Hello Sunshine, My Old Friend

Or so I thought while out walking Tuesday, under a gorgeous blue sky with the warm sunshine beaming down unimpeded by clouds. For me, it is a glorious sight seeing the snow capped mountains as I walk through downtown on both errands, and just plain sight seeing trips.

In the above photo I am in Gastown, near Waterfront Station, the main transit station downtown. From the station you can board all manner of transit including the Seabus that takes you across the water to the pictured North Shore. I've yet to do that but, of course I will at some point.

I've put some miles on these legs this week; this day I went from one side of the city to the other and then across it aways, stopping at Canada Place for another mountain view.

That bevy of ducks in the water! I only wish I could have gotten closer, alas, that was not to be. My next touristy thing was to go to the Hyatt Regency on Burrard Street to see their annual display of gingerbread houses. Crossing Dunsmiur, why, yes it is another film crew, this time for a show called Colony.

Passing the four buildings that make up the Bentall Center, I sure wish I'd seen this on my walk! Then again, it might have made me homesick and I try to avoid those feelings if at all possible. :)

 "Gingerbread Lane" was everything I could have hoped for and more. Oh my goodness, not only did it look fantastic, it smelled fantastic as well.

Some were made by bakeries, as above, while others were made by teenagers.

Every one of them are just wonderful, and I was not alone holding a camera up before the intricate creations.

According to a flyer I have, there is another fantastic hotel display on Burrard that I've yet to see, however, on that day, I was wearing out, so it was back home to rest.

Wednesday, Bruce decided to take a day off because he'd worked on Sunday, so while he was getting ready to take me to WalMart, I told him I'd be back soon---I've got to go photograph that fog hanging over the water by English Bay. I set off and baby it was cold outside! The sand....well, with the frost on it, doesn't it look like it could be the surface of the moon?

This dog didn't seem to mind the weather in the least! Baxter, on the other hand, is not much for the cold.

So, the frost came as a bit of a surprise, and what happened with this innocent looking fog, taken around 9:30 in the morning, came as a surprise as well.

I know it sounds ridiculous to get excited for a WalMart run, but I was, mostly because my pantry was getting bare, and buying a lot of groceries at once is my preferred method of shopping. Not to mention it is way less expensive. Before we shopped, though, we ate at Nando's, the delicious chicken place that I first fell in love with in London. Matt and Tom held their rehearsal dinner at Nando's so it will always hold special meaning for me. This location is way cuter than the one near us downtown.

We sat in the corner part of the booth, next to the pictured women who studied the menu as if it were a newspaper. Never having seen anyone take close to twenty minutes to go over a menu before, I became somewhat fascinated with them. Nor could I help but overhear the woman in the coat berate the server when they finally got their food. She called the portion size a "rip off" which I've also not heard in a while. Eventually she conceded that despite the price, it was delicious, and she at least got that right.

With the 75 purchased items stowed in the back of the car, we drove back into the city where it was still looking beautiful coming over the Granville Bridge.

Once it grew dark, however, things changed rapidly. From the balcony I noticed I could not see the Burrard bridge at all because of fog. As the night wore on, the fog kept coming towards us, and by the time we got up yesterday morning the condo was enveloped in fog. Once I was dressed in adequate clothing, I went down to the park to see what the building looked like from afar. No wonder I can't see a thing...

That is indeed our building behind the lit tree, and with us being up so high, I now had another perspective on the matter. Well, what photographer wants to stay home when there is a weather phenom? Not this one. Before walking to the bus stop, I repeated a shot that I showed in my last post. Should you have missed it, you can read it here.  Although it is not the same time of day, the difference is absolutely remarkable.

My destination was to the other side of Stanley Park, which although it isn't super far, taking the bus there allowed me to save my legs for walking around in the park. I wanted to see the giant trees enveloped in fog and I was not disappointed.

I took scads of photographs, but I've pared them way down so as not to bore you. Suffice it to say that it was a surreal experience because you could see absolutely nothing across the water. There were others out, including runners in shorts which boggles my mind as it was 34 degrees and damp, as you can well imagine.

Even though I had a map, I got lost with no landmarks to guide me. Normally you would see all of the North Shore across the pictured expanse of water, somewhat like you see in the photo earlier in the shot from Gastown.  At one point, I did see a group of super cool ducks , that I've yet to identify, eating green stuff. The only reason I could see them is they were somewhat close to shore.

Continuing along the seawall, a man saw the camera hanging around my neck and pointed out an EAGLE high on a structure beside the Vancouver Rowing club complex. Sadly, the fog was just so dense, the photos are worthless. Finally, or so it seemed, I walked back into the city proper where the fog, although still visible, was not so intense on the street level. That is until I returned home and this is the view from the windows, both yesterday afternoon and this morning.

Again, as mentioned, it is a complete white out! Even at night you cannot see any of the city lights, the fog is so thick, at least at this altitude. Apparently, the region is under a fog advisory that hopefully will be cleared sooner rather than later. We have experienced some extreme weather situations while here: from the summer wildfires filling the sky with smoke, to the rainiest November in decades, to now blanketed in fog. What next?

The adventure continues...

yours truly,

Gail

Hockey, A Parade and More!

I think it is the sameness that gets to you. The sun sets early, plunging the city into darkness by 4:30 in the afternoon, and doesn't rise until nearly 8 the next morning. Not that you would know it because there is only a gradual change in the sky, from dark, to dark gray. If you think I've been exaggerating about the rain, this article I came across validates all of my moaning. Yup, the year of my birth was the last time this much rain fell in Vancouver. So it was that I was thrilled to see some color in the sky both yesterday, and this morning. Particularly today as there were lovely shades of pink to begin the day.

But, before we got so lucky, December came, continuing November's rainy ways. We walked through a pouring rain to church Friday night, however, it was worth all of the discomfort as they had a brass band and Christmas carol sing along.

Can anyone believe I got Bruce to go to something like this? A year ago I would never have dreamed he would agree to this kind of activity, however, both of us just love the church for all sorts of reasons. I'd hoped to go to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony prior to the concert, however, Bruce didn't get home in time because, well, he'll be embarrassed that I've told you, but it really shows why we came to Vancouver in the first place. Every two weeks, on Friday afternoon, they hold something at the office called "Magic Hour", where they unwind, and if they want to, praise their co-workers.  Not only did Bruce's big boss have something to say about him in front of everyone, Emily, the designer on the Seattle project, broke into tears while saying how lucky she was to have Bruce as her PM on her very first solo project. It won't surprise anyone to learn that he blushed. :)

Leaving the church feeling all aglow, it was pouring outside, a quick way of killing said glow. Nonetheless, we walked over to the tree, which is lovely, although I didn't get the photo I wanted just yet. You can bet that I will now that we might just have a week without constant rain! Further, I wanted to show Bruce the ice skating rink which had opened earlier in the day.

Another cool thing that happened on Friday was that Bruce was given two tickets to the Vancouver Cannucks hockey game at Rogers Arena for Saturday afternoon. Never having been to a hockey game before, I was delighted. The whole experience was fantastic, with a fast paced game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, whose fans outnumbered the Cannucks, btw.

Having terrific seats helped. How could you not have a good time when the home team wins amidst loud rock music and cool light shows? Not to mention the actual sport of hockey which is really exciting.

Sunday was meant to be somewhat sunny, however, that was not the case until late in the afternoon. As such, after church, we walked two blocks to Howe Street, the route for the Christmas parade, which began with bagpipers of all ages. Count me very surprised to see the young ones in the group.

While Bruce went into the Nestles Toll House shop, hoping for some hot chocolate, I crossed the street to be closer to the action, standing next to this family.

Unlike any parade I've attended, it featured quite a variety of participants, including this dance group,

and some women,

who drummed behind a banner reading, Falun Gong is good. My memory fails me as to who these folks were with...

however, I do know who these fellows represent.

You can imagine I took a whole lot of photos, but I'll spare you more. Suffice it to say that because it was NOT raining, I did not wear my rain boots, instead another pair of boots that failed to keep me warm. During a break between acts, I ran across the street, met up with Bruce, and insisted I was just too darn cold to wait for the Santa Claus float. Plus, he needed to drive to Seattle for the bar top installation, hoping to get there before it was all the way dark.  Demolition of the old top took 8 men, followed by a ten man crew to install the new one. A big deal that went off without a hitch, much to his relief!

Finally the clouds began parting and Mrs. Camera Crazy went for a walk. About two weeks ago they strung white LED lights on the huge evergreen in our park (don't you like the way I say that so nonchalantly?), turning them on full time December 1, much to my delight.

Taking to the seawall, others had the same idea. In fact one fellow with a camera remarked with glee...the SUN! You bet!

Oh happy evening! Continuing along the seawall, making my way to English Bay, others were out as well.

 I was hoping to find something I'd read about. Sure enough, I did.

A cold, but satisfying walk home, where Baxter and I watched a silly Christmas movie, and slept the night away.

As I type, there are mostly clouds, however, I can see the mountains again, so I'm happy. Before too long Bruce will be home and all will be right in the Peck household.

yours truly,

Gail

And The Sky is Grey

Whereas you were becoming accustomed to opening this little spot on the internet and finding gorgeous color, that is largely a thing of the past as the days, one after another, are mostly gray and rainy. That, however, is not keeping me home, only inconvenienced. I hate to admit how stubborn I oftentimes am, but it is the truth. More often than not, I think, I don't want to carry an umbrella if I don't need it, when, of course, I should have one with me every day. Mind you, it does not rain hard, mostly spits cold rain, covering my glasses with water spots when I'm behaving in the above manner.

In any case, I've managed to find bits of color here and there.

Shall we begin? Following Auburn's defeat of Alabama (!), we walked over to see what CandyTown in nearby Yaletown was all about. Booths with local goods were lined up along Mainland, with characters roaming about, a horse drawn wagon, live entertainment, and food trucks. Mostly it was not raining, much to our delight. Sadly we missed the live ice carving.

Walking to church on Sunday was fine, leaving, not so much with rain pouring down. Nevertheless, we made our way to Nordstrom where I finally got boots that are not only waterproof, but have a zipper as well. I left the building wearing them. We roamed a bit through the mall, followed by a walk down Robson in search of a new ball cap for Bruce. Then, miraculously, it quit raining, and while we were eating lunch, lo and behold, there was some blue in the sky, albeit about an hour before sundown. I will take what I can get!

Monday morning Bruce left for four days in Seattle and I took the previously purchased boots back to Nordstrom, followed by a little roaming around. It is what I do when I don't want to hang around the condo. Looking down Granville I saw the snow capped mountains, but by the time I actually walked down there, mostly they were hidden by the clouds.

I decided to walk down Water Street through Gastown where we were first going to live. It is the oldest part of Vancouver and the street is lined with both shops for locals, and tourists alike. Also, it is the home to a steam powered clock which whistles at intervals. I read a fascinating story about the man who built it, almost having a nervous breakdown in the process!

Going up one block, turning right on to Cordova, well, this is sure a familiar site to all of us now, isn't it?

I suppose the reason I run into these film shoots nearly every day is because downtown Vancouver is not really that large. Not long after I took this, the rain began in earnest so home I went for lunch.  Normally, at this time of year, I am immersed in making gifts and everything else that goes with Christmas, however, this year there will be no homemade gifts from this gal. I admit it feels quite strange, but I guess everything else does as well, so why not Christmas? 

Because there are only a little more than eight hours of daylight, I do like to make the most of them when at all possible. Around two in the afternoon, I put on my raincoat and took to the seawall, heading to Stanley Park. I don't know much about seagulls, perhaps I should investigate, but I do know there are two types here, this tannish one,

and the one I am more familiar with, white, grey, and black; both of them are plentiful and large!

As to the temperature, mostly in the low 40's everyday so not too bad. Talking to my sister Maureen along the way she was amazed I was not cold, but I explained again how the same temperature here feels entirely different than it does in Florida. Why that is remains a mystery to me.

I am becoming more familiar with Stanley Park, so taking a little short cut I've learned, I headed for the birds, coming across this beauty along the way. I can't recall seeing a Great Blue Heron with the feathers extended like this one.

Seeing my camera, a man pointed out an area under the bridge that beavers have dammed, although he said I'd have to be there early to see them in action. Perhaps if it is not raining one morning I will do just that! A darling little birdie on one leg...love those chest feathers that look like triangles!

Nancy called as well during my walk, although I had to set the phone aside for a moment to take a photograph of this cool mushroom that looks as if a little troll should be nearby!

There was this tree covered with, well, I don't know what it is, but I explained to Nancy that it was a dusty rose. Color, my friends! Celebration time!

I hate to be out without a phone that works, however, I was in danger of mine going dead until Nancy explained to me about how to put it on low power. When Matt and Tom arrive I'm getting some technical tutorials that's for sure!

I'd been hoping to see some Wood Ducks and I got my wish.

Walking further around Lost Lagoon, there is a clear view of the West End and some of downtown.

Rain began again as I walked back home along the seawall. I was happy to see a tiny bit of color in the sky...

Why I would explore another area in the rain is beyond me, but I did come across this interesting sign;

Holy Cow, they aren't kidding!! BTW, the photo below is not shot in black and white..

Grey sky, wet trees, and there you go.

One of the things Maureen asked me is if I know the city well by now; downtown, I'm pretty good at, however, there are loads of other cool places I've yet to explore. The next day, in spite of the rain, I took a bus to Main Street, getting off near the Science Center. Not too many folks out along the stretch I explored, however, I did see a film set behind these buildings which I suspect this car belonged to.

Further I came across what turns out to be the main train station.

A lovely old building inside where I learned you could take a train to Seattle, or Portland, should you care to.

Before long the rain began coming down in earnest,

and because I'd been stubborn by not bringing an umbrella, I searched and found the bus stop to take me back home. This excursion will have to wait for another day.

A good many of the museums and such are very expensive here, but I found one nearby that is not, the Roedde House which I walked to in the rain one afternoon. Many of the what they call "Heritage" homes were torn down in the West End, but this, along with a handful of others was not.

Two items of interest to me were this sewing nook by the window,

and the girls room that displayed a nursing diploma from St. Paul's Hospital, the one I showed all lit up in my last post.

Apparently this was a big deal for a woman to have a profession in those days, and nursing turned out to be a dangerous one for the daughter of the family as she was killed by a deranged patient when she was 28 years old. Amazing! There were other interesting things I learned, including the fact that at one time there was a large pier in English Bay, somewhat like the one we saw in Brighton, England.

Another Heritage home in the West End all lit up for Christmas, taken at around 4 in the afternoon.

In spite of another rainy day yesterday I walked downtown to find the city Christmas tree which is to be lit tonight. I hope we can go and witness it before heading to church for a Christmas carol sing-a-long. In the midst of building it yesterday morning, I hope they are done by tonight.

Finally, another Christmas tradition in Vancouver, a free ice skating rink opens today. All ready to go yesterday when I took this shot.

I'm pretty sure I won't be participating, never having been on ice skates before!

If my phone weather app is to be trusted, the weather report is promising for next week. There are several of those little yellow balls that represent the sun. Hallelujah!

Let December begin.

yours truly,

Gail