photo by Audrey MacNaughton
Chukar
This is a bird of the middle east.
It has been introduced widely as a game bird, and feral populations have become established in the United States (Rocky Mountains, Great Basin, high desert areas of California), Canada, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Hawaii.
It’s a channel but close to nature for sure – Okanagan River north of ORRI project Oliver
Life-blood of all that we are.
‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS…
It’s just a few days before Christmas and as I stand on my snowy beach looking out on an almost frozen lake, I can’t help but reflect back on Christmas a few years past where we found ourselves on the verge of a big house move and celebrating Christmas amongst a giant maze of packing boxes.
I didn’t know then that as the door on our Clovelly house closed on us, another door was slowly opening and would direct us down a magical path to a very different way of life. The sale and consequential move from our Clovelly house a few Christmases ago has given way to the birth of our Vaseux Lake house. We’ve since been on a transitional flight path that has taken us from suburbia to rural lake life in Oliver, B.C.
The move into our house on Vaseux Lake has been a dream come true and every day I am grateful to call this lake my home and the people of Oliver my neighbours. So on that note, I am reminiscing to the time when this all began and revisiting a poem I wrote on December 22, 2011.
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house
was a maze of packing boxes, no room for a mouse.
No stockings were hung by the fire with care,
no tree, no lights; had the Grinch moved in here?
The movers would come in just a few weeks
so Christmas had taken a gloomy back seat.
As I lay in my bed, attempting to sleep
I suddenly sprang up and leapt to my feet.
I would go for a run and work this thing out,
I couldn’t let the Grinch fill me with doubt.
As my husband lay nestled all snug in our bed,
I pulled on my runners, grabbed a cap for my head.
Outside the moon shone lustrous and bright
and it lit up my way on this cold Christmas night.
I ran all the way down to the cove by the sea
and I couldn’t believe the view I did see.
Out on the bluff a strange sight did appear,
a jolly old elf with eight sturdy reindeer.
And nearby a sleigh, piled high with new toys
was ready to deliver to good girls and boys.
I shook my head slowly, wiped sleep from my eyes
but the vision remained, I’m telling no lies.
The jolly old elf was so lively and quick
and I thought to myself, could this be St. Nick?
He was chubby and plump, just like in the story
and I laughed when I saw him in all of his glory.
His eyes–how they twinkled! His nose like a cherry!
And he winked as he waved at me, gleeful and merry.
Then he chuckled and shouted, called his reindeer by name
and more fleeter than eagles on the wing they came.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle
and I was left dumbstruck as they flew like a thistle.
I still was in wonder as I made my way back
to my house which now stood with the moon at its back.
And way up above me, I heard a merry “ho ho ho!”
and in a blink of an eye, it started to snow.
Renewed with the spirit of Christmas and hope
I skipped back to my home; there was no time to mope.
And as I tiptoed back in to my mess of a hall
I knew this would be the merriest Christmas of all!
Wishing you all a magical Christmas!
(Originally published in Running With a View blogspot)
Food Action Plan 
Please review Food Secure Oliver: A Community Plan for Increasing Food Security in Oliver and Area C prior to completing the survey.
Food Secure Oliver is a comprehensive community-wide plan to increase food security in Oliver and Area C. Eighteen months of research and community engagement has informed the plan which presents a shared vision for multiple sectors, organizations and individuals to work towards in collaboration over the next 10 years.
Please help us to make this a great plan by taking a short survey and providing your input. The Town of Oliver and the Food Action Advisory Committee thank you for your time.
Thank you for completing the survey. If you are interested in helping in the exciting work of implementing the Food Secure Oliver Plan, please email (admin@oliver.ca) the Town with your interests and contact information.
go to www.oliver.ca – looking for Food Action Plan, Food Security and fill in the survey.
Holiday Changes and Closures for Curbside Collection and Landfills
All homes that receive garbage collection on Monday in Penticton, Naramata and rural Oliver, will receive collection on Saturday December 23rd and Saturday December 30th. This change is due to Christmas Day and New Year’s Day falling on a Monday.
Residents in Area ‘E’ Naramata and Area ‘C’ Rural Oliver will have recycling and garbage collection on the 23rd and just garbage collection on the 30th. Residents with Monday collection in the City of Penticton will have just garbage collected on the 23rd and garbage and recycling collected on the 30th. Residents can check their local collection calendar or their local government for details.
No other collection days are changing over the holidays. Boxing Day collection on Tuesday will remain the same in RDOS and Penticton collection areas.
The Campbell Mountain, Oliver and Okanagan Falls Landfills will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The Keremeos Transfer Station will be open regular hours on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. All RDOS landfills
