The 'Peg

We did something completely out of character for us this past weekend; we flew halfway across the country for only a weekend! It was Shauna's Uncle and Aunt's 50th wedding anniversary, plus Uncle Jack's (rapidly approaching) 80th birthday. Brian and Dan (the sons) were going to be there with their families and it just seemed like far too good of a reunion to potentially miss due to something as insignificant as money (i.e., airfares). Flights within Canada are rarely as inexpensive as one would prefer, but...as they say...it's only money.

Our outbound connection was just taxi-ing in, and the snow was just winding
up again. We eventually lifted off at 9:50 pm for an originally scheduled
5:30 departure.

 And as usual, we had a great trip! It actually felt longer than a mere 24 hours too. It began a bit sketchy in terms of weather, because, wouldn'tcha know it, a big snow dump was predicted on the eve of our after-work flight. We'd worked out all the logistics of leaving work at just the right times to get ourselves to YVR from opposite corners of Metro Vancouver, but the storm really threw a spanner in the works, for Shauna at least. I had the luxury of working from home that day, but Shauna had to traverse from Vancouver to West Van, then to Richmond after work. In the end she abandoned her car in the school parking lot and got a ride from a colleague downtown where she hopped on the Canada Line. Ironically she arrived at YVR hours before I did. It was also ironic for the fact that the flight ended up leaving about 4-1/2 hours late, which led us to a Winnipeg bedtime of 3:30 a.m.!

Fortunately saner minds prevailed in the planning department as we killed time at YVR. Original Saturday breakfast plans were intended to feature Clementine's at 8:00 a.m., but who are we kidding? How were we to function on four hours sleep, especially after a full work week? Shauna texted her friend Michele to re-schedule for 10:00, but we feared the wait by that time would be too long, as we had an early afternoon appointment for a Come-and-Go celebration at Jack and Gwen's church for their 50th. I don't claim to know how these things so often seem to turn out just right, but the estimated 20 minute wait for a table at Clem's turned out to be 10; plenty of time for a memorable breakfast including several appetizers. Wow, that place is good! And by the time we left there must have been at least 15 people waiting in the foyer.

All smiles post-Clementine's.

Outside Jack and Gwen's church in Winnipeg.

It's been a few years, since Brian and Brandy's wedding (the two bracketing
the group), that we've visited with the whole group in one place.

I think it's safe to say that Shauna was very happy to see everyone again (and
vice versa).

The next day, after another early morning breakfast (it really was 8 a.m. this time as Dan and Lisa had an early flight to catch) we went to see Michele's new condo on the bank of the Red River. We'd hadn't seen her new place yet and were very impressed with the 6th floor view.

A walking trail flanked by an ice skating path goes for miles and miles along
the river system. We walked north (I think) from here to the Forks and the
Museum of Human Rights. The Provencher Bridge is also visible, but on this
day it was only visible from this distance when the sun's rays hit it.

A design competition was held in Winnipeg this year to take submissions for designs of warming huts. On the day we walked on the river it was only about -5 C, but every once in a while the wind blew strong enough to make you remember that it's really the wind-chill that matters. On a windy day those warming huts would definitely live up to their name. I don't know which hut won the contest, but in my opinion it was definitely the golden Bison. Come to think of it, where else would one find a Golden Bison but in Winnipeg?

From a distance this one kinda reminds me of the Digital Orca gracing Olympic
Plaza in Vancouver, designed by Douglas Coupland. Or a mega-scale Lego kit.

In the belly of the bison. The design intention is for people to crawl under
the beast and climb up inside it. 

Here's another of my favourites that employs a mirror cloaking effect
rendering it almost invisible; pretty cool (pun intended).

The trail is a hit with dogs too. Check out his designer footwear.

Just chillin' in the 'Peg.

I haven't seen a conveyance so much in it's element since I saw one of these
balloon tire bikes on Chesterman Beach in Tofino.

Almost makes me wish I could ski (or skate). I'd certainly wouldn't miss out
on either sport if I lived in Winnipeg. 

White February

I'm starting to run out of wittisisms regarding this late Winter Vancouver snow. (shrug) When all else fails, post photos!

The ol' faithful Snow Drop snow photo op. It never fails to impress.

One has to admire to perseverance of Spring. It relentlessly claws skyward
despite the colour of the ground cover (in this case, white).

An iced canopy over a typical East Van side street (i.e., ours).

Cool Running

Central Park in Burnaby was le jog du jour this morning. The weather was actually more unpleasant than it looks in the photo; the typical Vancouver slush-snow. It was snowing crazy-big flakes ("pie plates", we used to call them when I was a kid) by 7 a.m. and texts were flying fast and furious with regional weather updates between our members' homes. But, "Persistent by nature..." we showed up, which as they say, is more than half the battle.

"The Persistent Pacers" as we've dubbed ourselves.

Leona, however, had to work this morning, and Chris and Jenn were even more keen than us in the core group as they are training for a marathon and thus started earlier than us and finished later.

Winter Sunset

This is the sunset that I witnessed from my deck on February 13. The intensity of the orange horizon can't fully be appreciated from this photo, but it's really the cloud formations that drew me in.

Who put the brrrr in (this) FeBRuary?

It’s a curious occurrence that Van Island Violet was still hibernating when her stage call beckoned on Groundhog Day. With this late onslaught of winter we’re left wondering what would she have predicted; early Spring or continuing Winter?

I checked the forecast on Feb. 13 as this was the evening when Shauna was returning from Quebec City. I was surprised to see a series of snowflake icons from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m., which I immediately captured in a screenshot.

It’s not too often in this region that you see snowdrops back-dropped with actual snow.

Metamorphosis

On my way home from Superstore the other day I was waiting at the corner of Fraser and Marine to turn left. As I waited in the turning lane my gaze drifted to the hotel complex at the northeast corner. I've lived up the hill from this establishment for years now and I've passed it frequently. Strangely enough, I've never been inside. Despite that, it's still got a bit of my family history in it, as far as I've been told, that is.

As the story goes, back in the early 60's my dad used to live in this neighbourhood too. He rented an apartment or a basement suite somewhere on the south slope off Fraser Street. He worked at one of the mills bordering the Fraser River. I've been told that it was common practice to be able to cash one's paycheque at one of several hotel bars in the area. What better way than to ensure that some (or a lot) of that money stayed in the bar. I've also been told that that's what my dad did at least sometimes on payday when he was young and single. That's been a very common thought in my head every time I pass this establishment; there's that place again where I'm pretty sure my dad cashed a cheque or two and had a few beers with his pals after work. Always reminds me a bit of that old TV show "Cheers".

So as I sat there waiting for the green arrow turn signal I realized that this may be one of my last opportunities to snap a photo of the old haunt in such bright, low-angle, winter sunshine. Just a couple of days ago in leafing through our local Courier newspaper, on the last page, was an ad for a new development at this corner. Turns out it's soon to be re-developed as "Fraser Commons", comprised of 363 City Homes (i.e., condos) with shops, daycare and a park. I've noticed recently that some sort of construction activity was taking place in the hotel, but I hadn't realized that it's probably de-commissioning work, probably haz-mat removal prior to demolition.

"...with homes starting at $439,900..." Wow, not exactly easily affordable, even
 in this corner of East Van.

In this new era of Vancouver densification I suppose it's inevitable that such a high profile corner as this finally shuffles its way up the queue. In only 16 years of my residency in this corner of Vancouver I've witnessed some pretty staggering changes. Fraser Street in general hasn't changed much, at least in overall appearance of the buildings. But the preponderance of major intersections to morph into city centres is certainly the trend du jour. Heading west along Marine Drive one can see the rise of south Cambie Street with its cluster of high-rises, now protecting a gold clone of a Vancouver icon, the ancient hollow tree from Stanley Park, a re-imagining created by Douglas Coupland. It's pretty cool I hafta admit.

The rise of South Cambie Village.

Can't exactly drive through this one.

Then head up Cambie to see the rise of another city centre at the King Ed subway station. Again, a pretty staggering change in density with almost all the old single family dwellings being replaced with mid-rise condos.

The climbing crane at a Cambie/ King Ed project was being dismantled
 today. I snapped this shot while waiting for the traffic light.

Shifting over one big block east to Main Street and heading north, just past the Biltmore Hotel (which surprisingly is still there), one can witness yet another explosion of vertical growth. The largest building, at the corner of Main and Kingsway, even has tree on the roof. Then there's the east side of False Creek that now features what I guess you'd call Phase 2 of the Olympic Village. It used to be the site of Intermeccanica, Burger King, a car lot and probably a few more businesses I've already forgotten.

I'm not saying I feel there's anything wrong with the changes; it actually makes sense to maximize density at mass transit hubs. It's just interesting to me to see how drastically my city has changed in the reasonably short time I've lived here. If I'd moved away 15 years ago and came back now there would be areas I would totally not recognize.

The only new "centre" that leaves me feeling a bit nostalgic is the old Fraser/Marine corner. I wonder if I'll still think of Dad every time I pass by.

Van Island Violet says...

Yesterday I came home at lunch time to take our dog for a walk. It's out of the ordinary, but Shauna's in Quebec City for the next 6 days chaperoning the annual grades 6 and 7 trip, and I've been putting in 11-hour days at the office trying to get out from under a report-writing rock. More of a boulder actually, but that's a whole other story...

A day or so before Shauna's trip we (meaning Shauna) were obsessing a bit over the forecasted Quebec City weather prior to her departure. Lotsa snow, potential delays in Toronto; how will teachers/ chaperones cope potentially trying to corral 30 (or 50? I can't remember the total) kids in the TO airport waiting for a re-scheduled connecting flight to QC. Shauna texted me yesterday to say they were indeed delayed in TO for about an hour and a half, but I haven't heard from her since. So I'm assuming, as they say, "No news is good news".

But my point was actually going to be a comparison of West versus East weather. Living in Vancouver, or at least in this small corner of the province anyway, is kinda like living in a whole different country from the rest of Canada when it comes to weather. This winter we've had one snow event which deposited a few inches on the ground for a week or so around Christmas...and that was it. On my lunch time walk with Tannah today (another 11-hour office day - don't ask) I encountered a flowering bush, and yesterday I photo-documented the first snow drop in our front yard! To plug an over-worn phrase, I do believe "Spring has sprung"!

The snow drops are here!

Tannah hasn't really developed an appreciation for Spring's blossoming
foliage, unless there are birds or squirrels involved.

I evicted the Poinsettia this week due to the green leaf slow-mo strip tease it's been performing for some time now. Despite the change it remained photogenic however, due to perfectly formed water droplets on its red leaves a couple of mornings ago. I may relent and bring it back inside for a few days as the mercury's supposed to dip below freezing overnights this weekend. Last year I managed to keep a Poinsettia alive and well outside until around Sept/Oct. I was beginning to think it'd see its 2nd Christmas. Nope; missed it by that much!


P.S. For groundhog aficionados, I just Googled to see if a BC groundhog existed, considering that similar rodents in the rest of the "real winter" regions of Canada and the US more or less formed a consensus to extend Winter 6 more weeks. Please be introduced to Van Island Violet (actually a Marmot). I haven't officially investigated her pronouncement, but based on budding evidence in my front yard, I think she'll heartily disagree with her compatriots. Coincidentally, Quebec's Fred la Marmotte predicts an early Spring.

Van Island Violet was reportedly still hibernating on Groundhog Day this year.