Shelby Knudsen

As I mentioned in last month’s musings, my oldest daughter is graduating from high school this year, and a chronic unease has settled into my bones. Not only because the next step is the fleeing of the nest—although that’s a big part of it—but also because this poor kid is losing sleep over fast...

For fifteen years I’ve been sharing stories with you about my experience mothering two daughters. It started in the Free Press, a short weekly column titled: The Parent Trip, where I regaled tales of first pets, embarrassing moments on the playground, catastrophic parenting failures that ranged from...

August in the Elk Valley is spectacular for so many reasons. She starts bold in all her beauty, the sky brilliant blue against the deep green of the mountains, the Elk River running clear when you’re close enough to touch it, a meandering turquoise from a distance. The bugs have almost vanished, and...

In a world that is increasingly hard to understand, I think a summer in the Kootenays might be just what the doctor ordered. If the larger picture is blurry to you too—seemingly contaminated with a murky layer of greed—zoom in. To the Lizard Range or Mt. Fernie. Zoom in to the saskatoon bushes and...

Don’t you just love June? It feels like a kick-off to the good times. The ‘Friday night’ of the monthly calendar, full of anticipation for the sweet summer ahead. And then there’s the smell. Those sticky buds may be a pain to get off your dog’s paws, but man do they smell good. As the days get...

The May edition of the Fernie Fix is dedicated to community, and I can’t think of a better time to lean into ours. We’re living through a period that has left many questioning the innate goodness of humanity, a pretty existential question to chew on with your morning toast. The lack of empathy we...

What a weird winter. I’ve lived in Fernie for many years and spent most of my life in the Kootenays. I’ve never witnessed anything so chaotic. The weather oscillated from winter to spring to rain to sleet to some kind of sky-snot. It snowed while the sun shone brightly. Sideways rain coated the...

This one’s for the girls. March is a month dedicated to women at the Fernie Fix, highlighted by the celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8. This year’s theme is ‘Give to Gain.’ It’s an excellent reminder that any excess we women have in the form of time, wisdom, emotional or financial...

February is birthday month for me, and this year it’s a biggie. Fifty. Half a century. Maybe half a life? To be determined, I guess, but starting this particular decade has left me reflecting on what I’ve learned so far. A few columns ago I wrote about decades, and the versions of myself that...

Welcome to the new year! We’re back in the even digits, and out of the oddness that was 2025. As I reflected on a few of the wildest moments in the collective experience of last year, I could only come up with one common theme to summarize them - unbelievable. And I mean that. It’s very hard to...