DECEMBER 2016 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Counting the days


It’s time to sing the songs of the season and no, I’m not referring to the traditional carols. I’m talking about the refrains of “Where did the time


A Wannabe Farmer LINDA WEGNER


go?” “Is it already a year?” and “It can’t be December; it was just August!”


October marked a


significant anniversary of 24 years for me. After a fierce battle in 1992 and 1993, I’m celebrating being cancer-free for nearly a quarter century. I consider that very special and although I celebrated quietly and within myself, there was no lack of thanksgiving. Then, just as this column was due to be submitted, the unexpected took place. Frustrated, I found myself counting seven long and very slow days. Significant but for the wrong reasons, I spent five of the seven days without a computer, during which time deadlines for three writing assignments passed. I ended up wandering aimlessly around the house in search of


a keyboard that was


connected to something other than the piano in our living room.


By the time this piece goes to press, another milestone will have come and gone and our neighbours to the south will have exercised their right to vote. Here in Canada, we will be waiting for whatever fallout may or may not result. In this province, we’ve set a few records ourselves. Nothing like a Noah-style downpour for 28 out of 31 days to dampen the verbiage and spirits. I admit that all this rain hasn’t done anything for my spirits. While I always wondered what Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD) felt like and whether or not it actually affected me, I certainly discovered how constant rain and fierce winds can dampen the spirits along with everything else.


In all my ramblings, I’m going somewhere with this. We can’t control the weather, and even if we could, individual preferences and priorities would result in as mixed a bag as we already have. So it is in life: good things happen; so do bad


things. But in all that, we still can choose our attitude. I’m reminded of a


conversation I recently had with our six year old granddaughter.


“I counted up to 100 all by myself,” she announced and I’m not sure who was more proud: she, her parents or me. She also reminded me of the significance of numbers and, consequently, of time. Lucy has her life ahead of her while for me, there are more decades behind me than ahead. The most important thing, I decided long ago, is to make the minutes count. I don’t always remember to do that (as proven in my computer-less week) but as I remind myself each morning that today I have the opportunity to utilize 1,440 minutes, seven days in this week and nearly 8,800 hours in a year I am offered yet another chance to truly live. Sobering, but exciting stuff. My December and next year’s wish: May your minutes, days and weeks be rich with the things that really count. PS: Lucy would be proud of my ability to calculate such numbers.


45


Evelyn 4-H Club member Ben Glanz, 10, from Smithers, donated $100 from the sale of his 4-H swine project this fall to the Smithers Public Library. Library director Wendy Wright, left, says the money will be used to buy new books on pigs and 4-H. Sharing runs in the Glanz family. Ben’s brother, Thomas, 12, donated 10% from the sale of his 4-H sheep project to the Northwest Animal Shelter. Both animals were sold during the 4-H auction at the Smithers Fall Fair. KATHY WILFORD PHOTO


Thank You To Our 2016 Partners


National Partners Platinum Partners


Saanich Fruit Growers’ Associaon The Mohr Family Charitable Gi Fund Zylman’s Family Foundaon


Gold Partners Silver Partners Bronze Partners


 BC Agriculture in the Classroom BMO  Tambellini Design Studio  TD Canada Trust  The Western Producer


Friends  All Seasons Mushrooms  BC Chicken Growers’ Associaon  BC Egg Markeng Board  BC Farm & Ranch Realty  BC Fairs


Armstrong


 BC Livestock Producers Co-Operave Associaon


 BC Purebred Sheep Breeders Associaon  Burnaby Lake Greenhouses Ltd.  Canadian Tire (Vernon)  Desert Hills Estate Winery  Diana's Monogramming


 Edge of the Earth Vineyards  Fisher Home Hardware  Gordon Bryant  Golden Eagle Aquaculture Inc.  Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites  Horse Council BC  Interior Provincial Exhibion (IPE)  Naonal Bank Financial  Nicomekl Farms Ltd Okanagan Restoraon Services Ltd. Okanagan Spirits


 Pacific Naon Exhibion  Panorama Veterinarian Services Ltd.  Pressed Wishes  Presge Hotels & Resorts  Rancho Vignola  Ritchie-Smith Feeds Inc./Sure Crop Feeds  Resorts of the Canadian Rockies  Rogers Food Ltd.  Rogers Group Financial


 Sapori Olive Oils and Vinegars


 Savoy Equipment Ltd.  Save On Foods  Shoppers Drug Mart  Swan Lake Nurseryland  The Mane Event  The Original Australian Leather Seal


 Rondriso Farms Pumpkin Patch and General Store


 Tolko Industries Ltd.  Taves Family Farm


Season’s Greetings & Happy New Year!


 The View Winery-Canada West Tree Fruits: Ward Cider


 University of the Fraser Valley, Agriculture Faculty


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