As the leaves turn

As September dawns clear and cool, many of us are drawn to the actuality that summer is on its way south and the days of colourful leaves and morning frost will soon be a reality. The change of seasons signal major changes to come—imminent or not.

For many people who live in the Sun Peaks area, this means it’s time to get busy. Having your house ready for severe winter weather can be a major task if you wait too long, so now is the time to winterize your home. Check your windows, doors and attics for drafts or cold spots, get your chimney cleaned and make sure to get any gas appliances checked and serviced before the snow flies. I’m sure you don’t want to miss an epic December powder day because you forgot to service your gas heater.
An amazing thing about living in the mountains is that one day you have your doors wide open in the brilliant sunshine and the next day you’re lighting a wood stove or your gas fireplace in an effort to stay warm. Be smart and be prepared.

Fall in the mountains is also foraging season for our friendly neighbourhood black bears. This spring was a tough one on our local bear population with a long snowy winter and a cold wet spring with little food available. This was made obvious by several “too close for comfort” bear encounters in the community. As fall cools, the bears of Sun Peaks will once again start to forage for whatever food they can find around the valley and if you let them find it, they will. From now until early December, the bears will be making the rounds looking for any scrap food, garbage or anything else that will help with their winter survival. It’s our job to make sure the food is not the man-made kind.

It seems year after year, lazy or just plain ignorant people leave their garbage around and wonder why they have a bear wrecking their house or car. Please be bear aware and don’t keep any garbage or food sources outside or near your house. As they say, “A fed bear is a dead bear” and it’s never their fault. They just do what’s natural and that is to look for food.

In closing, I would like to say that SPIN Newsmagazine is sadly losing one of its long time employees after this issue. SPIN editor Lailani Mendoza is moving to Edmonton to take a position as news editor for the Living Light News. Lailani has been with SPIN for three years and the team here is very sad to see her go. In her time with SPIN, Lailani has risen to the job of editor, learned how to ski and come to understand the inner workings of this small but complex community. Her professionalism, work ethic and outgoing attitude was always present and we wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavours.