Saturday, October 3, 2009

Greetings from the West

A friendly, though somewhat surprised, face greets me at the Vancouver airport.

Rear view from the new Canada Line which whisks me (stirred, not shaken) to my downtown bus connection.


Next morning, opening my bedroom curtains to a familiar view.

The sun is shining on the west coast. All is swell!

23 comments:

  1. Let me guess, the crow whose back you rode on across several thousand miles of continent dropped you at the airport ? I thought you were driving across in that big bus-like mobile home pictured below, and that we were going to see a trans-canadian odyssey unfold... over a few days... but looks like you got there faster... well, have a great time in Vancouver, or wherever you may be out there ! And that reminds me, maybe you could track down Jo at a Majority of Two... have you seen her blog ? If not, take a peek, she always has something interesting to say...

    http://majorityoftwo.blogspot.com/

    And from Vancouver, it's just a few skips of a stone across the water to New Zealand...

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  2. It looks beautiful there
    enjoy your time :)

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  3. yeah, I know. Saj and I are practically neighbours. As for the mobile home...well, it was only borrowed for the virtual touring pleasure of my blogpals. I had to return it.

    I'm in North Vancouver. Rain forest land. There's a park near by that I love. Pictures will be posted.

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  4. Hi Anya, It is beautiful here! Mountains, cedar trees, water view, park + rocky beach, plus all the amenities of city life. No kitty, though. :-(

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  5. PS-Owen: as you may have deduced from my comment on your own blog, I could not possibly have driven and blogged at the same time. Lives have been saved, man. Lives have been saved. She lives to blog another day!

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  6. Oh, it's beautiful! Is that the Columbia River? And the totem pole! What an expression on his face!
    Have a good time and send plenty of posts! LOVE xxox

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  8. Many times emptyness makes things usable, such as a glass or a window. Looking through your window, made me pretty breathless, as I assume one will easily be able to spend hours, days, lifes, sitting in front of it...what a sight! Allow me to say that I am happy for you to have such a view.

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  9. Yes, Robert, I'm blessed to have this view,if only for awhile. There was a magnificent full moon rising over the mountain tonight and a boat sailing through the moonlight cast upon the water.
    As you say, breath-taking. This is the house where I spent the last years of my teens. I'm here visiting my mother.

    I hope you've enjoyed a fine weekend with pleasant views of your own.

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  10. will the Lanshark fit in the garage if I flat the tires and roll in there on the rims? Not planning on staying too overly long... really.

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  11. Landsharker: The weather's good so I suggest you park in the driveway just in front of the garage and then set up a sort of hillbilly camp inside the garage. Bring your chainsaw. Plus some old tires for making a fire.

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  12. Hi Margaret, I almost missed your comments! The water you see in the view from my bedroom window is part of the Indian Arm, off Burrard Inlet, off the Pacific Ocean! Am "hard at work" amassing lots of photos to send back.

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  13. What a wonderful view and I'm still giggling about your 'shaken but not stirred' - funny!
    I'll put the wine in the fridge incase you drop by...

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  14. Hey Saj! There you are; so happy to see you. I'll bring some smoked salmon to have with the wine.

    That view is from my former bedroom window. There used to be a massive cedar tree out there. It was so big you couldn't even see the water. My mother had it cut down a few years ago and it opened up a whole new world!

    I might be a bit late getting in, so don't wait up for me.

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  15. Nice to be welcomed by Sonoqua. Will you give her competition as the Wild Woman of the Woods during your stay?

    As a student did you ever study Emily Carr's Guyasdoms D'Sonoqua at the Vancouver art Gallery?

    WV "compleut" - A conspiracy on a rainy day in France.

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  16. FCW: Go here

    http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/story.html?id=1890252#

    to see the real story behind the totem created for the YVR station on the Canada Line. It was executed by my favourite contemporary native artist, Susan Point. Her early work was inspired by spindle whorls, used for spinning wool, which always had a round hole in the centre so the mouths of her faces were always open in a surprised "Oh" sort of way.

    As a kid, Emily Carr's work was the first real art exhibit that I was exposed to--in fact, my first trip to an art gallery--when our class was taken to the VAG on a field trip. It was a revelation; a journey into a magical world.

    I will take your words for inspiration and do my best to become a Wild Woman of the Woods of (nearby) Cates Park during my sojourn here!

    Plus I'll probably go take a nostalgic walk through Emily's art at the VAG.

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  17. Speaking of nostalgia, I remember taking a steamboat ride to Wigwam Inn in the 1950's. Does that still happen?

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  18. How did you know that I ADORE smoked salmon?? This is freaky...as fort eh tree, did you used to sneak out via the window, shimmy down the tree and off out into the night? or were you a wee angel like me?

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  19. FCW: The Wigwam Inn is no more but there are still "booze cruises" out on the water, sailing up Indian Arm on the weekends. An old paddle boat still plies the waters in the summer time, which is always fun to see. And then, of course, there are the carol ships every Christmas season, all it up, blasting tinny sounding carols across the water.

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  20. Saj, We must be kindred spirits! And what could be better with chilled white wine than some BC smoked salmon?!

    I was, in fact, rather an angel in my youth. Although I did sneak out the den window once or twice with my friends when they were staying over. When I lived here, the cedar tree was not yet as high as my bedroom window.

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  21. FCW: Wigwam Inn alive and well! The rumour of its untimely demise was the result of that nasty "compleut" you mentioned that originated in Maillardville!

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  22. Hello Lou

    what a wonderful view to wake up to.
    The images of your family home town are lovely - so peaceful and calm on the water...

    Happy days

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