Some days are quieter than others!!

Today was one of those days which are seldom planned. Started with a return to Tuesday at the gym. It was, as usual, not all that easy but I made it through and felt like I was better for the process. I even went and filled my SUV with fuel. Thankfully Air Miles is giving the option now that I can use points immediately to reduce the cost of the tankful. Since premium fuel was at $2.11/litre, the ability to knock $60.00 off the bill by using my bank-full of points made me rather happy (final cost was about $12.00).

Afterwards, it was home for brekkie and reading of a variety of news sources (including the printed version of the G+M). Managed to get a few tasks accomplished and then decided a wee nap might help compensate for a night’s sleep that was not all that sleep-filled. After lunch a long-standing task came onto my radar screen. Due to the truncated ski season I had not wrapped up the skiing results and provided a printed report for the other three skiers, nor had I shut off the boot-heaters; besides, there were some bottles of wine and whisky just sitting on the shelves. So it seemed like a good day to drive up to the condo on the hill and deal with all those lingering issues (especially retrieving the bottles!!). So off the SUV went.

Upon arriving, another issue stared me right in the face. As we are moving further into severe drought conditions in the southern interior of B.C., the potential for a significant forest fire season looms large. A few years ago there was a fire that approached precariously the ski resort. To reduce the potential for excess fire starter, people at the resort threw all the firewood that was stored/stacked on the balconies off the balconies and stacked it in a pile away from the various residences. The short-term impact (after the fire was put out) was that most of our good wood was scavenged by other owners who had returned to their properties earlier; Sandy & I were left with collecting a bunch of somewhat mediocre wood and then hauling it back up the three stories and returning to the deck. The next year we decided to get ahead of the curve – bringing in the wood and stacking it in the living room in the spring (returning it to the balcony in late autumn). This we have done now for perhaps three years.

SO guess what? The wood on the balcony stared at me. Luckily ST was along for the ride. She went out to the deck; I set down the tarps across the living room floor. And for the next two hours she handed me logs and I stacked. They are now all inside; come October, the process will be repeated but in reverse and the wood will be available for the occasional evening by the fireplace. You may ask where Sandy was – well he did it by himself last autumn, so it only seemed fair that I undertake the challenge now. Next winter however, I plan to spend more overnights at the condo, have more afternoons & evenings by the fireplace and hopefully make a bigger indent in the stack so there is less and less to move back and forth…

Afterwards, came back down to the village, unloaded the SUV, had dinner, listened to The Line podcast and am writing this… all-in-all a fairly gentle day… Hope yours was no more stressful…
In reflection,

g.w.