DROVERIA

[date Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 5:37 PM]

PN:

I was in Keremeos on Monday, calculating what it would cost me to “rescue” an old Ford truck from a well meaning but neglectful owner. Nice man – reminded me awfully much of Norm MacDonald in appearance and speech (not content or context) ( [youtube http://youtube.com/w/?v=0eKOyI6l03Q&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL8BC144D428E86F04] ).

The point of sharing this is the privilege I had of working with him, and meeting two of his children. The boy wasn’t really relishing the return to school today, having experienced “schooling” four times previous. The girl was younger, and about to start kindergarten today. She was on her tiptoes in anticipation. They live in the “country” about 5 miles from downtown Keremeos (a thriving metropolis it’s not). Shy and curious, wondering what this strange man is doing with dad and that tired truck. They watched us struggle to resuscitate that old diesel beast for over 2 hours.

September light on the hills of Keremeos. Summer is past – you know this is true because the hornets you don’t see all summer have lost their purpose and direction. They become visibly aimless. They fly around your face, into your drink, land on your hair. They don’t know the end is nigh for them (do they?). The sun finally goes over the mountain at 4 p.m. My host says they don’t see the sun from the end of November until February – their farm is on the north side of a rather large mass of rock. A mountain, I reckon. They celebrate the return with a bonfire. Brrrrrr!

We finally coaxed the old Ford to start.

How do you tell a man the price he is asking is twice the value of the item while he is standing there with his children expecting a certain outcome?

I don’t know, so I didn’t.

Continue reading Tuesday – Back to Skool

[date Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 12:37 PM]

PN:

Time is a thief. A seductive, sultry thief. The fourth dimension…..

Today, an accumulation of items from the Intertubes that caught my eye this hectic week – mostly entitlement oriented.

The NDP codswallop-er Jack Leighton departed this mortal coil. Sister Karen and father Don were staunch Dippers…… A source of many discussions / debates / arguments in our past. Logic was often abandoned….. along with math, law, justice, duty, mercy, and common sense. Them was the days! And they’re not over…..

In the Canadian diaspora-tic soup of “social justice”, “moral equivalence”, and “multiculturalism” the canonization of a political leader can only be a political maneuver. Really, a state funeral for Taliban Jack? Here’s the low-down from Sun News’ Mark Bonokoski questioning “Layton as Saint?”:

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featured/prime-time/867432237001/layton-a-saint/1129166863001

A follow-up article from Elizabeth Thompson discussing the hypocrisy of “donations” to a worthy cause with added tax benefits (the NDP supported and supporting Broadbent Institute) instead of …… wait for it……. the Canadian Cancer Society. Words often fail, but sometimes they hit the spot:

http://ipolitics.ca/2011/08/25/flowing-broadbent-institute-cash-through-ndp-provides-big-tax-breaks/

While I’m on the “social justice” (entitlement) rant, here’s another excellent (albeit dripping with irony) exposé of “entitlement”. Take a read of “Bury My Heart at Wounded Negro”:

http://takimag.com/article/bury_my_heart_at_wounded_negro#axzz1W8KIbQyr

The above article must be a solid disconnect for the entitlement community, da? The Russians say “Не повезло” (tough luck). Or, in Cherokee, “o-yo-i e-ha”. Actually, the quote means “No good lives”. I don’t think the Cherokee believe in luck….. couldn’t find a word close to it….. Here’s a compelling argument from Chief Joe Sitting Owl of the Cherokee Central Band, linking Cherokee ancestry to one of the lost tribes of Israel:

Continue reading Wednesday

[Date: Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 9:13 AM]

PN:

Karen Lee Drover-King died on August 18th, 2011, of complications following a second surgery to arrest the cancer consuming her body.

Karen lived in England since the late ’70’s. She is survived by her husband, Terry King, her child Keith Bell, and her brothers, Dennis and David.

Please forward this note to anyone you know who was a friend to Karen.

Glenn Drover is compiling an album of photographs in her memory. We ask if you have any photographs of Karen, please share them with us – if they are in electronic media send them to either or all of the following –

Dave Drover – DJDrover

Dennis Drover – LADrover

Glenn Drover – Drover.Glenn

If you have prints that haven’t been scanned, please send them to me or call. I will scan them, and return the originals to you. My coordinates are:

D J Drover
617 Decosmos Road
Vernon, BC, V1B 3A9
250.545.5366

I remember Karen with love, and melancholy, and regret. Too many years of too little communication and too much distance between us – geographic and world-view. The irony of my lament cuts deep…..

Here is a picture of the Karen I remember. Wistful, pensive, hauntingly beautiful, so young and such promise – what did you see in your future, darling sister?

Your sorrows are past, sis. Rest in peace.