Sunday 7 November 2010

ASHES TO ASHES

This week my 92 year old aunt died. That is the last of my father's family now gone; a book closed.

It reminded me of when my mother died. Having been ill she was transferred from our local small town hospital to a bigger hospital, namely, Kelowna General Hospital, in central British Columbia. It was the third week of August 2003 and I had to travel by air from the UK, then Greyhound bus from Calgary and finally car to be at her bedside.

The bus-ride from Calgary was spooky as we drove west over the mountains through thick smoke of forest fires in the Jasper - Lake Louise area. I asked the bus-driver, a tall, fine looking native Indian with long braids falling down his blue Greyhound shirt, "Are we going to make it through this to Revelstoke OK? I'm heading for Kelowna and I am worried." "Dunno, lady. We'll just have to see how it goes." Quite so.

After arriving at my home town and having a night's sleep, the family members and I set off in the morning of August 22, south to Kelowna. Again, forest fires had been burning on the hillside around Kelowna and there was increasing alarm at the direction the fire was moving. A lightning fire had started a week earlier and due to several dry summers and high winds it had spread extensively. As we drove the 60 miles south we could see the smoke spreading northwards, up the Okanagan Valley, towards us. Though a hot, sunny day the sun was hidden by the clouds of smoke.

Pulling into the carpark of the hospital, located in the downtown area, grey ash was falling, covering the cars. Spooky! Although I couldn't see any flames I tried to quell the rising feeling of alarm; how far away was the fire?

My mother knew I was arriving. Entering the building and moving through the corridors the smell of smoke was still evident, strong and pungent. Once there, it was clear that life was ebbing away. Everyone remained throughout the afternoon just being quiet or singing quietly at the bedside. Then mid-afternoon just after we were notified that residents were being evacuated from threatened areas near the hospital she passed away.

After the formalities were taken care of we retraced our route again only this time it was evening. As we departed on the Okanagan Highway north we took a moment to look back towards the city and this photo shows what we saw:


In the distance we could see little fiery explosions jump from one tree to another across the hillside. We had to leave it behind; it was the end of a long day ... and, indeed, the end of a long life.
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Photo: Kelowna Fire, 2003. Wikipedia.

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