Joy and I drove up to Kamloops on Friday to attend convocation at Thompson Rivers University where our “son” bill was receiving his honourary Doctor of Letters degree. It was a thrill for us to be there for this momentous occasion in bill’s life, and his robes were so cool that I couldn’t help but take a long series of snaps.

bill bissett, as many people around the world know, is one of “Canada’s national treasures.” He’s certainly a treasure in our lives–and I think just about anyone who knows this remarkable and accomplished renegade poet/painter would agree that melting hearts is one of his biggest successes in life.

The photograph below was taken of British Columbia’s pine forests along the highway around Kamloops. Beautiful though it is, it shows the devastation caused by the pine beetle.