I totally forgot to write about this last time: the Kaslo Jamboree. This is a hockey tournament that happens annually in Kaslo around the third week of December, and people who grew up here (but no longer live here) come back in droves to participate. Droves. There were 6 teams, I think, playing games over three days to compete for the 'Colander Cup'-a trophy made out of a colander (a "strainer" for us regular folks). The Jamboree attracts a healthy dose of competition, or in some cases, an unhealthy dose. I've never seen the arena's parking lot so full! Hot dogs! Coffee! People buying t-shirts that say 'Keep Jambo Wild!' It was really fun to watch. Free range kids, as I like to call them, roaming unattended around the arena while their parents played hockey.
Highlights and curiosities from 2019 Jambo:
-The sign on the door that said 'Ladies, this way' and 'Officials, this way.' I can't help but feel that this categorizing of the population leaves out some categories. You know, like guys, regular people, kids, dogs, players.
-One of the players skated up to the sidelines and said, 'Have you seen my kid? I haven't seen him in like two hours. If you see him, tell him I say hi!'
-The cops were there. Two of Kaslo's three cops, I mean. Not to keep the peace or anything, I don't think. Just enjoying the festivities like everyone else.
-That one guy on the 'Green Team' who, instead of wearing a green Jambo jersey (which has a guy with a gas mask on, for some reason), was sportin' a Mighty Ducks jersey.
-That guy from the Nakusp team that was acting like the villain from the Mighty Ducks. Somehow a 'Nakusp' bad guy is even less threatening than a 'Mighty Ducks' bad guy, if you can believe it.
-We actually all stood up and sang 'O Canada,' and I even found myself taking off my hat. Since when am I so patriotic?! My nephew looked at me like I was really uncool. Might have just been the hat hair.
-The realization that NOTHING is as successful at getting me to buy garbage (cheap hot dogs, toilet water coffee) as an old-school hockey arena concession stand. It's just so nostalgic. I remember going to Twin Rinks in Chilliwack all the time to watch my brothers play hockey. I still remember the sour cream n' onion chips (who remembers O'Ryan's brand-they always had Simpsons tattoos in them). Wow. Apparently 'Google images' does not have an archived photo of the old-school O'Ryan's chips. That's a first!
-The blatant disregard for the 'No Alcohol' signs in the arena. Guys walking by with Old Milwaukees, I'm talking to you! I wonder if the cops here are ever offended by how people just do whatever they want. I know for a fact no self-respecting Kaslovian actually follows the street parking rules. Some rules are just asking for people to break them, though. Like no beer at a hockey game. Come on. Also, no texting while driving is a really great law, but no talking on the phone while driving? I never drive with my hands at ten and two anyways! Let me catch up with my mom while I'm on my way to the supermarket, for crying out loud!
My sister-in-law Sheree had been trying to get me to go to Zumba with her, and I finally said yes. It's Tuesday nights in the basement of the Community Church (I told you the churches here are used for everything!) I had no idea what Zumba was (still foggy), but after an hour of dancercizing to Ricky Martin and other Latin favourites, I was convinced. Paid for four classes on the spot. As is sometimes the case with fitnessy classes in Kaslo, Sheree and I were the only ones there. We had three generous swigs of Fireball before we went in. Oh hey-it's Tuesday! Ricky Martin, 'body rolls' and pole dancing moves, here I come! It's REALLY fun.
I got this text the other day from Fido, saying that my service would be cut off in the next few days because I use my phone outside the 'service area' too much. Now I have no phone, and I have to do that thing where I text everyone from Jordie's phone, and sometimes they don't know it's me texting them, so I have to be like, 'Hey, this is Leah, blah blah blah.' I think Jordie's getting sick of it. I can tell because last week he would gently pass me his phone when there was a text or an email for me, but as of this morning his gentle passing has transformed into...throwing. OK, I keep having to scroll down as I'm writing this because that lady doing the body roll right in the top section of my peripheral vision is driving me insane. At least she's having fun, though!
Here's something very Kaslo for ya: skiing on the streets. Cross-country skiing has become a huge part of my routine here, but since we've had an ungodly amount of snow, you can actually ski on the STREETS. Do you have any idea how much of a novelty this is? Man.
We went to Ainsworth Hot Springs for our niece's 8th birthday. I love this place. With snow softly falling on our faces and many, many people in the pool at the cave entrance, it was hard not to appreciate all that the Kootenays has to offer. There are quite a few hot springs around here! Ainsworth Hot Springs has this sign posted right near the entrance to the caves (which are amazing, and way hotter than the outdoor pool). The sign specifically prohibits moaning. NO MOANING!! Groaning is fine.
*Side note: I was giggling at the 'No Chanting' rule, and some lady sitting nearby chimed in to tell me that 'a bunch of people regularly used to come here and chant in the caves.' My guess? Nobody was bothered by this except THIS ONE LADY, who reported it to the guy at the front desk and had it banned. In my opinion, if you've got your shit together enough to be able to organize a 'bunch' of people to meet at the hot springs at the same time each week, go together into the caves and practice some harmless chanting, well, there's nothing wrong with that! That's just good leadership skills. This lady definitely struck me as one of those people that is bothered by everything. Wait, am I like that? Damnit.
After the hot springs, we had a lovely brunch upstairs at the Ktunaxa Grill. I'm trying this vegetarian thing just to see what it's like, but they didn't have too much vegetarian stuff on the menu. I ordered a BLT with no B. Not as good.
And now for a new blog feature! First, a little background. You know how everyone's always talking about 'climate change' and 'the environment' and how 'we have to do something about it?' Well, I've been thinking. It seems like every time I google 'What can I do to help the environment,' I end up feeling a little...overwhelmed. So many of the suggestions are changes that are hard to make overnight, like 'Get rid of your fridge!' or 'Never eat meat again!' or 'Always offset your emissions when you fly!' (I don't even know what that last one means, but I think it means pay triple or something). Anyways, I really do care about the environment and being as 'green' as I can, so I thought I would start with some little changes, and maybe some big changes too. Gotta start somewhere, right? Plus, I found this really satisfying book from the library called '101 Ways to Go Zero-Waste' and the author breaks down things you can do into these user-friendly, bite-sized chunks. Thank you! I think a lot of people, myself included, just sometimes don't know where to start. So, I'm going to start including little tips for being a little gentler on the environment. Why not, right? I figure we can all agree that, at the very least, using up less stuff is probably a good idea. Even if you're one of those people that doesn't believe we're grossing out Mother Nature with our gross consumption habits.
*Side note: By including 'green' tips, in no way am I saying I'm like...a green guru or something. Not at all! I definitely bought a to-go coffee from the gas station the other day and used 3 of those little plastic creamer cup things. But I'm going to try making some little changes. I know I'm not David Suzuki. I'm just a gal who really, really responds to bite-sized chunks. Here goes. Maybe I'll call this blog feature 'Green Tips: Greening Your Life One Chunk at a Time' (still workshopping this name).
Tip #1: Weird and kinda gross things I never knew I could compost
1. Animal Hair
Ew. But if you have one of those fluffy dogs that leaves their fur EVERYWHERE, I guess you could give it a nice brush and then compost the furballs! Win-win! Also, dry pet food!
2. Fireplace Ashes
We actually have a lot of these, since it's been friggin' freezing here, and we gotta use up our cord of wood before we leave in March! I'm pretty sure composting ash means fireplace ash only though, not the ash from all those joints you've been smoking.
3. Dryer Lint
Apparently, especially if you wear mostly natural fibers (silk, cotton, linen, etc), you can compost the lint. Hey, here's a question: why is linen always so wrinkly? I don't have the answer. Nobody knows. Fabrics that are ALWAYS wrinkly? No, thanks. I'll stick to head-to-toe silk.
4. Popsicle Sticks, Wood Skewers, Toothpicks
I found this one kind of funny, because when I think about it, yeah...obviously you can compost little bits of wood! The blog where I got this info does suggest, however, that if you're trying to compost something larger made of wood, such as a TABLE LEG, you should break that shit up first.
5. Vaccuum Bag Contents
Weird! But I did see this in more than one column, so it must be true. A good suggestion, I think, is to wet it down a little before you put it in your bin so it doesn't just fly back into your house.
6. Hair and Nail Clippings
Barf! I don't know why. Just barf. Maybe it's the word 'clippings.' Anyway, evidently this stuff is totally compostable, so next time I'm cutting my nails, I'll do it into the compost bin. It's always annoying hovering over the garbage can while I do it anyways. I don't think the environmental problems of the world are going to be solved by composting a few nail clippings (ew), but still-I'll definitely be trying this!
Honourable Mentions:
-Small roadkill (I did seriously find this on a 'green your life' blog, but I don't know...does this mean I have to pull over and pick up roadkill, take it home, and throw it in the compost? Or is it like...convenient, right-outside-your-house roadkill.)
-Used loofahs
-Old rope (How old is this rope that you can't even use it anymore?)
-Elmer's glue, paper masking tape (Huh? Seriously though...look it up, skeptics!)
If you have a little green tip for me, or a correction to my probably full-of-mistakes green tips, please share! Again, I'm far from David Suzuki. I wish I was him-look at that hair!
OK, so that's all for now. Back out into the slush! Oh wait, nope. It's not raining. It's snowing! Yay!
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