Life at Home & Around the Neighbourhood

This year started with classic West Coast weather—rain, wind, the odd chance of snow, and eventually a stretch of mild, sunny days that signalled the arrival of spring. Walks around the neighbourhood with our Jack Russell terrier Rolly provided comforting routine and exercise, with nearby Summit Park serving as a reliable escape, along with gentle loops around the neighbourhood, and the occasional steeper climbs to provide a challenge and break in the routine.

Along the way, spring slowly revealed itself: Shooting Stars and Fawn Lilies brightened the local Garry Oak meadow, followed later by Blue Camus and Buttercup. The park’s rocky paths dried out enough to become accessible again, though not without an occasional stumble or slip by aging humans and dogs.

At home, the annual flurry of local events added their soundtrack to the season. Bagpipes, parades, and music drifted into the neighbourhood throughout the warm summer months. One of our younger neighbour’s unexpected house party surprised us, complete with DJs and sound system, backyard dancing and a thrift-store sale, giving the street a “Magical Mystery” vibe.

Technology Trials, Triumphs & Reversals

It has been a remarkably experimental season for technology this year. Of course I’m a confirmed geek, so I often wear two smartwatches and carry a couple of smartphones! In fact, multiple smartphones made cameo appearances this year, including the OnePlus 12 and 13 and the iPhone 16 Pro – some arriving, and some departing – returning in boxes to their manufacturers. Each device inspired a round of setup, testing, comparison, and occasionally, second thoughts. I ended up with both the Android OnePlus 12 and the Apple (iOS) iPhone 16 Pro.

Smartwatches also had their moment. The Apple Watch 7 (which I have used for several years), the new OnePlus Watch 3, and the new Apple Watch 10 shared wrist time in various combinations. Battery life became a deciding factor; some watches excelled in longevity but fell short in integration, while others worked seamlessly but demanded daily charging rituals. Eventually, the Apple Watch 10 claimed its place, and the battery life champ OnePlus Watch 3 also continues to lurk around.

Then there’s my 1970s era Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer Automatic watch, inherited from my cousin Bill. It has no batteries nor connections to the online world, and it just runs and runs, keeping perfect time! Of course it costs over 20x the price of the smart watches!

I have compensated for my poor memory all my life by taking lots of notes – digital since 1995. This year I tried out several note taking apps:

• UpNote offered cross-platform convenience and an attractive lifetime license.
• Bear proved more refined, secure, simple, and familiar, but only runs on Apple. As an early adopter, I’m grandfathered into a very reasonable subscription rate.
• Notes is the note taking app included free with Macs, iPhones and iPads. It’s very capable and feature rich, but I’m not a fan of the design.
• mymind has a flashy interface and clever AI features, but the expensive annual subscription is hard to accept.

A major overhaul of thousands of notes ensued – part migration, part cleanup, part “why did I save this?” reflection. After all of this, I eventually settled back into using Bear, with a new appreciation for its simplicity and functionality.

I replaced my DJI Mini 3 Pro drone with the Mini 5 Pro in order to take advantage of the much-improved camera and obstacle avoidance features in the new drone. As a long time photographer, the great-looking photos and video these tiny flying devices produce never fails to amaze me! For that matter, the same goes for the current crop of smartphone cameras.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has certainly become a darling of the news this year. I’m dabbling in AI, using ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Amazon’s Alexa. In fact, I fed my personal journals for 2025 into ChatGPT and asked it: Create a seasonal newsletter from this personal journal. Keep the tone light, omit personal subjects, and use no more than 5 broad subjects. It did a great job, saving me a day of slogging through my journals! Of course, I edited the output from ChatGPT to add some details that were missed, expand on some subjects, and delete others.

As a confirmed geek, I dive into these technology challenges with gusto, and learn a lot along the way.

Community Connections, Groups & Local Events

Community life stayed busy as I made a conscious effort to stay connected with friends, family and local groups.

Weekly coffee gatherings at various local coffee shop favourites became dependable touch points. These meetups – often lasting an hour or more – provided opportunities to exchange stories, discuss the weather and personal health (always), and keep up with ongoing projects and activities my friends are involved with.

Astronomy remained a major interest in my life, and I’m a Life Member of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Victoria Centre. I attend their Astronomy Café weekly meetings both in-person and virtually, which involves me in fascinating presentations, astronomical photo shares, and lively discussions about cosmology, physics and space. Keeps the mind sharp and engaged!

One highlight was the sod-turning ceremony for a friend’s new observatory being constructed at a vineyard in Central Saanich. Snacks, champagne, and even drone photography made the day festive, and this exciting project has been a topic of conversation all year for my astronomy buddies.

Another highlight this summer was attending my 55th High School Reunion in the Cowichan Valley. Our ranks continue to thin, but we enjoy reconnecting and cherish our memories of those formative years and experiences which happened in our lives so many years ago. And of course, it’s fun too!

Travel, Planning, Re-planning & Future Adventures

My travel planning this season took several twists and turns.

Early in the year, I cancelled a long cruise through Asia, after concerns about political tensions, long-haul flights, and too hot weather conditions overtook my excitement for discovering all the new destinations. Another cruise, this one to Alaska in the summer was also reconsidered. Travel through the USA felt increasingly risky, so I cancelled that cruise as well.

With international travel on pause this year, my attention shifted to options closer to home. The big success: a summer booking with Mile Zero Tours for a 13-day journey through the Yukon and Northwest Territories, including air travel with Air North all the way to Tuktoyuktuk on the Arctic Ocean. This trip delivered sweeping landscapes, northern culture and wildlife, lots of friendly and interesting people, and a chance to go far beyond the usual tourist path. A bonus was being able to connect with a cousin from my birth family, who lives in Whitehorse. I flew my drone several times on this trip to capture the beautiful landscapes from an aerial perspective.

My longer term travel plan includes a far more relaxed and appealing cruise: a 28-day Holland America voyage in September 2026, departing from Rotterdam and cruising through the Norwegian fjords, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Lisbon, and England. This itinerary offers all new ports-of-call for me, along with a blend of nature, culture, and temperate weather. With a refundable timeline stretching well into 2026, there’s plenty of time to contemplate or adjust plans, but I’m feeling this back-to-back cruise will be a “go”.

Meanwhile, I caught up on writing travelogues from Costa Rica trips taken back in 2008 and 2009, posting them to my JoeTourist website. Revisiting those memories offered a welcome sense of virtual travel during my quieter 2025 travel year.

Observations and Odds & Ends

This season delivered a constellation of experiences – some humorous, some reflective, all part of everyday life:

• A Total Lunar Eclipse this past Spring briefly appeared through passing clouds, offering a dramatic start to the astronomy season.
• I was honoured by having a minor planet (asteroid) named after me this year – (578249) Josephcarr = 2013 YY81. A local professional astronomer has named his minor planet discoveries after quite a few of my fellow amateur astronomers to recognize our contribution to the promotion of science.
• In order to reduce my exposure to the toxic online social media action, I have segmented my participation this year to keep life balanced. I now use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family; Bluesky for photos and other creative pursuits; and Mastodon for political commentary and rants.
• Appliance upgrades crashed in on us this year, as we replaced the over-the-range microwave, washer/dryer, and refrigerator. Appliances are no longer built to last!
• The political landscape proved noisy on both sides of the border, although our local elections (both provincial and city) brought a welcome measure of renewed stability.

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As I write this missive in mid-December, the usual seasonal rituals have played out around our home: Christmas trees are lit, decorations are in their respective places, the turkey is in the freezer, treats and gifts are carefully stored away until the 25th.

Kirk and I continue to have stable health, although we still complain about the aging process. At 14 years old, Rolly still looks forward to his walks, but he isn’t keen on getting wet or going too far. He has some aches and pains…but don’t we all!

Please accept our best wishes to you and your family – enjoy the holiday season and the coming New Year!

Joe, Kirk and Rolly