Two full moons have passed by, which makes me realize how long it has been since I last wrote. Life continues to be crazy busy.
After 3 months of barely travelling, I have spent a lot of time driving back and forth to Williams Lake sorting out old and new vehicle repairs, and picking up volunteers. Here is the Fraser River, March 14th.
On the way down this hill are a number of runaway lanes in case the heavy logging trucks’ brakes fail.
Apparently, in February, a woman living on the Chilcotin realized her 3rd baby was coming earlier than expected. She got part way down this hill and had to stop. Her teenage daughter was with her. The baby was born in a runaway lane! She was in cell phone reach of Williams Lake at this time. She did not cut the cord but bundled the baby inside her coat and got to the hospital that way.
The steep sides of the Fraser canyon have interesting erosion patterns. Some people maintain they are sheep trails, but New Zealand has a lot of these and the erosion pattern was explained to me – however I have forgotten the process!
The snow began to go from my yard.
I was enormously surprised to see reflections on my pond. Usually the ice goes long after the snow has left. However, it was only meltwater running on top of the ice.
And then came the full moon and the super equinox. I call it this because the moon is much closer to earth than usual so appeared much bigger.
Shortly afterwards I picked up the first 2 volunteers of the season. Because Greyhound has quit in western Canada, and the nearest bus station is 10 hours’ drive away in Kamloops, it was a nightmare getting them to Williams Lake. They had to get share rides and cadge lifts with friends of friends.
Our first job was burning fallen beetle-killed trees to improve the fire safety of my place. This is Hannah from Austria.
She did not like the smoke.
However, she is a very hard worker.
Dominik, from Slovakia, was already a chainsaw expert.
He was able to fall some very tricky trees.
The cleared area looked fantastic – and I have piles of firewood ready to buck and haul.
And our reward was potatoes roasted in the fire.
Most of the lakes were still frozen, but Tatlayoko Lake, south of Tatla Lake, is much lower, is very deep, and suffers very strong winds, so never freezes. We loaded up the canoe and took it down there. A gorgeous day if a bit chilly.
We also went down into the Bella Coola Valley. Still a lot of snow at the top of The Hill. (This fire was several years ago.)
And down Highway 20….
We stopped at my friends’ place for breakfast and helped move a heavy table.
Then down to the Big Trees
And of course to the petroglyphs (everything very dry down there.)
Along Thorston Creek nearby, the alder branches made an interesting pale tracery.
The school principal at Tatla Lake loves interesting people to visit the kids. Hannah’s parents have a dairy farm and Dominik is a long-distance runner, his favourite range being 100 km or more. So the two of them gave a little presentation at the school, and Dominik took the kids for a run.
Two kids were away but otherwise, this is the whole school at present!
Another trip to town, where we had to say goodbye to Dominik. While there, I t0ok Badger to the groomers.
The chipmunks came out – and then of course it snowed. I bet the chipmunks wished they had stayed in bed.
The weather remained cooler and quite stormy. Giving us some spectacular sunrises. 
Finally the ice started to go from the pond.
It took a long time – the last of it went two days ago.
And then came yesterday’s full moon, which reminded me how long it was since I last posted.
Looks like it’s going to be a nice day.