Khalid Ali Taha is an avid supporter of the arts and an passionate artist, musician and writer and the new arts columnist for the Osoyoos Times. He will be writing about the local arts scene in the coming weeks. (Richard McGuire photo)
My resolution for 2014 was to keep, ‘keeping it real’.
I’ve always tried to live my life like that, and it’s an easy resolution for me to keep.
Winter in Osoyoos can be a real bummer. Notice I said “can be?”
Winter in every part of the world is colder and less hospitable.
I’m originally from the Prairies, a winter hazard zone.
Winter brings either an abundance of rain, snow or the dreaded blanket of grey gloomy clouds that visit Osoyoos.
Add to that the stresses and emotions that also visit us all during the holidays and New Year and you have a perfect storm for what I’ll suggest is seasonal depression or more precisely, ‘Man, these clouds are a real drag.’
And that’s coming from a guy who believes the cup is half full and who lives on cloud nine wearing rose-coloured glasses.
Humans, like all living creatures, are solar powered.
We need to recharge. Miraculously, the sun eventually comes out and Osoyoos becomes a shiny princess on her honeymoon.
And all the creatures come out to celebrate her magnificence.
I exaggerate of course, but I’m not that far off when I describe the radical change in the vibe of this place when it’s sunny compared to the weeks of gloom.
How do I make even the weeks of gloom a more positive experience?
The answer came to me while sitting on my deck observing the lake on one of those rare sunny days of celebration.
The energy of the day was in the creation happening before my eyes, the life force expressing itself.
I realized that what I was witnessing was art and that art and nature are the same things. So I took out my chunks of raw soapstone and began creating.
As the cloud reappeared in the days to follow, I kept busy carving.
The physical act of carving and creating something helped to remind me that we can find ways to create our sunny days.
It doesn’t have to be carving and it doesn’t even need to be art.
Planting a new house plant, making a jug of wine, baking a cake, anything that gives you the feeling of creating will do just fine.
Then, as suddenly as the clouds disappear, so does the hint of winter blues.
That’s my answer. I play my instruments, carve my stone and continue with my collection of short stories.
I get busy like the quail foraging or the bald eagles that hunt the many ducks on the water, with a passion for survival. Busy creating something and busy pursuing colour, any colour different from grey.
This month we have a lot going on in Osoyoos to help us all get a bit of colour in our world.
Get out and visit the Osoyoos Art Gallery for “Colours of Winter”, a great title, featuring a display of art sponsored by the Federation of Canadian Artists.
Also, Jo Jo’s Café is experimenting with an art and music night featuring a local artist and musicians.
I heard talk in the local hardware store that they will be hosting some tasty cooking classes taught by renowned chefs.
Now there’s some tasty art we could all consume.
There are many more activities to be found advertised all over Osoyoos to help keep our lives colourful.
Get out from under the heavy grey blanket we call winter around here and create your own colourful sunny day. Remember to keep it real.
Oh, and by the way, is it my imagination or does the sound of the thin ice cracking on the lake sound like something tickling the underbelly of an ancient xylophone?
Dulcimer Dreams
(Khalid Taha is a musician, artist and poet who recently moved to Osoyoos and has become the arts columnist for the Osoyoos Times.)
