Monthly Archives: October 2015

Okanagan Odyssey: Chapter One

One summer morning, clear and bright,
Our heroes gather at dawn’s light;
They sally forth with noble hearts,
There on the road their questing starts.

The band sets off towards the east
Where rumoured lives a monstrous beast;
Perhaps, they thought, they’d gain acclaim,
That slaying beasts would grow their fame.

Or maybe they would find a ring,
The type with power, that sort of thing,
But not the kind that rules them all
For there lies danger, four foot tall.

They journeyed hard for many hours
Until way off they spied two towers,
Imposing fortresses of wood,
On a Hillside the castles stood.

“Behold!” declared Sir Dandelion
“At yonder parts we’ll have some fun!
O’er there Gehringer Brothers hold
Enormous feasts, I’ve heard it told.”

Their bellies growled with mean intent
(No real confusion what that meant)
So on towards the keeps they wound
With gastronomic dreams profound.

By chance they came upon a man,
A bronzed Adonis – no fake tan;
He claimed to be a son of Zeus:
The Gorgon-slaying Perseus.

He shared with them some loaves of bread
So soon enough they felt well fed,
Then washed it down with copious wine
That left them feeling mighty fine.

“I say, you people” spokest he
“I wonder if you might help me;
My current trial involves some shoes
Belonging to Ms Ruby Blues.”

“She’s having trouble with her feet
Because her shoes are too petite;
My trial’s to find the perfect shoe
But I don’t know what I should do!”

At this the band all shrugged, bar one:
Ser Salmon knew what should be done;
Ms Blues would need some Happy Socks
A pair of those would tick the box.

Such splendid socks should save her feet
So that she never would be beat
By shoes that squashed and cramped her toes,
They’d bring an end to her foot woes.

With gratitude and renewed hope
Did Perseus then onward slope;
He left the band a magic sword
Recovered from a dragon’s horde.

“Le Vieux Pin” was the sword’s true name
An old wood blade that could enflame
When darkness fell at close of play,
When crittered things came out to play.

The blade in hand, the Silver Knight
Did lead her party by its light;
Until exhausted, needing sleep,
Made camp and rested, slumbered deep.

Okanagan Odyssey: Prologue

Upon a quest four knights set out,
That they were brave there was no doubt;
So full of courage, ardent zeal,
Success would come with each ordeal.

Four knights there were, I have just said,
Their colours: gold, blue, silver, red;
Quite what their goal was no one knew
Just that they would all see if through.

The Silver Knight, she led the way,
A joyful presence everyday;
A Seraphim upon her shield,
A force of nature in the field.

Sir Dandelion by her side,
The Knight of Gold, with humble pride
Devours feasts where’er they be:
The highest peak, the deepest sea.

The Minstrel Knight, she played the lute,
Uplifting spirits on her route;
Her crest: an archer firing flames,
Symbolic of her noble aims.

The last, in blue, the Salmon Knight
Had journeyed from the morning light;
He brought with him a bag of words
To feed their minds and hungry birds.

This is the tale of that small band,
Who travelled far across the land;
Of where they went and what they saw,
Of creatures fought and much, much more.

So put your feet up, one and all,
As I for you will now recall
The greatest quest in history:
The Okanagan Odyssey.