As a few friends can attest a warbler has been attacking my window as much as several times a minute and for a few days. In a previous year, it was a robin doing an attack.
A friend in California sent a video of a wild turkey attacking its own reflection in her car’s shiny bumper.
Rosamund’s column, The Nature Nut, about ospreys, tweaked a memory of two very large birds, one on the attack, while flying over Lake Kathlyn.
An osprey was chasing an eagle with bird-in-flight body language that said it was settling something once and for all. They circled above the lake and into the surrounding trees and out over the lake again. I have no idea the outcome as they flew out of sight for the final time.
I think the osprey fared well. I rubberneck as I drive by the airport to see if the ospreys are back. They are there once again — two tall bodies sitting like sentinels over their domain.
When I read George Stokes's post in History of the Valley on FB about discovering his fireplace was signed by Leo Gregori in 1970 it brought back a memory of our move to Smithers in 1975.
As a selling point for the homes we were shown, by either real estate or the homeowner, someone would point out… a Leo Gregori fireplace.
We got to know this valley while searching for our new-to-us home and place up in the North. While driving Hwy 16 we would be shown Leo Gregori’s place. George Stokes would love to see pics of his fireplaces.
He did it again. My first column in Valley Connections was about our former Smithers resident, Ryan Oevermann, who lives with early-onset Parkinson’s Disease.
This “Parky” as he calls himself has not backed down as he and his 17-year-old daughter, Tana, competed In Prince George in the 2024 Taekwon-do BC Cup on Father’s Day weekend.
Ryan won a bronze while his prodigy daughter took gold in sparring and bronze in patterns.
“Happy Father’s Day to me,” he quipped.
For Ryan, the frosting on the cake was that his father, Ingo, was there to see it.
A shout-out to Carol Morris for organizing the walk for senior assisted-living housing. We stood in the rain with hot coffee in our hands listening to politicians and a few guest speakers. The mic was handed out to the crowd and we heard good suggestions.
My wish is for thought-out and carried-out, timely, solutions for our coming years.
Midsummer Festival is July 5 - 7 and there will be 35 local groups performing at various venues throughout the festival site. Chances are that we know someone who will be performing.
Valley Connections will have a list, in the July 4th column, of all the local bands and their members.
If you have items for the community and would like to see them get into both digital and hard copy please call Sonja Lester 250-847-4414 or 250-847-1821 or email sonja.lester.b.c@gmail.com.
