The wonder of home

Photo: Contributed

Awakening to the wonder and beauty of Echo Lake.

We absolutely live in one of the best places in the world. But perhaps you are like me and spend so much time in other areas that you don't even notice where you live live. 

As soon as I immigrated to Canada in 1988 and moved to Canmore, I promised my wife I would never be complacent. I always would remind myself in the morning how fortunate we were to wake up in Canada. 

As life goes on, rather than complacency, it is routine or just being plain busy that distracts us from really soaking in the surroundings. 

This week, as a relatively new resident to the Kootenays I decided to blow the dust off my motorbike and ride to see my wife in Nakusp. 

I rode up the Lardeau Valley to Trout Lake and truly soaked up the scenery. Other than the occasional bear, I didn’t see anyone. The views were as magnificent as Tombstone Range on the Dempster Highway heading to Inuvik. 

Every corner revealed a new vista or more wildlife. As I exited the steep valley after Trout Lake, the surroundings became more pastoral and I noticed a small creek with some trout feeding.

I put my fly rod together, wandered through tall grass to the creek bank and quickly pulled out and returned two nice brook trout. 

I was in heaven and all I did was take a slight detour. My soul was refreshed. 

After supper, with my wife, I carried on to Kelowna the next morning for meetings and almost caught myself booking a hotel when I realized I could actually camp.

So I called in at Echo Lake resort in Lumby. I didn’t stay in a four-star hotel, but I did have a four-billion star night.

I slung my hammock between a couple of trees and had a perfect nights sleep before an early dawn chorus of loons, eagles and osprey beckoned me to go fishing with them.

It would have been all too easy to just blast through to Okanagan on the usual route, stay at the same hotel and return none the wiser. 

What an amazing place to live.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.