Wally Day

Here’s my Dad, Wally (in the middle) with his best buds Norm and Don, enjoying his 82nd birthday at the Gasthouse in Peachland, British Columbia, Canada, near where they grew-up. This photo was taken January 9, 2013.

Wallace Arthur Day
Today (I wrote this in 2007) is my Dad’s birthday; born this day in 1931 he’ll be 76 years old. I imagine he’s celebrating the day by skiing at his local ski resort Big White. Have a look at some photos from the old days at Mt. Baldy where he was a founder and the Ski Pro, where occasionally during spring-skiing season, he would adorn the persona of a skiing gunslinger.

Wally’s been a skiing enthusiast his entire life, so passionate for the sport and winter lifestyle that he became a professional ski instructor and ski racing coach over 40 years ago and has been sharing his passion for the sport with hundreds of others ever since.
During the winter months Wally can be found on the mountain slopes at least 3 days per week and most often with a troupe of friends, always seeking their favorite perfect condition, known as “deep powder”, combined with clear blue skies and sunshine, with temperatures just below the freezing point. Mother Nature grants them a few such days every ski season and this makes it all the more worth while. Never-the-less it’s the consistent dedication to getting out and into the mountains that Wally cherishes.
click on the image to enlarge
My Dad once told me that on one such perfect skiing day he stopped on a bluff surrounded by snow-covered frozen trees and was admiring the way the sunlight refracts through snow crystals to create prisms of colored light, and he was enjoying the view from his perspective, all alone on a mountain-top, when he realized that he was standing in his own church. Somehow he knew that he was exactly where he was supposed to be, at that very moment he recognized that he was in his own place of spiritual worship.
There has rarely if ever been a lazy day in my Dad’s life, he’s always arisen early in the morning and has a list of things to get done, first of which is his daily stretching and exercise. In the spring and summer months his day’s include his other favorite sports and recreation of golf, mountain-bike riding, hiking/walking, swimming and boating on the lake. A great-deal of his spare time is spent maintaining the equipment, gear and things that provide him his pleasure, such as his house, swimming pool, truck, boat and bicycle. Most of his equipment last for many years because of his attention to up-keep.
Aside from the fact that Wally’s temperament is very even-keeled (he doesn’t suffer from mood-swings), he’s almost always up-beat and cheerful, what those of us who know him well have come to admire, is how he enjoys giving his time and energy to help others. Also, that he freely lends his possessions to those he cares about, and loves to share Wally World (his lakeside home) with his friends and family.

My Dad has always shown a great love for my Mom and been extremely caring for my sisters and myself. In recent years we witnessed a special enter my Dad’s life, it’s his Grand-Daughter Lola-Jeanne, she adores my Dad and when they’re together you can see the love emanate from the two kindred spirits.
They say that you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family, well I wouldn’t have made any other choice. Wally is and has been the perfect role-model and friend for me, although a little hard to live up to but then what would life be without a challenge. I sure hope I can live the kind of life and effect people the same positive way as Wally Day.

Dad and me