How to want what you have right at home

Published 12:30 pm Thursday, July 17, 2025

2025 is the year! I am feeling the heartbeat of this amazing, stunning country that is mine. Now more than ever, I see and feel the joy that is around me. I am spending time in my own backyard. 

All within an hour's drive of my hometown, Smithers:

Twin Falls, just nine kilometres from town, can still have me catching my breath. As my puppy sniffs the ground, I feel the ever-reaching grandeur of the tall, tall trees that have me looking way up. I sense that I am in an ecosystem of its own.

These twin falls are a charming spot in nature that our efforts have complemented.  Five camping sites for tents or a small RV are strategically and aesthetically in place to be a personal resting area. There are garbage containers and a pit toilet for our comfort. Though the road is paved it is narrow and winding.

Only four kilometres off Hwy 16 is Helen Lake, which offers fun for the whole family. It is a forest service site that has been developed with a pit toilet and six campsites with picnic tables and fire rings. Leading off from the small beach area is a well-groomed path and at its end are benches and a dock.  

Rainbow and cutthroat trout can be caught by a patient fisher-person at the same time that a paddle-boarder or kayaker eases through the water. These outdoor adventurers add a feel of who we all are, as we all claim our moments.  

These moments are gaining in popularity. Helen Lake has overflow parking.

Beyond the campsites at Helen Lake, Hidden Lake is just three kilometres up the road and offers a destination for hikers. As well, a person who loves exploring can check out the back roads and, at the end of one, find the head of the trail that goes into McQuarrie Lake.

Yet another forest service campsite, within an hour of Smithers, is eight kilometres on the Telkwa River FSR (which is a left off of the Coalmine Rd). One of its four picnic table and firepit sites can be seen from the bridge.

The Telkwa River sparkles on its downhill run and a beautiful, green back-eddy offers a spot for anglers to throw in a line or for a puppy to chase a stick. My little gal was on a leash).

I had once heard of a book, How to Want What You Have, and the title has stuck with me. I never wanted to get the book because my own imagination kicked in.

Written by Timothy Miller in 1994, it may soon come into my library. The tagline that is enticing me: ”Discovering the Magic and Grandeur of Ordinary Existence.” 

The magic of my existence is most often enhanced by a friend sitting beside me and navigating us into new territory or holding a campsite and checking to see if it is to my liking too.

As I was in a special moment, entranced by the sparkles on a river, I realized that a lot of my joy came from my puppy.  She was dancing and begging me to throw a stick into that sparkling river.  

2025 may just be the best year ever with my beautiful country, Canada.

If you have items for this column please e-mail sonja.lester.b.c@gmail.com