Thought of the Day - December 17 - COVID Pastimes

With most leisure activities now on hold, folk are looking for distraction thought novel hobbies and adventures. In fact as the Vancouver Polar Bear winter race series is cancelled, and use of our cruise boat is restricted, our sailing club has resorted to online dinghy racing. While a good knowledge of sailing and racing rules certainly help, it is a far cry from the real thing - heck you don't ever get cold and wet!

Some of you may have seen the reports on the so called "monolith" or "obelisk" that was found in the Utah desert. It seems, according to Google Earth satellite images, that this object appeared way back in 2016 but was only "discovered" last month. After a blitz of media, fuelled by intrepid hikers travelling to the site, the object was removed under the cover of darkness.

There is broad speculation as to why and how this came to be, but it has also spawned a new craze across the world. Indeed similar objects have now been found across Europe in Romania, Belgium, Finland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Hungary and UK's Isle of Wight to name a few.

Now the craze has come to Canada. Monoliths have appeared in Pinawa Manitoba, Lethbridge Alberta, Kamloops BC, East Van, Kitsilano and even in Dude Chilling Park.

The objects themselves are fairly easy to make, all you need are some metal-working power tools, sheets of stainless steel and rivets, screws or welds to erect (it seems some knock-offs are now being made of foil-wrapped cardboard). The real craft comes in the selection of a site and the means to place it there unseen.

So if you are looking for a new hobby for the holiday season you might consider indulging in this new craze (rumour has it that Marv has all the tools required).

Cheers

Cliff