A Day with Friends

I love travelling alone, but for my Okanagan day, this was the occasion to catch up with friends and enjoy some visits! Janette and I had a quiet hour together in the morning, sharing prayer and singing the song we learned from Julia Davids at our last Chorfest in Langley. The day was bright and hopeful as I left on the back road heading to join Hwy 97 near Monte Lake, and I passed some lovely wetlands conservation spots. 

Reed-beds and ducks...

Shortly after Monte Lake the clouds loomed ahead, and from that point until I arrived in Vernon an hour later, bands of rain passed through. We really need the rain - there are a couple of wildfires, but nowhere near the number of two years ago. However, the creeks are low because, despite the recent rainfall, there wasn't enough snowpack to set up a reserve - so people in the Interior are still concerned about what the upcoming months may bring.

Sarah and Cynthia

In Vernon I met up with Cynthia and Sarah Markson for coffee - daughter and granddaughter of my dear friend Audrey Fricker, who I met in the Cathedral Choir shortly after I arrived in Canada in 1982 and with whom I lived for years, after her son Chris and his family moved out of her basement suite.  Audrey sang in both my church choirs and in Richmond Chorus, she served on the BCCF Board for a while and we both sang in Elektra Women’s Choir.  She began failing around 2011 and moved to Vernon a couple of years later to be closer to her family; she died in 2015. I adopted Audrey's cat Peggy when she moved, and she established a tenuous truce with my own Kissa; both cats passed within 6 months in 2018.  It was lovely to catch up with Cynthia and Sarah, and to hear about Sarah's work at a local vet clinic, which she adores. Like her grandmother, Sarah's a singer and loves her music.

From Vernon, I travelled down to Lake Country to have a lovely lunch with Brenda Dewonck, former member of Richmond Chorus, and to hear about her family and her travels and the choir she sings with. Onwards then to Kelowna, for coffee with BCCF President Frances Chiasson - along with a quick music transfer, and some discussion about BCCF plans in the upcoming year. I have been with the BCCF since 1983, and stepping back (though not pulling out completely!) is the next step in my retirement plans.  

It then took a full hour to get from downtown Kelowna to Peachland - traffic constantly bottle-necking, not always for any reason I could see. I've been extolling the virtues of our BC highway engineering, but I began to rethink that on the journey down the lake!  I did stop in Peachland to check something on my phone, but also to get some quiet water time.

On the water's edge in Peachland

One more big slow-down just outside Summerland, where there had been a rockfall earlier in the year and the highway was being repaired, and then I was turning off the highway to find Ross and Ed's place. Ed was BCCF Treasurer for all its early years, and still offers advice around issues of charitable status when needed. I used to dog-sit for them when they lived in Richmond - and later in Burnaby. He and Ross have been involved in dramatic ventures as long as I've known them - TUTS in Stanley Park, shows at various theatres - and since their move to the Okanagan, and so-called retirement, they are busier than ever, primarily with Many Hats theatre company (and currently in rehearsal for a show starting in mid-July). The Bears, as they are known, live in an older strata complex with a wonderful view over the valley.

Ed, Ross and Barb

We sat and reminisced, and then went out to dinner at Shaughnessy Cove restaurant down in Old Summerland, right on the water, and reminisced some more. We were joined by Barb Baker, to complete the day's loop - Barb was a dear friend of Audrey's, a retired school principal (in fact, she was Cynthia Markson's principal) and sang with Brenda Dewonck in my Richmond Chorus. It's been years since she'd seen Ross and Ed, and they were all surprised to discover that they now live about five minutes apart! 

Dinner was wonderful, though sadly for us, there was (loud) live music for the evening inside the restaurant, but we were able to hear each other by sitting outside, draped in cosy blankets, and watching the light change across the lake. 

Evening light on the east side of the lake

Many happy memories and points of contacts between our very varied lives!