Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
Looking for land, looking, looking.
This map comprises 1250 kilometres of road trip that Brian and I took over three and a half days. We started with Kamloops only because I had a meeting there Thursday night, and after that we visited or drove through (in order):
- Princeton
- Coalmont
- Tulameen
- Bankier/Osprey Lake (camped overnight)
- Hedley via the Old Hedley Road
- Keremeos (breakfast & bought asparagus and apples for canning)
- Penticton
- Summerland
- Bankier again, this time via the other half of the Princeton-Summerland Road
- Princeton (again – we ate at the most unfriendly restaurant ever)
- Manning Park/Lightning Lake (camped overnight)
- Hope (breakfast)
- and then back home to East Vancouver
Despite the fact that the driving was rough in some places (we explored a bunch of logging roads) I have to say that this was one of the most fun and relaxing trips we’ve taken in ages. We’ve discovered that the back of my car is long enough to sleep in with the seats folded down so no tent/worry about rain – and we headed out with little in the way of a set agenda after Kamloops which allowed us to decide what we were doing as we went.
This trip started out as a way to check out some potential placer mining claims that we thought might also be good hunting grounds, but as we discovered those claims were way too far out in the bush to consider, we found ourselves circling back around Princeton-Summerland Road to check out some real estate we’ve been vaguely interested in for awhile. The large piece composed of mostly wetland – which we really have wanted for months – is still up for sale and still too expensive. That didn’t stop us from checking it out again and walking the length of it. However, there are a couple other potentials up there at the moment – one which is a cheap lake-lot at Link Lake (not right on the lake, across the road from it), and one involving a share in a land co-op. As always when returning from these land-jaunts, B and I are now busy researching these possibilities with an eye to heading back up that way as time permits to give it a further look over.
We have been sometimes-looking for recreational property for the last couple of years. This has involved scoping realtor websites, driving to the occasional property, and checking out areas of the province we think might make good get-away zones for our activities. So far our list of wants includes a property that is roughly 4 hours from the city (not more than 5), close to or backing onto crown land, private (no subdivisions in the wilderness), and with good access to water for swimming in (creek/river or lake nearby). In short, we’re not particularly picky, but we have some parameters because we know how we would use such a place. Our biggest problem/parameter however, the one which is keeping us from owning anything at the moment, is cost. That is, BC real estate seems ridiculously valued, particularly land in the south-west quadrant of the province.
In the area we are currently looking, there are probably 100 properties for sale, plus a new development of 5-acre lots going in – and very few of them are on the market for less than $300,000. A lot that is priced lower usually has some major flaw (like the one we wanted to purchase – which is 34 acres, 90% of which is wetland or steep/unusable slope – selling for $170,000) or nothing more than bare, unserviced land exposed to the road. Even then, it isn’t possible to find anything for less than $150,000.
Which to a city-dweller in the most expensive real estate city doesn’t sound like much, except we are talking about areas where there are few to no jobs, no municipal services, and where the properties being sold are clearly for secondary use, not primary residences. Having looked now for a couple of years, I am pretty sure I’m not the only one feeling this way as many of the properties seem to sit year-after-year with nary a change in price (though real estate agents seem get get thrown over with fair frequency).
Now, I recognize that a recreational property is simply a nice thing to have and not a necessity – and I am not complaining about not being able to afford a luxury item. But the whole situation has gotten me curious – who is the market for the $350,00 recreational property? These aren’t exactly properties for the uber-rich after all, but at the same time very few Vancouverites can come up with that kind of money particularly given the very high cost of the city these days (not to mention the pricey nature of all the interior cities where actual work and decent wages exist). I know Bob Rennie and other urban developers have been peddling the myth that a whole new crop of retirees are just aching to downsize their homes, buy their kids condos and perhaps get themselves a vacation property – but the fact that many people are working longer than ever leads me to question whether or not the older retiree really is hankering to settle down in communities with limited medical services and long driving distances.
In any case, recreational real estate in BC seems to be in the same state as residential real estate in Vancouver – the prices are too high for what’s being offered, no one is particularly keen to pay those prices (or simply can’t pay them) but the sellers seem to think if they just hold on a bit longer they will get the price they want, and so – stalemate. I expect the whole thing isn’t going to hold for much longer in the city or the hinterlands because at some point people *need* to unload their real estate and start moving down the price ladder in an effort to do so.
All I know is that we have an amount we are willing to borrow for this endeavor and once a property drops into that range – we are interested. As I mentioned above there are two places which are possibilities at the moment and I am hopeful that by the end of the summer there will be a few more. Or that one of these ones (like the co-op) works out to be the right thing.
In the meantime, the road trips are fun and always interesting – more of those in the near future most definitely!
In the Bookshed: Unlikely approaches
This is probably one of the most fun gardening books I’ve come across in a very long while – “a graphic guide to creating a fantastic yard totally tailored to you” which incorporates amusing drawings and humorous commentary alongside great advice for planning and landscaping your yard. Think of this as a gentle approach for the newbie who isn’t sure if they have it in them to create a great yard and garden – this book breaks it down with a casual approach rather than coming at you all serious-like. For the already-committed gardener, I’m not sure if this has a lot to offer – the information is pretty basic and tailored around having an outdoor space that you want to shape and create. What I do appreciate about it is the emphasis on understanding plants, shrubs and trees over the long-term and how those work to create different effects (not to mention how easy they are to move if you don’t like where you first put them). And did I mention it’s amusing? Definitely reads like a book for the unlikely gardener – which I have a lot of appreciation for, because at one time in my life I was also an unlikely gardener and a book like this would have gone a long way to inspiring me back then.
I own a lot of gardening books, and I get a fair number of them delivered to my doorstep for review – so I have to say that by now I’ve seen most variations of the encouraging food gardening book. But this one… well….. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a veggie gardening book focused on “speed” which is not an attribute we typically equate with gardening. In fact, as Diacono and Leendertz mention in the introduction – we tend to think of food and other gardening as part of the long view. But as the authors point out, there are plenty of things that are at their best when harvested not long after sowing – sprouts (being the obvious one), micro-greens, early squash with the blossoms still on them, flowers just out of the bud, baby carrots, new potatoes and early-fruiting varieties of tomatoes – just to name a few of the early-season foods you might think about when sowing your garden this year. Nicely photographed, the book includes sowing and harvesting advice for each recommended crop as well as recipes that feature these early spring foods – something that I look forward to trying out as my garden starts to pop (it’s just on the cusp of providing more than radishes right now). If you’re impatient to start eating from your garden in the spring, this book offers a remedy to the wait by encouraging micro-crops and early varieties to tide you over.
Not all or nothing – sometimes (physical) change is effortless and incremental
A few weeks ago I read a blog post titled “All or nothing thinking will always (eventually) get you nothing” which was about how that particular axiom relates so well to diet and exercise approaches. How we set ourselves up to quit from the very beginning when we demand only unbroken training streaks or obsessive adherence to the latest eating plan. Just this morning I found myself thinking that since I didn’t go to the gym yesterday and I couldn’t go today for my regular pilates workout, there was no point going for the rest of the week because I’d already lost two gym workouts. Which makes no sense, of course, if the overall goal is fitness. But if the overall goal is finding excuses, well then we’re all capable of waiting for another day to get started or re-started.
A bit before I read that article I saw a fitness instructor to get some postural advice. Since I’ve been walking a lot (6-12 km 4 days per week since the beginning of April and from March to April 6 km per day 3 days per week) I wanted to make sure I wasn’t compounding any posture or gait problems that might have been held over from breaking my ankle in 2002. For the most part it turns out that my posture is fine, but I have a weak core which causes my pelvis to tip forward. This was something I had already discovered in pilates classes. Another thing that my trainer pointed out to me is that I didn’t move my arms when I walked, which she told me might account for my very weak shoulders (my shoulder girdle never being activated for days at a time).
She gave me a bunch of exercises and we also focused on how to incorporate some better practices into walking on the treadmill (like swinging my arms – how novel!) At the time the exercises seemed very do-able when we discussed them, but because of lots of overtime and work stresses these days I am having a hard time getting to the gym. Instead, I am making sure I walk to work every single day and home 1-2 days per week because if that’s all I do alongside my regular running around I’ve gotten at least 8 km of walking into my day and that’s better than nothing.
Since that’s all I’ve been doing, plus pilates twice a week – I have focused on bringing the gym exercises into my walking. That is, I concentrate for bursts on swinging my arms, drawing my pelvis into a neutral position, drawing in my core, pulling my shoulders back and holding my chin level. And although that sounds all very simple, it does two things 1) intensifies my walking by a factor of five and 2) allows me to work on my core and other problem areas outside of the gym and during what has become a routine commute.
Guess what? It turns out that without doing anything else, after a month of this concentration, I have stronger shoulders (as evidenced by greater ability to do push-ups and planks without dying) and my pelvic adjustment into neutral (that is into proper posture) feels small and natural rather than large and difficult to hold. And I’ve noticed that overall I am more attentive to my core and that I am unconsciously making adjustments into better posture all the time.
Point being? These are changes that have taken more intention than effort, and even these incremental adjustments have lead to real fitness and health outcomes which I intend to build on.
Just this morning I found myself balking at taking the stairs at work because I knew I couldn’t make it up all 16 flights. Which is silly because even taking them two flights and then hopping the elevator is better than nothing right? So I took them four flights despite my critical voice, and hope that by next week it will be six, then eight, then fifteen – because I will work them incrementally into my routine.
If four days a week I walked 6 to 12 kilometres and focused on good posture and gait for at least some of that time, plus took the stairs up and down 15 flights once or twice a day – not to mention two pilates classes per week – I would imagine that over time I would get into pretty good shape. None of those things is particularly dramatic, but I’m confident that I can keep working my way up to good fitness by simply altering my small practices one movement at a time.
In the Bookshed: Recipes for Good Living
This book has been sitting on my kitchen counter over the winter months, tantalizing not only the fresh-ingredients cook in me, but also the gardener. A two-in-one book, the first half of Four Seasons is dedicated to growing, while the second half is comprised of 120 recipes incorporating foods from the home garden. Damrosch and Coleman manage to provide an excellent overview of all aspects of edible gardening (including garden layouts, soil advice, and food storage) with the inspiration to try out new veggie crops and cooking techniques in the recipe section. This book is beautifully adorned with full-colour photographs and drawings which invite the reader to imagine their own harvest-to-table experience. This book would make an excellent gift for a first-time gardener or homeowner looking to turn their back (or front) yard into an edible paradise.
I have to admit, I find it odd that I am so drawn to a book about flower arranging – this being a topic I haven’t ever given much thought to despite the fact I grow and cut flowers for my home and table all summer long. The Flower Recipe Book is easily one of the most beautiful books I have ever seen on the subject – the floral arrangements coupled with gorgeous photography invite even the most cynical reader (me!) to linger and draw in the useful and instructional advice the authors give in their “recipes”. With 100 arrangements that cover all floral seasons, Harampolis and Rizzo break information down into simple instructions, including plant facts and care, the various vessels used in their designs and where to find them, and step-by-step explanations of how to achieve various visual effects (not to mention how to get the most longevity out of the arrangements). Although I do not have all the different vessels at my disposal to make these arrangements, I find the structural information on each arrangement easy enough to improvise with — and I love the fact that many of the containers are simple found objects, or in some cases, easily knocked together from some scraps of wood then lined with a tupperware (that’s my interpretation, not theirs). Thrift store tins, mason jars, wine glasses and old gift baskets are all pressed into service in these designs – and as a flower-gardener I am looking forward to a summer yard that provides the raw material for building them. This is another beautiful gift for the flower-gardener or home-aesthete in your life — even a very cynical one.
These things also didn’t change last night……
Gah! Losing an election is so disheartening, frustrating, disempowering, depressing. No matter how you phrase it, I know a lot of sad people this morning and I too have been catastrophizing since the results were announced last night. But having lived through several governments who I did not vote for (in fact, my party has only ever won a single election where I was eligible to vote) I am also fully aware that this is not the end of anything, just the beginning of another round of struggle. While walking to work this morning I was thinking about exactly this, and exactly what did *not* change last night besides the ruling government:
- I still live in an awesome neighbourhood with great, compassionate people surrounding me. One way in which that manifests is the return of birdsong to our community, which has followed the return of food gardening, boulevard gardens and natural features to our urban neighbourhood. Another manifestation is the return of salmon to Still Creek last year, which followed on the cleaning up and restoration of the waterway by community volunteers. Still another thing I love about my walk to work is the railway overpass at Raymur, a bridge that only exists because mothers in the community banded together in the eighties to fight for it. Point being, Liberals or NDP, we make positive change by our actions and there are reminders of that everywhere.
- Poor people are still destitute, young people still feel disenfranchised, and there are still not enough options for low-income housing in this province. Sadly, the NDP made few promises for change on any of these fronts ($20 per month added to a welfare cheque is an insult not a promise) so it’s not like that was going to change either way.
- If I want social and environmental justice, I must be willing to take to the streets. No government *gives* us rights and benefits. No government willingly gives up privilege. We are still a population who needs to learn our collective interest and our collective power.
- My community still includes love and music and art and parties and great friends and funny nights of drinking and community gardening fun and rad parents and weird kids and so much of the stuff that live is *actually* about. Losing at the polls while winning at life is a balance I can handle.
Perhaps I am somewhat of a Pollyanna – but I want to say – cheer up! It’s not that bad! At least we’ll have some fun at the barricades, right? And that despite the government I love my life and the fact that I have found such purpose in it; win or lose the election.
Red Cedar 