Bosun progress

Ahh, that's better. The blank flat facade of the Bosun Hall is getting a roof to cover the entry.

Almost a grocery store

I like the way the roofline fits in with the tree behind it. Apparently the floor has had its 28 days to cure and they're moving in shelving and coolers. They expect to open by early June.

Please don't eat the crocuses!

Fences are necessary protection for the crocuses from hungry deer.

Opinions, attitude, etc. etc.

Construction on Main Street

The new craft store is getting its porch built. Construction of the building began last fall. 

The Esso

One of the things I find endearing about small towns is how long the collective memory lasts. There's a crumbling corner in our town referred to as "the Esso." Years ago it was an Esso gas station but the gas station closed, though an auto service shop continued for some years in an adjacent building, eventually dwindling to hobby status for the owner and closing entirely more years ago than I can recall. The buildings have since housed a succession of failed businesses including a video rental place, convenience store, pizza joint, bakery and warehouse space for an African import business. But although it hasn't been an Esso in more than 20 years, maybe closer to 30, people around here still call this The Esso.

I think of it as a decoy that keeps the tourists from moving in wholesale. It's ugly as anything, and it graces the intersection of Main Street and the highway through town. I suspect a lot of people miss giving our town a second glance as a result of driving by this empty lot.

My Aunt's Place

This is the formerly-crumbling building that used to house "My Aunt's Place," an ice cream store, gift shop, lottery ticket agent and a surprisingly terrific little yarn store. The owner retired several years ago and the building had sat dismal and empty ever since. It's the left-hand building in this photo. Now it is on its way to becoming something new. We're not sure what.

Tom on display

Turkeys

Wild turkeys. These two toms and their wives, scratching nearby.

Bosun Hall facelift, continued

Sun, melting and steam

The whole canyon fills with steam when the sun starts really melting the snow.

Facelift

The Bosun Hall is getting a long overdue facelift. 

Leftovers

An entire winter's worth of parking lot plowings, minus 95% of the snow. Ewww.

State of the Season

Even on the lakefront there's plenty of snow left.

Laundry and snowbank

The snowbanks are almost as high as the laundry lines, but spring is in the air.

Valhalla View

Service Station

Whether you need gasoline, antifreeze, new tires, a new timing belt, your headlights pointed or your brake discs replaced, our town's service station will look after you. They also have host one of two remaining payphones (beside tires). Payphones are quickly going extinct across Canada with the advent of cell phones.

Wells in the snow

The dark wood of the bushes reflects light and melts the snow.

Foul weather blowing in

Weather comes from the west here. Which means we see storms coming "from the Valhallas," meaning from the Valhalla mountain range on the west side of the lake. When the Valhallas start to disappear in clouds of precipitation you have just a few minutes to take cover.

Pebble beach

Ghost town?

Boarded up, papered over, wrapped up ... It all looks fairly dismal, but good things are coming. Economic activity is highly seasonal here. Winter is the best time to renovate, build, move, re-stock, re-organize, re-launch. On the left is the craft store that began construction in November.

Public pier view

Public Pier

Unused through the winter, the public pier was covered in deep snow. Now milder temperatures and the lake's perpetual heat-sink effect are causing the snow to melt in patches.

Dark sky and maple tree

Snow heap

Tall dirty heap of snow behind the community gymnasium / fitness centre. 

Pet icicle

We get quite fond of certain icicles. This one at our favourite café is our current pet. It's well over a metre long and has grown a little every time we check on it.

Ski Hill Perspective

Putting perspective not on the size of the hill, or the view of the base area, but on the size of the operation. On a beautiful day in February with fabulous snow conditions and finger-and-toe-friendly temperatures, you can count nine cars in the parking lot, and the only four skiers you can see in this photo are the four I brought with me.

Ski Hill View

Looking down on Summit Lake, which marks the northern end of the Slocan Valley, from part way down the southernmost easy ski run.

Pathway

Digging out

... with a two-stage snowblower, the best option around here.