Traffic-geddon 2016

I've already grown weary of these Armageddon/Apocalypse-style snowstorm headlines. We need a new descriptor to mangle.

Not unlike a recent election in a NA country whose name shall not be spoken, this recent Vancouver snow dump would be funny if it weren't so painfully true. It's getting to be like the punchline to a joke. "Whadaya get when you cross an overnight mixed rain/snow forecast (i.e., no pre-sanding/pre-salting/pre-brining of major arterials and intersections) with a resulting snowdump of about 5" of heavy wet snow at morning rush hour?" Answer: "Vancouver!"

Wow...what a mess. As soon as I let our dog out this morning I knew I'd be working from home today. We live near the highest point in Vancouver, near QE Park. I walked the quadrant of Fraser, East 33rd, Knight and East 41st around 7 a.m. just for a ringside view of Metro mayhem.

Ice rink at Fraser Street at East 33rd Avenue.

Ice rink at Knight Street at East 33rd Avenue.

There was actually a sheen on the ice at major intersections. It was reported on the radio that the traffic lights at Knight/33rd were not working and cars were gliding through with brakes fully applied. But by the time I arrived the traffic signals were operational again.

Knight Street hill heading south from E. 33rd Avenue.

A little farther up the Knight Street Hill I witnessed semi-trailer truck drivers installing chains to get their rigs over the E. 37th Ave crest. This is not exactly the Coquihalla snowshed summit were dealing with here.

East 41st Avenue near Knight Street.

Even short (although somewhat steep) hills were bottlenecks due to minimal traction. This E. 41st hill heading west from Knight Street effectively halted westbound bus passage.

Seven eastbound E. 41st buses in a row! Parked!

Again, if it wasn't so true, it'd be funny. Even up until 11 a.m. I didn't see any moving buses in this quadrant.

Here are four Fraser buses parked: two on either side of E. 33rd.

I'll be watching the tele safely from my couch this evening to see how the day's-end commute panned out.

Pampas Grass carnage.

Disappointingly, my Pampas Grass finally succumbed to successive onslaughts of wintry precipitation. Up until last night I'd managed thus far to knock accumulated snow off the plumes with a broom handle after each snowfall. But last night the heavy wet flakes fell too late through the night/early morning for me to have prevented devastation. Oh well, out come the pruning shears.

Ferris Wheel(er)'s Day Off

The weather last night didn't favour Shauna's Christmas Party. We had heavy wet snow in East Van and figured it would be at least as bad on the steep streets of North and West Van so we didn't chance it. Thus Shauna was a bit out of sorts and we were looking for something to do to cheer her (and us) up.

Surprisingly, I'd heard of a ferris wheel, of all things, having just been erected in Queen Elizabeth Park for the Christmas season. A perfect destination for a snowy evening.

Ferris wheel fare includes admission to the Conservatory.

Quite a magical sight for a cold winter's evening at the highest point in
Vancouver.

Bringing a bright bit of Carnival to Vancouver.

Definitely a mood picker-upper! And,being the first night of operation, with
inclement weather restricting road traffic, we were the only passengers on
our ride.

We could still faintly make out the lights of downtown Vancouver from the top,
despite the heavy wet flakes of snow.

Needless to say we highly recommend this new Vancouver Christmas attraction. Especially when combined with entry into the Conservatory. The parrots are fascinating. I had no idea there are more than 200 birds in there.

The Great Divide

Just as I was beginning to think I'd be desk-bound for the rest of this calendar year, along came an assignment for a property condition assessment in Dawson Creek. It's about an hour's drive south from Fort St John. A very cold place this time of year; -24C! I manged to arrange the trip a day before a forecasted big dump of snow occurred here in Vancouver. I didn't want to chance missing my flight due to typically crazy Vancouver snow traffic.

The day turned out to be sunny for the majority of the flight; especially perfect for gazing at snow-capped peaks.

A light dusting of snow in Vancouver and the eastern fields of Richmond.

Long early morning shadows at Metrotown and Central Park in Burnaby.

The snow-covered coastal range really was spectacularly highlighted courtesy
of the rising sun. Heli-skiing anyone?

On several flights to the Fort St John region I've never before seen the divide so clearly between the coastal mountain range and the northern plains. I'm not even sure that "northern plains" is the correct geologic terminology, but the change was certainly evident from this height.

The great divide.

The patchwork of fields approaching Fort St John.

Snowman

Tannah found a new winter friend at the end of our back lane.

Snow Slog

We got hit with the first significant snowfall today in about 1000 days here on the Wet Coast. As usual it's the kind of snow that's barely snow. It's mostly water and it seems to  melt as soon as it lands. Except for asphalt, that is. Once it lands on asphalt it compresses with the first tire imprint causing steadily increasing degrees of mayhem with the passing of every subsequent vehicle.

And of course, timing is everything. The snow reportedly started around 4-5 a.m., ensuring it was sticking to the roads for the start of rush hour. Fortunately I was able to delay my commute since I had a site visit downtown. But even so I was an hour later than planned due to the sudden increase in bus riders and delays of buses due to icy streets, cars with all-season tires and general gridlock.

The bus I was waiting for was much delayed, as reported by a friendly fellow Transit user who had a handy app on his smart phone indicating where requested buses are at any specific point in time. The bus in question was still at 29th Street Station, the start of its route but quite far away from my bus stop. Upon processing this information I decided to walk to Fraser Street instead to await the 08 bus. Perfectly timed, it arrived as I approached Fraser. However, it was packed with standees right to the front door. Also however, I know from experience that these buses often travel in packs by the time they get to the middle of their route through my 'hood. Thus I sensed another "8" was immediately following this full one. Once proven correct in my assumption I hopped on a mostly empty 10-wheeled, articulated transit tube smiling to myself that I might even have time to grab a coffee somewhere on route prior to my appointment.

I should have known better. No sooner was I seated than the bus came to an abrupt halt not even a block away. Through the front window I could see a jack-knifed bus up ahead.

A jack-knifed bus on East King Edward Street, though not the same one as
described earlier.

Here's how approximately two inches of snow transforms my Fraser Street
neighbourhood.

And here's the view from the roof of the building I was reviewing this morning.
Not nearly as much snow downtown.

A large scale bauble is on display off Georgia Street.

As I blog, outside this slushy mess is freezing. I can almost hear it; smug in its anticipation of snarling traffic anew tomorrow morning. Nothing better than an armada of ill-equipped SOVs (no, not SOBs; Single Occupancy Vehicles) released upon concrete curb-bounded ice sheets. Somewhat like a large scale luge track minus the speed. It'll be a slow crawl tomorrow. (sigh)

At least now I know it's not only Vancouver that suffers such winter driving indignities. For a laugh just Google the traffic "slide" show involving 2 buses, a police car and snow plough in Montreal this morning. It almost sounds like the lead-in to a joke; "Hey, didja hear the one about the two transit buses, a police car and a snow plough?"

I think I might even have laughed if I didn't have to drive to the office tomorrow morning.

Nonetheless, Tannah enjoyed it. As long as it was constrained to short bursts
followed by a nap next to the furnace register.

Here Comes The Sun!

We awoke to glorious sunshine this morning after a record breaking month of rain in October (and very little appreciable difference in November's precipitation performance) in Vancouver. So to celebrate we took Tannah for a walk along False Creek. It's surprising how much colder it can be along the waterfront than it is in East Van where urbanization breaks the wind.

I didn't even notice until posting this shot just now that the mountains
are completely removed from this False Creek vantage point. 
But even without seeing the recent snow on the north shore mountains, 
it looks cold.

Further along the shared pedestrian/bicycle trail we came across an unexpected sight; the house from Beach Avenue that was saved from imminent destruction to make way for condo development. It was lifted and trucked to a waiting barge at English Bay in the wee hours of Saturday morning. It's final destination will be in East Van, and I'd heard on the news it would be stored temporarily in False Creek prior to moving to its intended new site.

The ultimate waterfront address, albeit temporary.

I'm a bit of a collector of before-and-after photos. I'll have to keep track of this
one as its restoration progresses after the second phase of its road trip is 
complete.

It's too bad I didn't hear about this move until the morning after. It would
have been pretty exciting to witness in person (for me anyway).

Still on the housing theme, what first drew my attention as we passed under the Cambie Street bridge on the ped/bike path was this newest addition to Vancouver's trendy penthouse stock.

A room (literally one room!) with a view.

It's a bit of a swim, and a bit of a climb up a creosote-coated pedestal, but in this market I'm sure some ambitious entrepreneur will solve the accessibility issues to develop the true potential of this urban island oasis.

Zip line access to shore perhaps?

Finally, with the region's first snowfall of the season in the forecast for tomorrow morning, it would appear that the influx of Arctic air has made the water too cold for ducks. This particular "Houdini" duck apparently preferred to stand on the surface of the pond, admiring his own reflection.

Santa Shuffle 2016

I think this one could alternatively be called the "Santa Sniffle"as I woke up with a sore throat last Saturday but went on our regular Saturday run anyway. It's not like I had the flu or anything. It turned into a sinus cold to accompany me through my week. I was a bit concerned by a threateningly wet forecast for the Santa Shuffle today (Saturday), but I guess Santa judged us runners to be "good" rather than "bad" and blessed us with a dry course through the east side of Stanley Park.

As a bonus it turned into my best 5 km time to date (~29 minutes) as indicated by my self-timed phone-based running app).

Jane, me and Leona at the start line.

Not the best selfie in the world but I was still catching my breath post finish.

Avian Eulogy

I had a rather startling experience yesterday while on my regular lunchtime walk around the office complex where I work. I was on the return leg heading north as I watched a jet plane approaching YVR, which is normal. Our offices are (somewhat unsettlingly) below the flight path to the airport. As I watched the jet glide past I heard another plane approaching.

From the pitch I judged it to be a propeller-driven plane. Normally I’m not much of a plane aficionado; I’m more of a car nut. By this statement I mean I don’t regularly go out of my way to crane my neck to view a plane, but, inexplicably, I did in this case. And as I swung my head back into its normal arc I also noticed a flock of birds ahead of me, and also potentially in the path of the plane, although I really didn’t focus too much on it at that instant.

But perspective is a funny thing (although not for the bird in question I’m afraid). I had perhaps 2 or 3 seconds to ponder the altitude of that particular flock of birds in relation to the approaching aircraft before I witnessed the intersection of mechanical flight with natural flight, the result being a surprisingly audible “Pop” (or two or three; I really can’t recall how many) following by a small white mid-air explosion. Obviously it wasn’t the plane that took the brunt of the collision.

Somewhat in shock of what I’d just witnessed I watched a small white bundle gently drift earthward, quickly darkening to bright red as it descended. As I say, I don’t know how many birds were ploughed through, but I’d say either two or more birds fell from the sky in various quadrants, or else parts of the same bird were strewn in various directions.

I’m leaning towards the “strewn in various directions” theory because as I walked further and approached the building I work in, I noticed a woman turn and look down at the pavement as she walked a block or so ahead of me. I was quite confident in my prediction of what I would find as she had made such an obvious motion to turn and observe. Unless I had not witnessed the initial aerial collision I don’t think I’d have immediately been able to identify what I discovered on the asphalt.

The colour was intensely red, poppy red, and three small piles were arranged almost artfully amongst the fallen autumn leaves. Again, perspective is everything, and if this had been a different arena, say as restaurant critique, I’d have been expecting to be introduced to a plated appetizer of caviar. Another mental image that immediately came to mind was a scene from “The Blair Witch Project” that has always stayed with me; the scene where the protagonists, lost in the forest traveling in seemingly endless circles (a la “Groundhog Day”) discover a “present” outside their tent of some unidentifiable animal (or human) remains. 

Again, if I hadn’t witnessed it I probably wouldn’t have believed the force with which propeller blades could fling material with which they had collided.

My prayer is that the bird died on impact and never knew what hit it. Rest in peace little bird.

Tofino Time "With Intensity!"

As another restorative Tofino extra-long weekend winds down I wonder how it is that such a highly anticipated vacation could end so quickly. We’re not exactly home yet by any stretch, although it’s now the last evening in our cabin avec hot tub fronting Chesterman Beach.

We experienced a rather monotonous tone of weather this trip, mostly rain, although seemingly gale force at times. It certainly was a good test of my rain gear. My aged rain pants failed btw and had to be replaced in Tofino. They now complement the gumboots I bought in Uclulet years ago. We walked Tannah along the beach this morning and actually had to bail, returning via the road though the neighbourhood rather than along the beach because when we turned around to retrace out footsteps to the cabin we were being sandblasted by 45 degree wind. The raindrops actually stung our faces. I felt like one of those Florida reporters you see on TV sent to cover the hurricane du jour, battling Mother Nature just to maintain verticality.

Prior to departure from home the weather forecast had us on the edge of our seats as well as to whether or not we’d actually be able to pass through Port Alberni. A flood watch had been issued and the main bridge on Highway 4 was closed for a while. Traffic was being re-routed, lead by a pilot car. All was fine by the time we arrived however. Fortunately we’d padded our schedule with extra time in case of such diversions. A number of years ago (at least 10, probably 15 years ago) we’d cut it too close on a winter trip to Tofino by traveling on a later ferry and staying too long in Coombs. We learned the harrowing way that it’s best to arrive in Tofino during daylight hours rather than driving through intense rain after dark on a freshly paved road minus painted centre lines with tailgating locals pressuring us to exceed posted speed limits.

This has been a very satisfying trip in all aspects, including photographically. Armed with three cameras I managed to transform most of what intrigued me into pixelated format. Learning the art of photography has been an interesting journey thus far. Probably the best lesson I’ve learned (and it took a long time to master) was not getting hung up on how I think other photographers do things. In my opinion photography is very much about “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Don’t worry about how you think someone else would frame a shot or even choose a scene. I used to think that “real” photographers always got their shot the first or second try, or used the same camera for all their shots. Maybe some do, but I doubt it’s the norm.

This afternoon we had just finished watching the last 20 minutes of the football game (the BC Lions pulled the rug out from under the Blue Bombers in the last minutes of the game after trailing to that point) when I noticed the light outside was noticeably yellow (it actually reminded me of the yellow smoky haze that had crept into this area the last time we were here during the abnormally hot summer of 2014). At the same time I realized the torrential rain had stopped. That golden glow was the setting sun! To the beach; stat!

I almost missed that all-important sunset light. The colour range of ambient light I experienced in only about 5 minutes is astounding. By the time I donned my outdoor gear and was out the door that golden glow was well underway and it was transitioning into a purplish hue as I searched for a suitable silhouette subject to complement it.

This shot was taken only about 10 minutes later than the previous one.

So…another trip and another experience to reinforce that it really is all about the light. My task is to learn how to capture as many variances of light as possible with whichever camera I happen to have at my disposal. That’s another key concept; the best camera for the job is the one you happen to have with you.

Lots of November surfing action at Tofino. 

Tannah had a blast too.

Autumn Rainbow

This morning we were pleasantly surprised by what turned out to be a double rainbow. It was a perfect introduction to a November motorcycle day, and an almost unprecedented 17 to 19 degree (Celsius!) afternoon. However, I have to admit I'm a bit unnerved by such spring-like temperatures so late in the year.

Hope 2016

One more day before the scariest day of the (four) year (cycle): US Election Day!

And with the Holiday Season almost upon us (it is mere days post-Halloween, after all J) one can only hope that mean ol’ Mr. Potter won’t get his chance to transform Bedford Falls into Pottersville.

One can only hope.

Autumn Colours

Every year I marvel at how quickly the leaves go from hanging around (literally) to clogging up the catch basins. In September it always seems impossible that they'll release their grips and cascade down from the trees. It seems like in no time at all the trees have been stripped bare to reveal a secret squirrel highway system obscured half the year by a curtain of leaves.

It's not like the squirrels have gotten bused in from out-of-province specifically for nut season, but I was certainly not aware of this many of them during summer. The trees in the office complex where I work are presently over-run with them. I happen to have a ring-side seat too because my desk is directly opposite a wall of windows on the second floor where I am often distracted by black, brown or grey flashes of fur zipping up, down and across tree branches, often leaping from tree to tree.

Needless to say, I don't have any squirrel photos; they're far too quick. Maybe they're shutter-smart. Which naturally leads me to leaf photos, which you don't have to be overly quick to capture. And mushroom photos. I am still in denial that those red ones are actually real. Don't they belong in a Disney Snow White cartoon, being carefully tended by a squadron of garden gnomes?

Oh yeah, and a doughnut.

I mean, a pumpkin. What screams Autumn more loudly than a creme-filled, orange-glazed seasonally appropriate doughnut?

Motorcycle Toy Cruise

The weather cooperated this weekend for the annual Vancouver motorcycle cruise to donate toys to the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau. It's been about 20 years since I last participated so since getting back on a motorcycle this season I marked the date on my calendar quite a number of months ago. I was expecting a big turn out, but not quite this big. We definitely numbered in the thousands this morning. It's was a blast! Lots of groups of people lined the road and waved as we passed, on our way from Coquitlam Centre mall to the PNE grounds. It took about an hour.

It looks deceptively unbusy, but this was not the main parking lot.

The line up awaiting release from the parking lot holding pen.

This shot starts to give a sense of how many bikes were there.

Vancouver-ness

Thoroughly enjoyed this past weekend. Makes up for feeling like I missed last week's weekend entirely. Which I mostly did with 16 hours of overtime office work. Anyway, now I have enough OT to take time off over Christmas.

Came across couple of noteworthy photo-ops that I thought I'd share.

Pigeon party.

The pigeons got me started, but later in the day I encountered some East Van grafiti, then read a photo caption in the Georgia Straight which got me thinking about other tags I've seen around town the last few years. Some I've posted already previously, but sometimes I find it's nice to see them grouped together. Birds of a feather I guess. :-)  See, it did tie in!

I'm not quite sure how deep this Main Street grafiti is meant to be; its positive vibe is what drove me to capture it within a snapshop. It seems to me it deserves a bit wider audience before it's potentially removed.

The inspiration for posting the preceding photo was this photo and caption from the Georgia Straight describing a particular tag that's been re-appearing in Vancouver lately. Another positive image.

It reminded me of a couple more grafiti tags I've seen in Vancouver the last few years.

A variety of mediums are employed. I don't condone vandalism, but again, its all about the message...