A Witch and her Vodka

Let's start with some little Kaslo tidbits:

1. There is a mammogram truck that rolls through town once a year. Yep, a mammogram truck.

2. $222 in your chequing account lasts about two weeks. And a tank of gas lasts about a month. You know what doesn't last long at all? Nutritional yeast. Since I moved here, I've been eating it on everything! Popcorn, pasta, salad. For those of you who don't know what nutritional yeast is, just look at the photo below.

3. Things you can't buy in Kaslo (unless you're lucky enough to find them at the thrift store): staplers, thread, yarn.

4. Kaslo has a road called 'Back Road,' but people seem to refer to 'Kaslo South Road' as "the back road." This always confuses me.

5. Kaslo's thrift store is run out of the old fire hall building (I think it was built in 1896, like most buildings in town). It's by donation, and only open Thursday-Sunday (hours are based on when volunteers are available). A great place to find treasures! I've even found some yarn-woohoo!

This might be my favourite thing about Kaslo. Some people only use four digits when they say their phone number. Everyone's number starts with 250-353, so if you ask what someone's number is, sometimes you just get '2618' (instead of 250-353-2618). I am crazy about this! My parents told me when they were kids in Vancouver, people didn't say '872-2215,' because all the 3-number prefixes had little nicknames. Maybe you lived in the 'Trinity' area. So if someone asked you your number, you'd say 'Trinity 2215.' Or maybe your number was 'Fairfax 3530.' We should bring this back!

This week in wildlife news:

1. Walking home from downtown, I stopped a few houses down from mine, sensing the presence of something in the yard. Three beautiful deer, snacking on whatever they were snacking on. Grass? The baby made eye contact with me and then continued munching. I was amazed at how long these babies would let me stand not ten feet away, watching them. Then down in the gully nearby, a buck appeared. More eye contact, but this time for a really long time. I just watched him. He looked at me, he looked at his family. He looked at me. And then for no apparent reason, the babies all started running toward him, so graceful. So long, babies. Gone again. Down the street, I noticed two cars stopped at a stoplight (there are only two of these in Kaslo) for a really long time, and then I realized the drivers were just talking to each other through their open windows. No rush when there's only two cars on the road, I guess!

2. Dropping off my compost at the community garden this morning, a loud sound overhead. Shwooooosh! Biiiig ravens with even bigger wings. Why did this sound remind me of being a kid and playing the old Nintendo game 'Duck Hunt?'

And then, there was Halloween.

Jordie and I in our costumes. The hardest I've laughed in months? The sight of Jordie, EXTREMELY reluctantly, getting into his costume.

I was in my costume, grey, dead-looking corpse makeup and all, at 4pm. I had no idea what time kids would be coming by to trick-or-treat!! With no kids, and Jordie not home from work yet, I decided it was time for a drink. Just a witch alone on Halloween, drinking a stiff vodka and cherry. I think we got our first kids at about 7:30. Ten kids later (come on! I'd planned for at least 90!), we went down to the haunted house at the Langham. Toonie at the back door. It was actually pretty great-I screamed about 5 times (because it was one of those haunted houses where actual people jump out and freak you out-gets me every time!) Not quite done with the festivities for the night, Jordie and I headed over to Serge's for some window fries (these are fries that you order through a window). I asked Serge, "Are you open over the winter?" "I don't know," he replied. "Maybe."

What a perfect response. I love this town.

Chez Serge (Kaslo's tiniest restaurant, beside the Husky). Serving Quebec-style poutine, tourtieres (meat pies), and fish&chips. Always there for ya!

We had the pleasure of going over to a little dinner party at our friend's tiny house. Twelve people for dinner in a tiny house, and you got yourself a party! I made fried mac & cheese balls (they were just as good as they sound). It was absolutely freezing outside as we walked up the driveway to the house, which doesn't have electricity yet (generators). Inside, it felt like Christmas. 'Sweetie,' the cat, snoozed comfortably on the chair by the fireplace while everyone else drank wine and waited for the beef stew to be ready. Somebody said, so honestly, "You can't swing a stick without hitting a carpenter around here." Haha, so true. I looked around at the 6 men in the room. All 6 were carpenters.

And then, it was my birthday-37 years young! You know how people say that you never feel any different as you get older? I think that's true. I feel like I'm still 22, except I drink a LOT less, clean more, and have worse hearing. I took myself out for breakfast at the Treehouse Cafe (Kaslo's adorable, can't-get-enough-of-it diner), then Jordie and I went over to Jeremy and Sheree's place for supper (Jordie's bro and his wife). There was a tablecloth draped over all the dishes on the table. It was a 'Daffy Dinner,' I was told. I'd never heard of this before, but it's when everyone has to eat out of something ridiculous-a muffin tin, a cake pan. And you have to eat with something ridiculous (a ladel, tongs). I laughed when I saw Jordie eating linguini with a soup spoon. Sheree and the kids also made a beautiful cake for me-angel food with peaches and whipped cream. Yum! And we drank lots of red wine, of course. At least, I did.

Thanks everyone!

And that's all for now. Next up: Leah becomes a music teacher, and the month of Kaslo events!