Three New Friends Take a Walk

Bruce has been out of town for three days now,  and for part of that time, I've been slightly out of sync. Monday was a bit gloomy and I barely left the apartment. So, when Jackie suggested the three of us go walking on Tuesday morning, I was totally game. Especially because I was going to be able to show them something neither of them had heard of before.  It was going to be my pleasure to lead them to "Two Spirits." Although Dale has lived in the West End since the early 70's, until I asked him about it, he had heard neither hide nor tail of it.

We are an old group, me in my 60's, Dale in his 70's, and Jackie is 81, although not for a moment would you know it as she is probably the liveliest of the group. An overcast morning was perfect for a walk in the woods. Meeting Jackie in front of her building about two blocks from ours, we then went another block or so and met Dale along Beach Avenue to start our walk, beginning along the seawall. Dale, a former middle school teacher, still loves teaching so he delights in pointing out things he thinks I should know. Mostly I am a willing student, and you'll see what I mean by that later in this post.

The tide was out further than any of us had ever seen, revealing the algae-covered rocks that are normally hidden from view.

Ambling along until we arrived at the Beach Avenue entrance to Stanley Park, this would be almost the only color, aside from green, that we would see for most of our walk.

And although I had walked crazy far in search of the sculpture, I discovered it was almost ridiculously close to Second Beach. At this point, I had taken charge of our mission, leading them into the woods. Just as wonderful as the first time I viewed it, they were both thrilled seeing it for the first time. I had them stand around so I could give you a size reference.

Now it was time for Dale to take over and we followed our leader, all of us marveling at the sheer volume and size of the trees.

Dale led us to Ferguson Point, a scenic overlook that I'd yet to discover on my previous wanderings. The tide was still crazy far out...

On the point is Siwash Rock and the trees above it are where I went last week when I was overlooking the seawall. Back onto the forest trail, I had Jackie step inside one of the hollow trees and she is slim enough to do so.

There are lots of folks who shy away from talking to strangers, however, I am not one of those because strangers often end up becoming friends, as is the case with Jackie and Dale whom I met back in late March, detailed in this post. I have learned a lot from the two of them and only wish I'd met them sooner!

It was loads of fun for me having the two of them to photograph. I may have told you that Dale is somewhat of a Luddite, with no computer or mobile phone, however, he does love a good letter. Because it is uncommon for him to have his picture taken, I will be printing some of these when we get home, surprising him with a letter. I especially love the photo below with Jackie acting like a little girl.

You feel mighty small amongst these giants and most of them are not even first growth for two reasons, one being the storm, and two, logging.

The notches in the moss covered stump are remnants of the logging days. Jackie, well, I told you she was as nimble as a cat!

Handing my camera to Jackie, I had her photograph me in one of the many hollow trees. BTW--when we left for this walk, my hair looked much better!

Seeing this moss covered tree, I thought it could not get any better on this walk,

but it did. That pictured green? It is the real thing with no editing whatsoever. There are so many shades of green that when something is colored otherwise, well, darn, you notice it big time. And so it was, when one of us spotted this, what I've since learned is an edible mushroom called, "chicken of the woods", well, it was as if there was a caution flag laying around.

Squealing with delight, I had to get a close up of this amazing feature in my favorite color.

I am trying very hard not to march there again today for another look! Unreal, right? These mushrooms, while interesting, pale in comparison and that's a pun intended!

We had been walking on the "Lovers Walk" trail, however, when we walked over top of the road that leads to the North Shore, it became the "Lake Trail" merging with what is called "Beaver Lake" trail. Those faithful readers with good memories know why we were going that way.

One of the things they seem to like about me is my enthusiasm for their city. Recently I was gushing over the water lilies in Beaver Lake, and since it had been a very long time since either of them had been there, I was anxious to show them my discovery.

We were not disappointed as you can see, the water lilies were still going crazy and perhaps there were even more of them than before. That is, if such a thing is possible! The beavers remain active felling one of the trees since last I visited.

I told Dale he was behaving more like a straight male when he would not let me get my map out to find the restroom which by now we were sorely in need of! I also told you he was a Luddite, but I did not know that included being map adverse! Eventually we made our way to the Stanley Park pavillion restaurant,

where we dined on soup and sandwiches. Of all things, as we waited for our food, I spied something that definitely captured my attention. Indeed, when the woman came out of the washroom, I did see what I thought I saw...she was wearing a backpack with Orlando Health on it! Speaking with them briefly, I learned that she and her friend were in Vancouver for a few days following an Alaskan cruise and she did work at ORMC. It's a small world indeed. (my former employer, should you not know)

In front of the pavillion, new flower beds have been planted and Jackie identified the deep burgundy small flowers, on the left side, as ones that smelled like chocolate. Although I've forgotten the correct name, she was right...very chocolaty. Furthermore, she said there is a flower that smells like peanut butter so...well, sounds like a match made in heaven, right?

After a stroll through the rose garden, we made our way past the flower gardens where I was finally able to get a shot of these crazy huge plants. Other attempts, made on sunny days, did not work well to show you just how huge these leaves are.

Someone was kind enough to leave a bicycle there for scale!

After paying for our lunch, I told Dale that I got to be the leader, so I took them around Lost Lagoon and to the fantastic community garden on the hill.

There were more blooming succulents there,

oh so fragrant Sweet Peas,

and a flower Jackie could not recall the name of, something with either balloon or globe in it because the buds are shaped almost like an hot air balloon!

Eschewing a bus ride home, we continued down Beach Avenue and by the time I'd parted ways with the two of them, my trusty phone app showed another seven miles in the book.

Who says getting old can't be fun?

your friend,

Gail

Making My Rounds

Bruce called me one morning, asking if I were making my rounds, among other things. How DID you guess? Yesterday, it was finally super cloudy, meaning, a good day for photographing flowers of which I knew there would be copious amounts at Van Dusen Gardens. Taking the #17 bus, from the corner of Cambie and Nelson, I did just that. Is there such a thing as too MANY flowers? Maybe. Talking to a couple from Texas on the azalea walk, we both agreed that the colors here are so intense as to almost seem fake. Bright orange azaleas? Why yes, they exist. I'm still mentally processing what I saw and will show you some highlights in another post, but what Bruce meant when he asked about my rounds, is the flowers grown by my new friends in the neighborhood. Plus the park. With something new everyday, I really need walk but a few blocks to not only see amazing things, but also to have some folks to chat with, and we all know how much I like chatting.

All of last week, I'd been watching the giant poppy buds. Jackie had to tell me what they were, otherwise, I am clueless. Imagine my surprise, well more like astonishment, when I saw what I missed by not going yesterday.

Above is Jackie digging a hole to replant an hydrangea. As well, now you can actually see where the garden is adjacent to steps leading up to the Burrard Bridge. Now that I've gotten to know them better, I've learned quite a bit about these two guerrilla gardeners. Jackie is not from Vancouver, however, she and her husband have lived here for more than ten years, moving here from a very cold part of Canada. Moving from a house, condo life, with no garden, was not in the least to her liking, so she started gardening where she could, which just so happens to be, behind and beside, her building. Did I tell you she is 81???? And then there is Dale, aged 71, a former school teacher who has been helping Jackie for 11 years. Also, he owns neither a computer, nor a mobile phone and seems to be happy as can be without either.

This is not easy work my friends; watering along a steep path like this is not for the unfit. Somehow they make it all work for the love of plants. Apparently, this path along the fence will soon have loads of daisies and I can't wait! So not only were there the stunning red poppies today, but two beautiful orangish ones as well.

So, they have the upper garden, the pathway, and two lower ones, all of them hand watered. Below is Jackie heading back over to the upper garden with shovel and hydrangea in hand while facing lower garden #2.

I asked her about all the stuff on the fence, thinking it did not seem quite their style. She told me there is a homeless man who buys that stuff, hanging it on the fence. Once there is just too much of it, she and Dale take the liberty of curating his finds.

The irises are blooming, and oh my, are they fantastic. I showed you one in the purple post, but now there are others, including this beauty,

as well as a new super deep purple one that showed up today.

Here's a partial look at lower garden #1.

While I could go on and on about these two, there is Trevor to discuss. A pianist his whole life, he lives in the West End, tending the spots near me because he loves gardening so much. He, too, has to hand water everything and not with a hose! Here he is doing just that, having carried those buckets for quite a distance.

Not just this patch, but three others nearby, including this round about island,

where today I discovered a shade of poppy that is so soft and beautiful. Not to mention BIG.

His gardening advice is to buy the plants the nursery wants to discard and bring them back to life, something I've had success with in the past. Irises are blooming in his patch as well, and surprisingly, at least to me, they are not purple, rather sort of a rust color.

He's also planted these crazy looking flowers in yet another garden area. No doubt, the horticulturally minded amongst you know what they are.

The handkerchief tree has pretty much shed all of the, well, handkerchiefs.

I walk along Beach Avenue (taken from the bridge) to get to most of these spots,

whereas, other spots are along the seawall which is beyond the trees and buildings on the right.

I just threw in the above because it pretty much fits the theme of COLOR.

How the azaleas have so many blooms, is completely beyond me.

I love both the pot and the flowers below, not too mention the beautiful spring green of the tree!

Rhododendrons, where have you been my whole life?

I have no knowledge of who tends this little garden, but perhaps one day I will.  Better get to it as the days are speeding by.

And then there is the park which does have a flower garden that at present is filled with mystery plants as far as I'm concerned. These, well what is there left to say about this color?

Not to be confused with the other giant shrub covered in purplish-blue flowers, this is a California Lilac, or so I learned from some fellows I was talking to in another part of town. Another woman was involved in the conversation, she was looking for bees on the plant, however she claimed it was something else, but even I knew that the flowers were shaped like their larger cousin.

According to this information, they seem to be an ideal plant.

And then there is this beauty, covered with flowers, and I do mean covered, that began as light pink, and are now turning hot pink.

Talk about showy, I can see it from the 20th floor it is so bright.

Even the pine trees look cool.

I remember when Angela showed me her photographs from her visit to the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, my reaction was that it was so intense as to seem almost artificial. Same here folks. Unreal intensity, but I've told you that like a million times already, haven't I? Always keep in mind that I do not use photoshop, editing very little, probably because I never learned how. The mayor had a goal of making Vancouver one of the greenest cities in North America, and he may be onto something because it would be hard to be any greener than our park right now.

And I thought fall and winter were great! What did I know?

yours truly,

Gail