Mother ships & aliens.

Well, I never did get that pesky rat. I removed his nest from my engine bay with a water pressure jet, I dowsed the engine in WD40. I put traps all around the truck and managed to catch a bird!

There was footprint evidence in the snow that pointed toward my neighbours car so good luck there.

December 21st was a pivotal turning point for us here in the frozen wastes because of the winter solstice, meaning, from hereonin the long bitterly cold nights begin to shorten and in theory, the days get warmer.

What a load of rubbish!     A week later and Im still freezing my whatsits off.

Lyn points out that a bunch of local Druids were climbing some mountain nearby to watch the final winter sun set and to herald in the dawning of spring....we should go she said.   I wonder if its Druids that dance around naked singing to the watery sun? Anyway, we go, they are not Druids and defo not naked at minus 12c or so, but were a gathering of interesting people some of whom talked about the meanings of solstice and stuff.  We were then invited to a community hall in Penticton to hear more on the subject of solar stuff by various informed people....oh, and a free lunch!

At the hall we were greeted with hot coffee and cakes and invited to sit and listen to a presentation covering almost every aspect of the seasons and how different people and cultures are affected by the changes.

Lyn introduced me to Jo, a most lovely lady from Penticton who works for the local police detachment and has a dog called Berkley.    Jo is one of those people you feel has been a friend all your life although you only just met.

Presentation done, lunch in the big hall at a big round table was an entertainment.

Sitting opposite me was Cindi. Tall willowy 50ish, slim with long greying hair and dressed as a hippy might dress on a cold day. She was the always present yoga teacher that claimed was different from all other yoga teachers, if you could see into her head you might see unicorns and fairies all smiling and floating around in a purple mist.

Next to Cindi was some guy she knew but I never got his name as he was on the planet Neptune or somewhere.

Then there was Brandt, very nervous 35 ish chap that could not stop talking which was ok because he was the only white alien in the room, apparently. When Brandt claimed his uniqueness, we all looked around the room to check he was telling the truth.

Brandts claim to fame was his fruit juice company. Not sure about his company but his juice was rather nice. He didn't touch his plate of food because aliens don't eat in human company, but he emptied his plate into his handy Tupperware box for later.

Half way through his story about how the mother ship skims Okanagan lake just for fun I lost interest in Brandt, which was a shame because I wanted to understand an aliens views on rodent control.