Fall’s bounty of experiences being harvested in Kelowna

I am that lucky old girl whose fall calendar is filled with fun things to look forward to. We will be close to home.

The Thanksgiving itself will be different this year. The first three couples we invited for turkey had already made plans for the holiday, so we regrouped and decided to go out for all the trimmings at the seniors Centre.

Because my family has settled out of town, the days of a kitchen filled with company and the smell of sage dressing, football games and a walk in the neighbourhood are in the past.

Now, we are content with a small circle of dear friends here for pumpkin pie and Okanagan cider that we will host midweek. A small, intimate evening will suit us fine.

*** I finally got the shiny new towel rack up in the bathroom and there are no more house improvements on the horizon. The garden is abundant with flowers and shrubs filled with colour.

*** I am waiting for our arborist to show up and trim the trees that shade our back yard, and now we can enjoy cozy evenings in front of the fireplace.

*** I say our guest room is for extreme sports because the four bunk beds intended for great-grandchildren have been filled with full sized grownups who have to duck to get under the covers.

*** My daughter, Gail, who is a grandmother herself, will be here soon, but leaving the children behind.

She loves our phantom poodle and the monster black cat so they will get lots of attention.

*** We like to visit a new winery each Wine Fest and our choice this year is the Burrowing Owl. The Proprietor’s Dinner is pricey so I am expecting an over-the- top experience with more than the five-course dinner and the usual pairing of rare wines.

We’ll stay overnight at the Watermark Beach Resort Hotel in Osoyoos and savour that out-of-town feeling in the hot tub under the Okanagan stars.

*** My Books and Friends Since ’77 has decided to renew ourselves as the Friends Since ’77 Social Club. We will simply meet on a quarterly basis and drink wine to celebrate our long association.

Dinner will be catered and all discussions about books will be on an informal basis. One author I discovered this summer is Wallace Stegner, who is a PulitzerPrize winner for Angle of Repose.

I loved Crossing to Safety because his time frame is mine and I can identify with his life in academia because I had university friends who were struggling with the politics of the educational program.

Seniors remember the “publish or perish” pressure students in education were dealing with in the fifties.

I finally read The Tin Flute by author Gabrielle Roy, a Canadian classic, and I highly recommend The Little Red Chairs, about the Serbian siege 20 years ago.

This novel is tough to get into, but well worth the effort. The author, Edna O’Brien, was 85 at the time of publication.

*** Westside author Geneva Ensign is hosting a Launch Party at the Peachland Art Gallery tonight. Her Community Healing publication is subtitled A Transcultural Model and will be great reading.

*** My pole-walking club, headed by Barbara Mangold, has been a source of exercise and good company for me for years.

I can’t keep up any longer on the Greenway strides, but the group comes to my home for coffee and muffins to celebrate the end of summer and plans for the upcoming fall.

I draw on these women for inspiration and encouragement as the aging process finds me breathless and slow but determined to keep moving.

I won’t miss the Central Okanagan Naturalists’ Club’s upcoming Members Night meeting which will feature highlights and photographs from the past year.

Although I no longer actively participate, this club was a huge part of my life for many years.

For newcomers, the club is a great way to explore the Okanagan and make knowledgeable new friends.

I have fond memories of Rick (Legs) Gee leading the way and Gwynneth Wilson naming the tiny birds along the trails.

George Scotter loves to teach about plant material and because of the Naturalists Club I had the privilege to meet Honorary Life Members like Brenda Thomson and Harry Almond, who are gone now, but live in my heart.

*** I confess when Mike suggested tickets for the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra’s The Three Bs program, I groaned. I have heard those Suites, those Concertos, those Serenades over the years and I had heard Jane Coop here years ago.

Fortunately, Mike bought tickets and I was proved wrong. The stage looked so beautiful with the soft orange colours and the giant flower arrangements. I prefer the simplicity of the orchestra on display without the overcrowding of past presentations.

When Jane Coop sat down to play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 4, I was transported.

If I had a care in the world, it was totally forgotten as the music carried me to a place outside human existence. (I know that is a lame description, but the best I can do.) That performance ranks as my alltime favourite.

I was so star struck that when the artist suggested signing her CD, I could not speak. I had forgotten how tall and goodlooking this brilliant Vancouver pianist is and the footnotes describing her interpretive instincts of the difficult work as nearepic are not exaggerations. Jane Coop is a true gift to music lovers, young and old.

*** With such a fortunate fall lineup, I am inspired to quote comedian Steven Wright, “I intend to live forever. So far, so good.”

Jeanette Dunagan has lived in Kelowna for more than 40 years. Email her at jd2399@telus.net.