Lonsdale Quaytime

On a sunny day in North Vancouver, it's a nice little excursion to go to the Lonsdale Quay. We take the bus everywhere, which sometimes takes longer than one would like, but we can look out the window and eyeball all the unusual people that clamber on to ride along.



"From ski to sea" is one of Vancouver's bragging points. Obviously this boarder is heading for the slopes.



But we're heading for the waterfront. This is where the tug boats hang out. I love tug boats. Maybe because of some kids' story about one that I read when I was wee. These are the little tough guys that come and hustle the freighters out of the inlet that we see from my bedroom window at my mother's house.
The N.Van. waterfront is being revamped to house yet more glass-fronted unaffordable condos. Does nobody worry about the predicted earthquake/tsunami slated for the coast sometime between today and 200 years hence? Well, obviously not today.

Some people solve the problem of where to park their helicopter by parking it on their yacht. I've never seen yachts parked by the quay before. It's getting pretty toney around here. Maybe those glass buildings act as magnets for the flashily wealthy.
But the quay is mostly for ordinary folks. It has a large food market with fresh produce and varied take-out counters.
It's great to get some lunch and sit outside to eat it, like this fellow in the bright orange sneakers is doing. Just how sneaky can sneakers be when they're so bright, I wonder.

While shoppers roam the food courts and clothing boutiques inside, or rush to catch the sea bus to downtown Vancouver, others stop to admire the city view across the water, or sit and relax with a smoke, listening to a lone Peruvian playing the panpipes to a canned back-up band.

How sweet it is, life in Lotus Land. How sweet it is!