Life

It is human nature to react more to the obvious than to that which is subtle. In some situations this can be a person’s undoing, as in the case of winter driving.

Next month is Eczema Awareness Month: Take care of your skin.

The day was a clear, freezing minus-12° degrees; nevertheless, my wife, Linda, and I bundled up to photograph the wandering bighorn sheep near Kamloops. I had heard they were currently located near the low, sage-covered foothills at Cinnamon Ridge, off Ord Road in North Kamloops.

Cold weather and snow are making their seasonal appearances not only locally, but over much of Canada making it increasingly difficult for birds to find enough food. The Humane Society of Canada (HSC) says that people and birds both benefit when humans assist their feathered friends by supplying them with a continuous supply of quality bird feed.

It’s easy to be short-sighted in these uncertain economic times. Each day, you scan the business section of your newspaper or look online for concrete signs that the recession is receding. And even though the market now seems to be having more good days than bad, it still has some climbing to do. Which means that investment returns and interest rates continue to lag – and that makes it too easy to take a narrow focus on the short term and lose sight of your overall financial objectives.

The Community Resource Centre in Clearwater is running a very busy Winter Course Calendar this year, with lots of new and interesting courses to choose from. Besides the usual first aid courses and Thompson Rivers University credit courses, there is a “Building a Basic Web Page” course, a “Basic Bike Maintenance and Repair” course, and an “Avalanche Skill Training, Level 1” course - this last being very appropriate for the current weather situation in the Interior region.

If you are looking for something to do indoors, trying to avoid shoveling snow, or sliding around precariously on the ice, check out some of these great reads from the Barriere Libary.

The Murtle River Nordics ski club advises that the 30-km Loppet loop trail in Wells Gray Park is now groomed for skiing.

Barriere Secondary School Junior girls played SKSS on Tuesday, Jan. 11, but were defeated by 48-20.