Language is like soil. However rich, it is subject to erosion, and its
fertility is constantly threatened by uses that exhaust its vitality. It
needs constant re-invigoration if it is not to become arid and sterile.
Elizabeth Drew, author, critic (1887-1965)
Hi Patrick! Thanks for the invite..... I'm going to my brother and sister-in-law's cabin on Tuesday for 10 days of R and R. Will be nice to hear the loons! Have a great time without me. Pam
Dearest Spumoni! Wonderful to hear you will be listening to the loons shortly but most disappointed that you won't make this particular bridge gathering. You will be missed and terribly so! Enjoy your holiday and we'll look forward to seeing you when back on the next hike or bridge night! Fondestos from Lady Dar. Cheers, Patrizzio! Thanks Patrick! I miss you too! Was nice to see Corinne at church today. Will we see you at the bike ride tomorrow? Hildi puts on a big spread! Something not to be missed...Pam
Another Hello from Summerland, Patrick and Corinne, thank you for the kind offer to host bridge play, but I think it's my turn this time, and I gladly prepare a few tables for play on Tuesday. Please let me know who's coming. Cheers, Jos
Thank you for wanting to host bridge. Lovely indeed! Lady Dar and I will attend. Spumoni will be away for 10 days or so, leaving Tuesday morning, so she won't be playing. Have not heard form anyone else but I'll keep tabs and let you know. I might see some of the other players tomorrow on the bike ride Jim French has organized. Are you planning to join outing?
Furthermore, I had hoped to have managed to put together a Flickr album of the Folk Fest weekend but with wall-to-wall Freeloaders ever since a week ago this past Friday, (a day after we were back from Osoyoos), I simply haven't had a moment. Chloë drove up this Friday and her very close friends, Katie and Brian, with their two young children, Emma, 7, and Luca, almost 4, arrived later that night, all for the long-weekend. Great visit but busy, busy, busy! The family is off tomorrow, Chloë not until Tuesday morning so I hope to be able to work on album once things quieten down! Fondestos from Lady Dar and Chloë to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Pics: Farmer's Market this past Saturday. Jake selling his book. Marian and Tim. Her wrist is much better but still sore so hence the sling when she's out and about. Lady Dar and her new friend, Hope, a rescue pooch, on Front Street!
Visa backstory, only if interested! Replacement card: Somehow I managed to leave it at the FasGas station in Frank Slide on the way back from Winnipeg. I knew it was there as I called, once back in Penticton, same day, and the young woman I talked to said it was beside the cash register, in front of her. She said she would ask her manager to mail it and I asked to be informed once this had happened. When a week went by and nothing was in the mail I phoned back and talked to the manager and he informed me that company policy would not allow him to put card in the mail!
At any rate, I asked him to destroy the card, cancelled it with Visa and ordered a replacement. Then we went to the Folk Fest, followed by our trip to Osoyoos day after we were back. With the threat of a mail strike I had asked chap I talked to at Visa if he could put it into their company inter-bank courier service. He said he would and local branch downtown would phone to let me know it had arrived. Whether my voice mail discombobulated them or not, I don't know, but never had a call or left message so when I finally had a moment to think, I did call the branch and it was there! Long backstory to finally being able to order on-line!
By the time the gang were organized ad ready to leave for Bench 1775 where they were planning to have lunch it was close to 1:30 pm. I spent the next little while tidying up as I was waiting for Telus to call back. I wanted to cancel the Sports Package I'd signed up for in order to record the Tour. Now that Chris Fromme had made it through Stage 21, around the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to claim Le Maillot Jaune as the winner, and I had seen all the Stages I'd recorded, I no longer needed it. Was close to 2:30 pm by the time my number came up and I'd canceled the month long subscription. Wind was really blowing, 20 kph N to 20 NNW, according to AccuWeather, so the thought of riding into this was not especially appealing, Dear Reader.
Added to this was the fact that angry dark clouds were massing over both Summerland and Naramata so I decided I'd stick relatively close to home, gerbalizing myself around Lakeshore and Riverside. When I left PTC and reached Lakeshore, the wind was fierce indeed and sending bathers scampering for their cars or back to their motels. Large whitecaps covered the lake and the two large, inflatable water-slides near the SS Sicamous were being buffeted like bathtub toys. I thought it had started to rain as I made my way past but it was spray from the lake, such was the force of the wind. I kept on, along Riverside and encountered countless families clutching their tubes and making for vehicles or huddling in the scant shelter of a few large trees, waiting to be collected.
Managed to make one complete circuit of this loop before the rain started in earnest. Showers had been predicted to end by 2:00 pm but forecast was off by an hour and on my second circuit, along Westminster, the gusts were simply incredible, driving the rain horizontally, pretty much soaking me and filling my cycling shoes with enough water so that I was squelching with every push of the pedals. Force of the wind, (Penticton Airport records for wind velocity at 3:00 pm showed 43 kph N with gusts to 60 kph!), was such it necessitated me to pay close attention not to be pushed out into street, away from close to the curb where I wanted to ride. On the Power Street section of the loop ther is a small park with a couple of tennis courts and quite a few huge, huge, towering trees. Every time I rode past them I wondered if I might suddenly be struck or at least encounter some large limb torn from the upper parts of these giants, the road already littered with countless smaller branches.
Fortunately, nothing of the sort occurred and after about enduring 30-45 minutes of these hurricane blasts the skies started to clear and the sun re-emerged. While the wind was no longer quite as strong it was still blowing very strongly and so I was soon dry again, (though my boots were still quite damp, although not squishy!), as were the road surfaces I traversed on my endless loops. By close to 4:40 pm I had the distance I wanted so I set of for the PTC for one last loop of the roads here and then I was heading up Ellis, making for home. Last time I rode this route, under far better conditions I'd had a falt, near the Peach, on Lakeshore. However, this time I was home-free and felt more than chuffed to have endured the rain and gale force winds to do my basic, minimum outing distance. Furthermore, I was even able to clock a relatively respectable AVG of 21.3 kph, not a particularly noteworthy AVG, but rather remarkable, for me, I felt, given the horrendous conditions over most of the ride. Hard to believe that the air is so still now, at 7:31 pm, as we wait, interminably, I might add, Dear Reader, for dinner! Mangiamo! Mangiamo! Cheers! Map and Stats for ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1282613365#.V56fLayvZl0.email
Hi again, Spumoni! Yes, I'm planning to join tomorrow's ride. Hope it won't be as windy as today! Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Patrick, You enjoy a very good life! Denise is so jealous of your tubing adventure! Played singles squash against a 52 yr kid from Queensland on Fri; he beat me 3 straight but the game scores were in the 7-13 out of 15 range, so was not too bad. He was quite fat though, but he tells me he has been playing since he was 12! His quality of ball striking was very high needless to say.
Just came home from the Pride Parade, what crazy fun. The West End was really heaving. Justin looked as charming as ever. Had some more of the Persus 2014 Merlot again -must go down to the Kits VQA store to get some more. Have to start barbing our sockeye salmon now. best regards to the family, Bill.
Hi Old Farts, I'm sub'ing in for Jim on the next two OF's hikes (Aug 4 and 11), so... the plan for Thursday's hike (Aug 4) is as follows; - Meet at 0800 Home Hardware car park in Penticton (S'landers at IGA parking lot 0740 to carpool to Penticton). - Carpool and make our way to White Lake (actually, about .5 mile past the end for our hike start point). A car shuttle is needed - have two or more vehicles drive round to Mahoney Lake (hike end); leave at least one and return to start the hike. - Head SE to ascend the knoll then turn N and loop back down to an unnamed Lake. Turn East and head to Mahoney Lake crossing Kearns creek - this part might be an adventure! - I'm not sure if this hike has been done before... anyone know? - Car shuttle back to White Lake and decide on a place for coffee/debriefing/discussion for next hike. - Please let me (Phil Robson) know if you plan to come. I hope I haven’t missed anything important...Cheers, Phil
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