The Writing and Photography Blog of Kevin J Sabo

I can’t believe two weeks have passed since we lost Rolo. It seems like all I have done is blink; it just goes to show that the river of time doesn’t stop.

Coming home from work the other night had me questioning my life choices; I was in Stettler late on Thursday to cover an event at the school. I knew that we were supposed to be getting some bad weather coming in, but I was hoping to miss it. No such luck; it blew in while I was at my event.

A normal 35-minute drive home took me nearly 90 minutes in periods of next to no visibility. If it wasn’t for the fact that I didn’t have my meds with me I would have stayed in Stettler.

The scary thing is, as bad as the drive was, it was not the worst one I’ve ever had, though I feel it definitely ranks in the top five. I’ve since put together a bug-out bag with a change of clothes and meds to stash at the office just in case this happens again. Just because I can drive in bad weather doesn’t mean I like to, nor is it safe to.

After this storm went through, the mercury plunged with temperatures hanging around -25 C, which was less than fun for a trip to Red Deer on Saturday. I had to go in before the end of the month and Saturday was literally the only day I had available to go. Still, it wasn’t all bad. A friend from Stettler came with me and we spent the day hanging out.

We ended up meeting another friend of mine for lunch, which was awesome. We hadn’t seen each other in a couple of years, though we chat on Facebook Messenger fairly regularly.

Due to some staffing changes at work, I’m having to be in the office more frequently, at least temporarily. I’m not complaining, though. I like the people in the office space we share, and it’s only a couple of days a week right now, unless I need to go in to cover events.

Speaking of going into Stettler, last night I attended a Showcase presentation of the duo Over the Moon, which was fantastic. Covering events like that is definitely one of the perks of the job, and if you are a fan of folk music, the band is definitely one not to miss.

I’m getting excited and nervous because, in less than three weeks, I will be taking that very stage in Stettler myself. I am the keynote speaker for the 2025 Music for Mental Health event in Stettler. I’ll be sharing my mental health journey and story of resilience with some of Stettler’s young people. My newspaper is actually sponsoring the event, which is pretty cool.

Otherwise, I’m continuing to work on school as I get time and things continue forward steadily.

K