What is this?
The answer didn’t come immediately as I stared out my windshield groggily.
Obviously some maintenance was being done on the Hwy. 16 and Main Street intersection as a bucket truck worker sets himself up.
Will this affect my drive back through town to get to work? Figuring I’d see on the way back, I continue on in search of a viable caffeine source.
On my way back, I’m pleased to note that the lights are still working, but with a tad more wits about me following my two gulps of drink, I begin to pay closer attention.
It’s a Town of Smithers employee.
And it wasn’t a problem with the lights he was servicing, it was a problem with the town flags.
They had, mistakenly, been displaying a summer motif.
Now, as we gaze at them with sadness or horror as it may be, they display a fall motif, or even a winter motif.
Earthen tones, brightly coloured (but not green) leaves as they prepare to fall, it is definitely not summer anymore. One prominently displays a downhill skier.
This would seem less horrific for me had we A) gotten some semblance of a summer or B) it was at least September.
But no. As I gaze out the window all I see is rain, clouds, and vehicles whiz by with their lights on.
Their lights on. In mid-July, at 11 a.m.
It’s enough to make anyone sick.
Still, did this sad lack of UV rays, drinks with little umbrellas in them and shiny dry patio furniture necessitate this move into fall?
And it’s not just here. All over the province you’ll hear many the same complaint.
I’ve seen nothing like this. I admit I had high hopes of finding my allotted sunbathing time after my move to Victoria. Not so, apparently. Instead, I’ve been told to invest in a hardy rain jacket and umbrella.
Is this fair? After all these years of living in northern B.C. am I to continually be plagued by subpar weather?
Apparently so.
Yet, should the city of Victoria receive snow, I’m almost guaranteed a day off to enjoy it.
This, I can deal with in the winter months. What I find my head unable to wrap itself around is the fact that this town has decided to forgo summer for us and has begun advertising fall and winter.
Rikki Schierer is the community reporter for The Interior News.