By Peter Christensen

Op-Ed Commentary

I am listening to a ‘country hymn’ through my hard-earned hearing aids. Together Again revived by three brothers, Los Hermanos Mendoza, a beautiful band from Bakersfield, California is sweet. Adolpho Mendoza, the lead singer has range and passion and a voice that could melt the heart of a Kootenay maiden and bring a tear to the eye of a frontier bachelor.

During the late Twentieth Century, in the East Kootenay, starting a morning fire in the tin heater and dreaming of a finished log house was as cherished a ritual as love before breakfast and, being able to sharpen and fix a chainsaw was nearly a ‘rite of passage’. Yet, here I am after a year of diddling around, without the Huskyrunning.

While being romanced by the brothers I started thinking about how to get my Husqvarna 257 running. The clutch went. I did not lug a chainsaw up and down mountain sides clearing heli-ski runs, (bet you did not know we cleared heli-ski runs), and small-scale log for years only to be left without knowledge of small engines, an acreage, a sore back and a passion for repair!

Relax. I have two other saws.

Maybe I should have chucked the ‘257’ into the junk pile by the generator shed, but then why not just fix it? It’s been a good saw. Seems doable. Still got some hours left in it though I admit I am getting worn down by current and past solutions.

The cost of refurbishing is getting up to what a new saw costs, that is if I include the return trips to town, ordering the wrong parts, the new bar and chain, the unusable sweat bands for my hardhat and, if repairs are successful this time, the actual cost of the repair-person’s time, admin and shipping. Hmmm.

My loving partner who has stood by me through many saws says I should just enjoy the day: the Tundra Swans cruising the sloughs, the Bald Eagle majestically overseeing the Columbia Wetlands. And by gosh, that is what I am going do, even if freehold title to my acreage is being challenged under the rulings of the Supreme Court.

A hunting buddy who worked for Petro-Canada’s legal department recently reminded me that P. E. Trudeau chose not to recognize ‘unfettered’ property rights in the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms but did enshrine the rights of Aboriginal Peoples. Enshrine, now there is a word?  He also reminded me to pay heed to Rule of Law. Hmmm.

Recently, on Facebook, a ‘Friend’ quoted a malicious article from an online magazine intended to convince readers to support anarchy. I commented that I’d had it with personality attacks.

Subsequently I was accused of being a Liberal and an explanation of why so, was demanded? I responded that I was fed up with slander no matter what the source. I was then accused of being an ‘intellectual’ and directed to the website of a religious madman. What am I to do with this advice?

But look at the bright side, perhaps I will be better off with Indigenous citizens managing rural waterworks than PM Carney or Mr. Poilievre. We can work this out. Now where was I? Just back from a benchland walk and being reassured by my large, covered wood pile that I will keep warm till early summer of next year.

– Peter Christensen is a Columbia Valley based writer and poet.

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