…in the back yard of my in-laws, no less. Practically ‘downtown’ Victoria. It was a plump, medium sized black bear and he/she was just passing through from one yard to the next. Good to see ‘im. Sal and I have lived off the grid now for just about 15 years…..on a remote unserviced island up the coast….way, way, WAY out there…never once saw a bear.
It’s more of that rural exodus thing, if you ask me. Like coyotes at the golf course, raccoons in the backyard pool and eagles at the dump. Everyone wants a condo these days.
Oh, well….
There are other things to worry about, other things to be happy about, other things….
Right now, naturally, we are wondering about life, death, getting old, doing things, NOT doing things….it’s a pensive time for us – for the family. We’ve had a loss.
If there is anything constant in the universe when something big happens to shake you up, it’s quilting. There is always quilting, it seems. It’s our ‘rock’, our foundation. It gives us a point of reference from which to see the world. For Sal it is a centering, calming thing. For me, quilting is the opposite, the sheer madness of it all. Randomness. Illogical. So, quilting is the yin for Sal, the yang for me. It proves unequivocally that we both see the universe through different lenses, eyeballs and grey matter. At least one of us has some grey matter. One of us is a whack-job. Sal says it’s me.
She could be right.
I hear the climate guys are ratcheting up the alarms. Seems we’re all gonna die. Soon. Climate change is gonna get us. They are now even saying that recent weather events are harbingers of things soon to come. Not long ago they would say, “Well, it’s weird weather. I’ll give you that. But you can’t call it climate change – not on any one event, you can’t. No single event is climate change.”
Not anymore……
“NOW IT’S CLIMATE CHANGE!! NOW WE ARE GONNA DIE!!”
And, in the meantime, Trump wants more oil (we have pumped more oil in the last year than in any previous year in history). Trudeau, the environmental hypocrite extraordinaire, is pushing for the TransMountain pipeline and, of course, all the deplorables want more coal to be mined. So do the Chinese. And so it goes. Madness. Plain and simple.
But I am likely the whacko.
Brett Kavanaugh, on the other hand, got appointed to the Supreme Court.
Still, I am likely the whacko.
Here’s a thought that might not yet have crossed your mind……we have enough. That’s right, ‘we have enough’. In fact, we have so much of enough stuff that we leave working stuff on curbs for free take-away. There’s a small subculture of people who make a living recycling, re-purposing, refurbishing and re-selling all the ‘stuff’ people have thrown out. They sell that stuff to people who still want more stuff. Some people want so much stuff, they eventually become classified as hoarders. They pack-rat themselves up tight with stuff til they can’t move. Then, maybe, the local government carts all the crap away and the hoarder starts all over again. And, during that process, the re-purposers and re-sellers swoop in and recycle some of that hoarder’s stuff so they can sell it to other hoarder wannabees.
The new thought on this is: this phenomena is not a minor, eccentric thing anymore. It is not just a few people with a junk shop anymore. This is a full-on thing complete with travel routes, selling schedules, evaluation printouts and it includes ‘all the old familiar faces’. EVERY WEEK! Two maybe three times a week! On a good summer day, the subculture ‘hunts’ for three days and then cleans, glues and ‘merchandises’ their stuff for the next weekend. Doesn’t that kind of say ‘having enough’ is NOT the problem…maybe distribution or sharing is…?
Forgive me. Seems I am a whacko.
Well, partly, anyway. As you can see, I am now just topic-wandering…ruminating, reflecting, wondering where it is all headed. Loss of a family member does that, I guess. The real message here? How am I spending my time, limited as it is? Mind you, it’s all a wonder, really. Harder to understand all the time. I think that’s why the bear was such a treat to see. A bear snuffling through the back garden makes sense to me. The rest…? Not so much.
Our Off the Grid Home 
I have lived in Alberta and BC for almost 40 years. I have hiked by myself for days in the wilderness, camped at remote spots, driven in my 4×4 off road up to the Yukon, Alaska, NWT, …..
I have never, ever seen a wild bear when I was on foot. ( I dont consider driving to the local dump outside Whistler and seeing garbage bears “wild” anywho…..
Weird but true (or maybe they knew it was best to avoid me and my “drama”.).
Or maybe I was “bear smart” and didnt cook hamburgers for supper and sleep in a tent in the same clothes.
Dont know.
That latest Hurricaine was crazy how fast it spun up…..almost no warning
Sunday a tropical storm off Mexico, Monday a Cat 1, Tues, cat 2, Wed Cat 4-5……crazy fast.
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The fact that you and I seem to regard so much in the same only guarantees you’re a whacko, too, I’m afraid. How do you feel about quilting?
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Quilting?
Dont think I’d have the patience.to learn.
I occasionally buy quilts because the artwork is amazing but gardening is more my forte now.
I still get to play with dirt………..
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sorry to hear of your loss. sounds like your father-in-law led a full life. i’m closer to his age than yours and road an AJS 500 back and forth on the ferries for several years in the 60’s 🙂 no helmets in those days 🙂
bears – my sister in north vancouver (upper lonsdale) had bears in her yard every fall – lured by her prolific apple trees. one year they invaded her kitchen and feasted on brown sugar and raisins!
have you had a chance to read those books i suggested to you on the fwf? (fishing with john, passage to juneau, and the curve of time)?
quilts!!!!! she who must be obeyed is squandering our retirement funds on making quilts for the world! well it allows me more naps 😉
keep up the good work – cheers – beachcomber
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We always say there are more bears in Powell River than in the bush, or so it seems. In 17 years at the cabin we have only seen two on our cliff. It is an important time to be with family, so have a hint of the wild is a good thing. – Margy
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We have had bears here in suburbia and raccoons, deer, weasels, coyotes, a mischief of rats, woodpeckers hammering on our cedar siding. And two bald headed eagles wintering in a snag across the street. In South Vancouver a muster of feral peacocks was raising the ire of residents around a roosting tree as these quarrelsome birds took their ease. These birds are very messy and very noisy. And they are very early risers.
Some residents said, “They have to go but many said hands off!”
We also have cougars regularly culling deer but also various pets as targets of opportunity. Our most rural schools regularly have sightings of cougars skulking along perimeter fencing but no mishaps so far. In our neck of the woods one need not go to a bar to see a cougar.
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Turns out the modelling wasn”t as bad the actuality. We are seriously fucked.
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But a person that erroneously uses a quote mark rather than an apostrophe probably shouldn’t be be taken seriously. Like if you are not right all the time, then there goes your credibility, right?
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Tracy still conjuring with your comment about “modellling.” Enlightened us.
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Sheesh. I make no sense most of the time. Editing is not my forte.
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Climate modelling to be more specific.
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I was pondering ‘seriously f’d’….
We are BEING seriously screwed over by those who can but that is NOT quite the same as being ultimately screwed. One of the reasons I am off the grid is because I am trying to avoid the great big lumbering dickheads. They may prevail but, in the meantime, I am keeping as faraway as possible. Will they eventually poison us all with their greed and and ignorance….? Maybe. But my survival instincts are good. That’s why I advise strongly: Get out. Get out now!
Seriously…..get out…..
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I have to wait for my fella to retire., Seriously. 🙂
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The UN’s dire predictions of uncontrolled climate warming and change are concerning. The Earth has historically warmed and cooled many times. In the Middle Ages in Europe several mini Ice ages were experienced each lasting about 50 years. The Baltic Ses was frozen over. Rivers in Europe were frozen. During some warm periods Vikings were farming in Greenland. It was a cycle of warmth followed by cold. The next cooling period is forecasted for 2030. The thesis is that the cold current out of the Arctic increases in strength and deflects the current path of the Gulf Stream Southerly towards Western Africa thus cooling Northern Europe. The current flowing out of the Arctic increases with the loss of Arctic ice. Loss of Arctic ice is one of the factors starting a process towards a new mini ice age. I’m not a climate change sceptic only suggesting that new scientific research is worth a look into some of the complexity at play.
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Ya sound like a MAGA deplorable now, ya know? How dare you suggest a different view! OMG! What is my pinko-liberal world coming to….is this John-from-Alberta in disguise? You got shares in a coal mine? Is this my free-thinking rant coming back to bite me?
Seriously? Good on ya…..gives a ray of hope…
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Do you still have your five BCRIC shares?
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No.
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I do Sid. Why? Think they’ll recover in 2030?
I’m afraid that’ll be too late for me. I’ll be in my ‘old age’ by then.
Re-invest them in cauliflower shares and will them to J. David?
Now, there’s a thought.
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