A ‘Tinge’ of Colour in the Sky

She may have been a grey squirrel, but it was the ‘tinge’ of brown  mixed in that gave her the name.  She showed courage as she made her way, a little hesitantly, to the peanut Mark held in his hand. 

 

What began as a potentially risky move on her part, developed into something more, trust – a bond.  In the past couple of years, Tinge has found that our home made a good ‘drive-thru’ on her way to a day’s work of digging, burying, and chasing other squirrels from her territory. 

There were many times that we would glance out our side door, only to see her up on her hind legs looking through the window at us.  She would follow us from our car after we got home from work…trailing behind a few feet.  We would grab a handful of peanuts from inside while she waited on the porch - ready to jump up on our lap and even allow us to pet her as she nibbled away at each nutty morsel. 

 

Tinge’s antics often made us smile, but it was her actions this past spring that totally surprised us.  She brought her two babies to ‘introduce’ us.  We had actually been worried that we weren’t the only ones giving her a few peanuts from time-to-time as she had been getting rather ‘chunky’…but it all made sense now.  She was being a good mother and was showing these little ones the ropes.

In early summer, she began limping and putting less weight on one leg.  We wondered if she might have fallen from a tree or was hit by a car.  But things gradually got worse and as the weeks went on, she began stumbling, weaving, and falling over. Gone were the days of even jumping up a single step.  We were concerned that if she couldn’t climb trees, she wouldn’t last.  She became more hesitant around us, likely feeling more vulnerable. 

A little research and a call to the local wildlife centre suggested that she probably had a parasite that was linked to the raccoon population in the area.  It affects the nervous system and she was not going to get better. In fact, she was going to get worse.  We were witnessing the quick changes. 

We know that she is one of hundreds of squirrels in our neighbourhood (just ask Jacques. I’m sure he has a high-resolution webcam fixed on his birdfeeder!)

(not Tinge, honest!)

…  but it’s hard to see any animal suffer.  Thankfully, animal services staff gave us the opportunity to say goodbye to Tinge.  And yes, there were tears…

As life goes on, the white-bellied baby of Tinge (we named him Starch) dropped by for a drive-thru treat today.  And so it begins again…Tinge would be proud.

The Star – Finding our Way

A tribute to the loss of a dear friend’s father.  RIP Ed Baiden

The Star - Finding our Way

by T. Rutledge

The day is done

The lightness fades

The night creeps in

With shadows and shades

To find our way

A light, we’ll need

A path to follow

Directions to heed

Our body is weary

Emotions collide

Feeling alone in the dark

Pushing our fears to the side

We look up to the sky

It’s the blackest of black

But the stars are a-light

The moon smiles back

We recognize the patterns

The constellations, a sight

But what is that new star

With the very bright light?

It twinkles. It shines

It is truly quite clear

The sky seems to glow

There is nothing to fear

We honour his memory

That new star in the sky

His love and guiding hand

On which we’ll rely

A father, a grandfather

A spouse and a friend

A sibling and acquaintance

All find it hard to comprehend

The ‘light’ of their loss

Look up and recall

Their pain set aside

As they share him with us all

We have found our compass

In the darkness of night

A star – a beacon to guide us

It’s glow, giving us sight

What’s lurking in your pool?

We had no idea that soon-to-be-famous ‘Aussie Nick’ would stop by to do a feature in our own backyard.  I’m still laughing!!

(posted with his permission, of course)

Something’s fishy…

So, the guys had a great day of fishing this weekend – four good-sized keepers (3 trout, 1 salmon)!  Captain Ed seemed to have an ‘in’ to the fishy undercurrents as many of the other boaters on the water didn’t meet with as much success.

Still reeling this one in.  What a workout!

 

 

 

 

Catch and release? yup!  It’s this little guy’s lucky day.  See you next year, bud!

 

 

 

Crank up the grill…is it dinner time yet? 

 

 

 

 

Nick with his catch - rainbow trout.

 

 

 

 

The lone salmon.  I guess this one didn’t get the memo…time to head upstream.

 

 

 

 

 

At the cleaning station.

 

 

 

 

Capt Ed and his ‘crew’

 

 

 

If you’re looking for a small charter out of Port Credit, pack a lunch and head out for a day with Square Tail Charters.

Taking a breather

Back home and have mixed feelings.  We’re both a little tired and yet feel like we’re ready to tackle the world. 

Mark is being smart and take a much needed rest.  If nothing else, it gives the bump and bruises a chance to heal.  For me, I decided that the fuel tank was full and crazily enough, I signed up for a half-marathon.  It would be a bit of a test to see how the breathing issues might affect me over the race distance.

Fast forward to race day…suffer-fest.  Warm and quite humid and well, breathing issues continued.  It was my slowest half-marathon finish time in a few years.  Walking breaks were the order of the day.  Legs felt fine, but I just felt winded.

So, looking for a quick cure…wonder if I just found it!!  :)

The Contest Lasts for Moments

- W.A Clennan

The contest lasts for moments
Though the trainings taken years
It wasn’t the winning alone that was worth the work and tears.
The applause will be forgotten
The prize will be misplaced
But the long hard hours of practice
Will never be a waste
For in trying to win, you build a skill
You learn that winning depends on will
You never grow by how much you win
You only grow by how much you put in
So any new challenge you have just begun
Put forth your best effort and you have already won.

(Thanks to one of Mark’s colleagues for forwarding this after reading his race report. Very apropos, in my opinion)

Ironman Canada – a day like no other

calm lake – Sat. night

As many of you who were following along, quickly found out, our day was not how we had expected it to be.  It was a great morning, very relaxed getting into transition.  Our motel is directly across the street from the lake which adds so much convenience to what can be a rushed start.

Body marking before race

in transition

The lake was quite calm.  With the largest starting field ever, even my ‘favourite’ starting place seemed more congested this year.  I ended up having clear water for most of the first leg.  I had to stop twice around the 800m mark as I was having problems catching my breath (breathing problems have continued, although had seemed a bit better since we had arrived in Penticton), but the rest of the race was pretty relaxed.

The crowds on Main Street were amazing.  Lined up several deep as they cheered on their friends.  I was feeling pretty good and while I had been a bit worried in the swim that the day might not be so good, I found that riding relaxed and easy was going to be the best way to finish – albeit slower.

At 60km, I was shocked to see a cyclist wearing a Speed Theory tri jersey at the side of the road.  It was Mark!  He was carrying his bike and walking.  I quickly pulled over and found out that he had crashed earlier.  Going through an aid station, the cyclist in front of him missed the bottle exchange and the bottle dropped on the road.  Mark had one hand on his bars and the other hand reaching out to grab his bottle from the volunteer and couldn’t maneuver around the bottle quickly enough.  He went down…hard! 

He was a bit banged up with some scrapes, bruises, and sore hip, but his bike suffered some damage as well.  The rear derailleur was broken.  This is what moves the chain to different gear rings on the rear wheel.  He saw a bike support vehicle helping someone out with their flat tire and asked if they could take a look at his bike when they were done.  But when he realized it might take awhile, he decided to try to ride it.  All was fine until he tried to shift to another gear when he reached a climb heading into Osoyoos and the derailleur went right into the spokes and stopped the wheel.  He came to a skidding halt and realized the derailleur had broken off completely.  There weren’t a lot of options – his race was basically over.

Since I knew this wasn’t going to be ‘my’ day, I suggested he just take my bike and finish.  I knew during the swim that breathing might be an issue and I would rather see him finish the day.  Two potential problems – my bike is one size smaller than his and I have different pedals than he does…his bike shoe cleats don’t fit into my pedals.  But, if we could get the bike support vehicle, they could quickly put his pedals onto my bike and then all he would have to deal with is a slightly smaller bike.  Mark wasn’t crazy about this idea as he also wanted me to have the best shot possible of finishing the day. 

The bike support vehicle came by and he said, there are two options.  Switch bikes…or…remove the rear derailleur completely, adjust the chain length, and turn his bike into a single speed.  Basically that means rather than having 20 different gear options to choose from, he would have one only.  The downside was, the toughest part of the bike course was to about the begin.  Richter Pass, the first mountain pass was only 3km away.

Now, that he had an ‘option’, he was excited to take on that challenge.  So, off I went and the bike mechanic got him set up.  I think the mechanic was as excited about Mark giving this a shot, as Mark was about continuing the race.

What I didn’t mention is that while Mark was waiting for some kind of bike support, before I arrived on the scene, he saw another cyclist standing at the side of the road and found out that this guy had the wrong tubular tire for his bike and couldn’t repair the flat tire that he had.  Since Mark thought his day was over anyway, he just gave the guy his own spare tire. 

I only tell you this, because once the mechanic finally got Mark back on the road, it was only a few kilometers later that Mark got a flat tire.  The problem?  He no longer had a spare tire since he had given his away.  As it turns out, the same bike mechanic came by again and said…’now what?’  They just chuckled and put an old spare wheel on his bike and he was on his way again.

With only one gear, the up-hills were a bit of a grind and the descents meant that he would spin out and would have to rely on coasting - not great to keep the legs fresh, nor to offer up a fast bike time…but he was feeling good and still passing a lot of people.

After getting through the remaining 120km of the bike course, he took whatever time he needed in transition and was off on the run. 

He wouldn’t have known that I pulled out of the race at 150km of the bike course and I was actually happy he wouldn’t be worried about me and my race day.  The smoke from the forest fires in the north had settled into the valley and my breathing had become worse.  Pulling out was the right decision.  Of course, I am disappointed.  I had put in a lot of hours of training and working towards one day, but I definitely didn’t want to make things worse.

As soon as I got back to the motel, I quickly showered and started checking the time splits to see how he was doing on the run.  I was thrilled to see the first half of the run was great.  I was so pumped and excited and hung out with some friends as we cheered on the many finishers. 

The back half of the run was a little tougher for Mark as the discomfort in the hip from the crash made running difficult.  Jonathan was out on another part of the run course and called me when he 3.5 miles out.  I couldn’t wait!  Seeing him come down the home stretch with the biggest smile…well, my eyes welled up quickly.  I got a quick hug from him at the side of the road and he was off into the finish line chute.  With that smile, you would have thought he had won the race…and he did!

Overcoming adversity and unexpected challenges can make even the toughest races, one of the best races ever.

So, how did we celebrate the achievement the day after?  Lunch on the patio of a nice winery (See Ya Later – Hawthorne)…the second place overall female finisher in the race was having lunch there with her family visiting from Australia.  It has beautiful views, although still a little hazy today.

and then…a stop at Tickleberry’s

for some of their famous ice cream cones!!

A perfect way to end our stay in Penticton!  Can’t wait to come back!

Forest fire haze

This didn't help my breathing issues...view of Lake Okanagan this afternoon. Compare it to earlier photo posted. Made the right decision to withdraw from the race at about 150km into the bike.

Feelin' hot hot hot

It's going to very hot on race day. It might make for some slower finish times (and a tough day for spectators as well).

Everyone is racing in the same heat - it will be, what it will be! Just a heads up - don't stay up past your bed time!!

Jon’s here…

Jonathan has come out to cheer us on…how cool!  Of course, we miss Marnie, Jared, and Nadine.  Hope they had fun in London!!