with your feedback. – David
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thank you for sharing a small part of your life!
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Thank you Wendi for showing interest in my blog and speaking with me , hugs. – David
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What an inspiring young man Thomas is. Just listened to his accredited speaker speech….bravo! Thanks for sharing David 💕
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An inspirational post, and I love all of the beautiful colours in your photos!
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Thank you Debra. I watched the toastmaster video and I learned a little bit more about autism. The colours are wonderful but it was minus 2 this morning and it is two months until winter. Oh well 🤗
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Yes, winter’s definitely on its way. But right now, I’m just enjoying the fall. It’s chillier down here, but we’ve had lots of sunshine this week 🙂
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Thank you David, fall has so much to offer, with all the warm colors, and pumpkin patches every where. We went for a drive the other day and passed a pumpkin farm, they had acres of pumpkin fields, with pumpkins still in the field. To many to give away, they were plowing them back into the soil. Great fertilizer I am betting.
What an inspiring man Thomas is, thank you for sharing.
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Sad sort of that the pumpkins didn’t get used. I love pumpkin pie. Thomas is inspiring and helping autism to be understood. Take care 🤗
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Looking good there David! 🙂
Thank you, already feeling inspired! Blessings! ♥♥
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I see your comment and smile- it’s instant 🤗
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I really enjoyed this post. I love this time of year too, but it makes me miss the autumns in Cincinnati. I loved having 4 distinct seasons. Ireland is temperate and one rainy season sort of blurs into the next… lol. Thanks for sharing the story about Thomas. My bonus son has an ASD diagnosis so I always appreciate inspirational stories about people with autism.
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Thank you for your comment- I enjoyed hearing from you. I agree that Thomas is inspiring. Thank you for visiting and sharing. -David
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The pictures scream fall–so lovely. Thanks for sharing the story of Thomas Iland. As a retired teacher, I love hearing success stories. We all need encouragement to keep trying when we don’t at first achieve success.
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Thomas is an inspiring story Laura, and I enjoyed hearing it. I have his book now and he signed it with a message and bible verse. How nice ♥
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