looking west

ali's backyard

back from alberta

yes indeed. all is well with miss ali riley, having launched her second book of poetry, "tear down", to a packed house at the calgary library. never saw so many people buy a book after a reading. even had a fair sized line up for autographs. then ali, meghan hildebrand and i drove up to edmonton for meghan's art show. it was also quite fun and successful. my first time to edmonton. bigger than i expected. full of young and fun people. tons of action. everyone out for a good time. we stayed at the strathcona hotel which was a trip. our room had no television, no phone, a big brown pleather sofa and the most disgusting carpets ever. it was also one of the hugest rooms i've ever stayed in. right on the corner of the building at a busy intersection that was rocking all night long. good times. i met a man who told me his name was thunderbird spiritheart. it was tough to keep up with what he was saying but i very much enjoyed the encounter. we sat across from a young guy busking in the alcove of a woolworth's with a sharp suit and an electric guitar. he had all sorts of girls stopping to sing and dance along. good times.

slocan valley

combustion 2

combustion 1

don't

amigos

home

this is where i'll build my fort.

forward momentum

this here pile of logs was stacked by max and i without the help of any machinery. well, we did use his pickup to drag a few into place but for the most part each log was heaved and rolled into the pile. it took nearly five days and i can feel some muscles and tendons got jerked around in the process. very satisfying work. today we replaced his deck posts with cleaner stronger wood. i find it all so encouraging. 2006 baby. this is the year it all comes together.

my good friend and former employer, michael ferrier had a heart attack last weekend. seems he'll recover just fine. he wants me to take over the kootenay spoons woodshop while he gets back to speed. freaky. it's been a few years since i've made a pair of bear claw salad tossers. ain't life interesting.