Cherishing the Family We Have Left...

  From the Apple Valley Review, The Once and Future Family, Issue 1, Vol 2: Nov/Dec 1994 What will it take to design a society capable of nurturing future generations?   Freddy Stuart, of East Kelowna, found these photographs among a handful of sepia photos and a couple of tintypes in an old trunk, in his father’s barn. Freddy’s father died recently, and Freddy has no idea who...

Advice From the Heart – Daycare Do...

  How do you want your children to remember you? Since our days are so fleeting, creating memories together is a priceless way to keep affection in a family. Even if your children are in daycare, you can take time to build special memories with each child. Mrs. Louise Goreas teaches the Golden Rule and accountability, which is something that can be reinforced at home. Here, she offers...

The Daycare Dilemma...

Enjoy those wet, oatmeal kisses while you can!  First printed in The Apple Valley Review, Vol 1, Issue 2, Nov/Dec 1994. Published here with no alterations.   “One of these days you’ll explode and shout to the kids, ‘Why don’t you grow up and act your age?’” And they will. No more Christmas presents made of library paste and toothpicks. No wet oatmeal kisses. No more...

Only Hamsters Go To Heaven...

 SOME THOUGHTS FROM A LOCAL KINDERGARTEN CLASS ON LIFE AFTER LIFE Children acquire preconceived notions about death and Heaven and God that may be touching in their innocence but very frightening for the child. To some children, when Grampa dies he’s ‘gone away’, but they may expect him back. Forever is too long a time for a child to conceive of. Some children may...

Hyacinths To Feed My Soul...

   Do we inhabitants of Planet Earth know who we really are? Is there more to us than meets the ordinary eye? When we look in the mirror do we ask ourselves, “Is this all there is?” Or do we see ourselves as a spirit-being as well as an earthly-being? Who are we in relation to the universe and earth time? Do we believe that this life is all we get or does our spirit or some part...

Best of The Apple Valley Review...

Background: The Apple Valley Review newspaper/magazine served the community in Kelowna and selected recipients in the Lower Mainland, British Columbia, Canada, from March 1992 until the final issue in March 1995. The paper began life as The Apple Valley Recycler, edited by Paul Purtell, in November 1990. In March 1992, Pene Beavan Horton became Editor, with Paul Purtell as Editor in...

Good Night, Blue Cheese Dressing …...

GOOD NIGHT, BLUE CHEESE DRESSING … A tale of twins who are now 36, and a mother who didn’t think she’d survive their childhood  I am not a mean mother; I just grew tired of monitoring a five-year-old demolition squad fourteen hours a day. But tomorrow would be different. I might softly suggest or courteously protest…but I would certainly not lay a finger on David and Robert, my...

Anne’s Island...

  Want to Visit Anne’s Island?   Vancouver Island and Prince Edward Island are two beautiful book ends with the rest of Canada in between. Our two Book Ends have entirely different cultures, and if we West coasters want to reach across Canada and visit our sturdy little sister Island, this is a great year to do it. (We say ‘little sister” because Prince Edward Island has a...

Nostalgia– How it was Down Mexico Way ...

Previously printed in Travelblogger Magazine Pene Beavan Horton January 3rd , 1964. The twin-engined Company plane was flying over grey jelly sprinkled with caraway seeds. “What are those things?” I asked my husband, who was sitting next to me in the plane. “Sharks,” said Bob. “Try the other window.” Since we were flying down the coast of Baja California so Bob could start...

We’ll Die of Fright Long Before An...

There’s a theory out there that the media needs to terrify us into watching the news. How else can the commercials bully us into buying advertised products? If we switched off the TV we wouldn’t see the ED ads, or the insomnia ads, or the arthritis ads, and neither would we hear the long list of side effects that include everything from bleeding, fainting, dizziness, headache,...