Monday, August 16, 2010

Glistening in the sunshine


I can't remember dates very well. I can't remember much of my childhood. But, I can remember that I was playing inside watching TV and someone interrupted my show and said that Elvis was found dead in his Memphis home. It was August 16th, 1977 and I was 7 years old. I went out into the yard where my Mom was in the garden and I told her what I had heard and went and played on the swing. Sometimes life is that simple. One minute you're "jonesing" for a fried peanut-butter and banana sandwich and the next your using your .38 to change the channel.

Here's Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show. His hips were the question, so Sullivan agreed to have him on the show, but to appease the morality police they only shot him from the waist up.


Another in the seemingly endless beautiful days here in the Okanagan. Today is a day of easy spin.... well I think I may have taken it way too literally as you will see.

I started this morning with my Mom, volunteering at the local soup kitchen. My Mom has been volunteering at the soup kitchen for 15 years now and has quite the routine. So we hopped into the truck and headed out to make the rounds. Our first stop was Starbucks where we collected all their day old stuff and then off to Tim Horton's for the same. Loads and loads of bagels and the like. The over to IGA for even more breads and individually packaged lunches that have not sold. We then take all of this to the "Soupeteria" as it is known locally and distribute the goods on the shelves for the local and migrant people who may need a hot meal or just a pick me up.

After everything was established we headed out on the old Kettle Valley Railway - the K.V.R.

Just follow the signs.

This route would take us up over the marina and out towards Naramata. Now the interesting thing about today, is that the roles are to be reversed. I have no interest in power walking, as I was looking for an easy spin if you remember. So I had brought one of my Mom's bikes along and now I was going to ride along side her and act as the aid station and photographer. It was really beautiful and the lake was flawless.

On top of the world, looking down on creation...

I was giggling to myself the whole way, as I looked down on Mom's little Cat's Eye computer as it was registering a slow and steady 6 kmph. It said easy spin today... and damn it... that's-a what i'm a-gonna do! In addition, since trains could not climb really steep grades, I was ascending at about something less than 1% grade. My HR was about 60. Now that's fast considering my resting is about 53. I did not even break a sweat over the 90 minutes..... but my Mom on the other hand was glistening in the sunshine as she was on a mission.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow... don't be alarmed now...

The trail takes you through some of the heart of the wine region and creates some absolutely stunning vistas as the roads intersect the row and rows of grapes as the mature in the radiant sunlight... alright enough shots at the weather in Winnipeg.... I can see from the net that you are back to normalish-like temps now.

You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky, as we walk in fields of gold.


6 comments:

  1. That's funny because I remember the day Elvis died too. I was 6, as I am a full year younger than you. My Mom was a big fan. It was the first time I realized that dead.... meant Dead.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We are obviously the same age. I was on vacation in Chicago when Elvis died and I was also 7 and remember how in shock everyone was. I kind of didn't get the big deal back then though. Hope your tapering is going well. Only 11 more days!!! Very exciting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, Kim, some people may disagree with you about the dead part. Elvis is still seen now and then. My favourite is Bruce Campbell's film: Bubba Ho-tep. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Qo74_L3vo Basically Elvis and Kennedy are living together in an old folks home in the middle of nowhere and they band together to defeat a mummy. Rent this and have a couple of glasses of wine and you will laugh hard enough to scream - "Hey Hey Pruddy mumma"

    ReplyDelete
  4. KC - the Taper is going... I hit the incredibly tired stage, so your poem was a perfect thing to discover yesterday. After my spin I had a nap that I wok up from in time for another nap followed by a sleep. As you can see, i accomplished a lot yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I remember the day Elvis died too. I was 13 and wondering why my mother was crying. I didn't get it.

    ps. Kim turned me onto your blog...immensely enjoying it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Welcome, Lisa. Glad you could join us and I am also glad you are enjoying the ramblings of some tinfoil man as he tries to make sense of hell that awaits him in 11 days. Don't be afraid to become an official follower.... maybe there should be a little something something for signing up... but then again, if you ask Kim, she might be able to spare you some of her last prize winnings.

    ReplyDelete