What’s the plural of Prius? This is one of the questions I pondered on my latest drive across the province in August. There are a lot of those hybrids on the road, and the Prius, being one of the first, is also one of the easiest to recognize, given its distinctive shape. But when one sees more than one of them, what is correct? Priases? No, that can’t be right. Priusi? Or Prii? My first year Latin seems to have failed me. Which is only fair, seeing as I failed it.

But talk of hybrid cars leads me to my next question. When did gas in the East Kootenay become more expensive than gas on Vancouver Island? Because it is. Gas was cheaper in downtown Victoria than what I was paying when I left Kimberley. This doesn’t make sense to me. Vancouver Island, as you will note by its very name, is an island. So not only does gas bound for Victoria come in through the port of Vancouver, it then has to be shipped over to the island. And the East Kootenay is right next door to the land of fossil fuels, Alberta. A quick truck ride from the refinery to Kimberley. Yet we are paying more. And let me be clear, I do not blame local gas station owners.

And finally, who would have thought that I would be glad to be traveling in a crowd of transport trucks? But I was. Because one of the very noticeable things about this recession has been the lack of trucks on the road. Lack of trucks means nobody is doing business. Not good. So when I was surrounded, front, back and sideways by large trucks on Highway 1 in the Lower Mainland, I could not help but feel cheerful. And when I saw a loaded logging truck barreling along west of Golden, I couldn’t help but see this is a positive sign.

Perhaps the only thing more positive than that would be a transport loaded with Priusi. Or Prii.