The wine tour

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For quite a few years now, my wife and I have holidayed in Kelowna during our summer break. What has usually happened is that our daughters come and join us for part of the trip, but as it turns out, usually at different times. This year their visit overlapped and I had a special request. I wanted to do a wine tour with them… where I wasn’t the designated driver.

So this morning 5 of us, my wife and I, our two daughters, and one of my daughter’s best friends, walked up to the front entrance of our campground and met a tour van to take us on a full day wine tour.

Six other people joined us: Four from London, Ontario, and two from London, England. It only took one winery to loosen up and then we became one big group on the bus. By the end of the day our 3 parties were sad to have to part ways.

Overall, the day went as I had hoped. I enjoyed my time with my family and new friends. I could fully enjoy the tasting without worrying about transportation. And it was a delight to have this experience with my wife and kids.

I’ve said this before, but it is special to me that my grown kids still enjoy spending time with my wife and I. I really believe that life is about creating special experiences. I don’t need more stuff, but I want more opportunities to spend time with people that I love and care for… and this wine tour is a perfect example of this.

The (grey) sands of time

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It has been several years since I’ve left my beard for over a week, and now that I have done so, I’m a little surprised by how much grey I see. My beard used to be mostly pepper with a hint of salt, but now the salt has really taken over.

For years now, a passing conversation with my mother-in-law has stuck with me. She was only a few years older than I am now when she shared the following. She said, (and I paraphrase because this was over 25 years ago), ‘You’ll see. You’ll get to my age and you won’t feel old. Your mind will still tell you that you are young, but then you look in the mirror and you see an old you looking back.’

She didn’t say it lightheartedly, but rather with a hint of duress, which is probably what made me remember the conversation. It comes back to me more frequently as I age, and especially when I have moments like this, looking in a mirror and seeing so much grey in my beard. These are ‘where did the time go?’ kind of moments.

And then I shift my thinking. I realize that a lot of time has indeed passed. I see my grown, adult kids and recognize that they too have moments like this, where they wonder how they got to be as old as they are. I see what I’ve built around me with my career, my family, and my friends. I see the commitment I’ve made to care for myself, to dedicate time to writing and to my health… this all takes time. And while I can’t stay young forever, I can continue to feel young.

The grey has come. It will spread. Wrinkle lines will deepen. Reflexes will slow. But I will not yield to these things. I will not accept them as signs that I’m old. No, instead I will work hard to slow the decline in ways I have the power to, and I’ll accept the things that age will make inevitable. Let the grey come. If I still have ways to grow, things to learn, places to see, and experiences to have… I’ll still be young at heart and mind.

Let the grey come.

So how are you going to fill your time?

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Since announcing my retirement I’ve heard different versions of the question, “So, what are you going to fill your time with?” at least a couple dozen times.

I guess that might be an issue for some, but not for me. I will fill my time. I will enjoy longer workouts. I will get more use out of my hot tub. I’ll write, and write, and write. I’ll edit videos. I’ll cook meals that take time to prepare. I’ll find more time to be outdoors.

I’ll be one of those people that complains about being more busy retired than when I worked.

My time will be filled.

Glamping time

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About 7 years ago my wife said she wanted to buy a camper trailer. I looked at the cost of the size of trailer she wanted, plus buying a new truck that could tow it, and I came up with an alternative. I said, ‘Here’s the deal: Any time you want to go camping, we can rent a trailer. I won’t bug you about the price, you can get the camper you want, and we can go as many times as you want’. 

As it turns out, we’ve gone once a year, missing a year, and while the cost of a trailer and a campsite runs about the same as an Air BNB, we get the full glamping (upscale camping) experience of owning a trailer, without the cost of buying and caring for one. 

What’s even better is that we’ve rented the same trailer from the same family for 4 trips now, and we know exactly what we are getting. I really enjoy our camper experience, and I am thrilled that I don’t have to drive towing it, find (and pay for) a place to park it, and do all the upkeep required… And although we might go more often if we owned one, I think we’ve saved quite a bit of money with this approach, and it encourages us to see more of the world on our other vacations. On second thought, when I think of the cost of the other vacations, maybe it isn’t as great a cost savings as I thought, but I still like the decision we made. 

The Wisdom Gap

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It’s easy to espouse and share wise words. It’s much harder to empathetically and meaningfully live by those words.

The gap between saying and sharing insightful thoughts and actuality representing those thoughts with meaningful action is what really matters.

Empty words or words demonstrated? Vapid ideas or insightful endeavours? Wisdom in platitudes or wisdom fully expressed in a measurable way?

How big is the gap?

It’s easy to say the right thing, it’s only when we do what’s right that we truly show how wise we are.

Holiday training

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In less than a month I’ll be ‘Everesting the Crunch’, (follow @EverestTheCrunch on Instagram). We travelled to Kelowna yesterday, and it was a no workout day, so in keeping with my commitment to ‘never miss two days in a row’, I had to get a workout in. I decided a brisk walk up a nearby hill (x4) with pushups at the top and bottom would suffice.

Unfortunately once my heart rate was up, I could taste the smoke from nearby fires, but at least it wasn’t as bad as yesterday, when Kelowna had the worst air quality in the world. And admittedly, I was still feeling the affects of some afternoon drinks at the campsite… but off I went anyway.

Well it turned out to be a full-on 46 minute workout with my heart rate peaking above 150 at the top of the hill all 4 times, while never going faster than a brisk walk. What matters is not missing 2 days in a row, and going up hill to keep the training going for Everesting the Crunch.

~

Dave Sands and I will be going up the Coquitlam Crunch 37 times in less than 48 hours, August 21st & 22nd. That’s 9km vertical, the distance walked (mostly up hill) will be 2 marathons, and it will take over 19 hours of walking time.

If you are local, you can join us for a crunch or two and/or donate to support local mental health initiatives. You can donate here.

So Smokey

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I remember when forest fires were not a factor that disrupted summer holiday plans. However for a few years now smoke has wreaked havoc on our summer vacations. The worst for my wife and I was in Nelson, BC back in 2021, when it seemed the whole province was on fire. I actually tried to do a morning run and learned later that on that morning Nelson had one of the worst air quality indexes in the world, due to nearby forest fires. My breathing felt like I was jogging inside a plastic bag, and I could taste the smoke. I struggled.

Today we drove to Kelowna. We charged our car in Merritt where the air quality was awful. You could see the smoke in the air between you and anything 8-10 feet away or more. And while there were a couple clear patches beyond Merritt, as we entered Kelowna the smoke returned.

So our holiday now starts, and will probably end, in smoke. Exercise might be curtailed, and so too might beach time. We’ll make the most of our time here… but I’m not sure we’ll do this trip again next year if we have to book it months in advance and won’t know the smoke conditions.

We are fortunate that the smoke seldom heads to the lower mainland, where we live. I have a lot of empathy for people who deal with this all summer long, and also face the threat of fires affecting their lives more personally. It’s one thing to be upset about smoke filled air on your holidays and a whole other thing when it affects your everyday life.

We went for the EV

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Just yesterday we went looking for a car and we were told  that there was about a 6-month wait for the car we wanted. It was closer to 3 months (October) before the next shipment was going to arrive, but a wait nonetheless… Until my wife contacted one of the managers of the dealership, who had sold her a car at another dealership. He offered up the floor model, saying they could use the demo car as their floor model until October.

So, about 24 hours after walking into the dealership last night we walked out with our brand new Electric Vehicle. We chose the Subaru Trailseeker. The mileage per full charge is 444km, and it has all the features we were looking for in an EV.

We still have to buy a charger for our home, but we were smart enough to set up the wiring for it when we did our last renovation. So, it won’t cost more than basic installation once we choose our brand. I’m interested to see how this will affect our electricity bill, but I’m sure it will cost a lot less than the gas for my gas van we just got rid of.

It has been a good 20 years or more since we bought a new car as opposed to a used one, and so it feels like a real treat. We figured the advancements recently have been too great to choose a used EV. I feel good about moving to a fully electric car, and I’m also specifically a fan of the car we just bought.

Kaput car

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Recently, my car died one hour south of the border. We had to have it towed to a shop while my family was picked up by my sister-in-law, who drove us home. This was a very kind act, which involved her driving for over two hours to help us out.

Then I had to get back to my car the following weekend… and pay a hefty repair bill. My car is old and I was considering getting rid of it this year, but decided to wait until next year. My car has a different agenda.

Recently the power steering has been acting up and so we took it to our usual mechanic to have it checked out. The news wasn’t great. The repairs needed were going to be as much as I just spent a few months ago again. The only good news is that our mechanic didn’t charge us for the inspection. They also told me it was too much to spend on a 19 year old car, and I agreed. They also said it would be fine to drive around town but didn’t recommend long highway drives like the one we have coming up in a few days.

I have to say that my current car has served our family well. It’s a 2007 that we purchased, with very low mileage, in 2011. 15 years of good service from a 19 year old car is definitely a purchase we got a lot of value from.

So, it’s time to buy a new car. Except, the one we want has about a 6-month wait for arrival. Will my car hold out that long? I really don’t know, but it’s only going to be used for small in-city trips from now on, and hopefully it won’t go kaput before we get a replacement. 🤞