Where the Birds Are Not

Recently went for a walk around the Maplewood Flats Bird Sanctuary in North Vancouver, but all our fine-feathered friends must have been out taking advantage of Boxing Week Sales.

While there were a few basic birdhouses built to entice various species, there were other sorts of housing on view as well...

Wouldn't you love to have a waterside house on stilts to call your own?
In this area, a few decades ago, squatters took advantage of the uninhabited mudflats until the "authorities" moved in and burned them all out in the late 1960s.

Here at Maplewood, Vancouver artist  Ken Lum has since recreated a miniature version of some of the shacks that graced the mudflats. (Mud flats, as it were.)

I think this split-level would do me nicely.

Of course, if it was life-size the purchase price would be in the millions.

When you put it in black and white like that, it sort of turns one's concept of "affordable housing" on its head! 

(photo turned to B&W then flipped; the whole thing is a reflection in the pond).

Gives one much to reflect on...

and deeply ponder.

Abandoned

There is an abandoned house in our village.  It has been gradually decaying since we moved here 20 years ago.  At the beginning, we had many dreams about what we might do with it. 

But now, all we dream of is that it fall down under the weight of snow and wind in the near future.

It does, nevertheless, provide me with images that are fun to experiment with...

some of which I might even describe as haunting...

Dream a Little Dream

©L. Ciacco, Hut in Calabria, 2007

Maybe I'll disappear into my little dream hut, live on cheese and wine to invoke some visions, and not emerge until it's spring

imMobile Homes

What's your take on this sort of rustic building?

Quaint?  Countrified?  Charming?  Neglected?  Atmospheric?  Ramshackled?




Somebody's dream house? 








Let's stand back to get the big picture...

If we could jack this baby up and slide some sort of axle between the wheels (assuming there's a matching set on the other side), we could have ourselves a genuine mobile home! 

This one, on the other hand, is more of the downwardly mobile variety, wouldn't you say?

Let's Get Outta Here Awhile

Whaddya say we just hop in the truck and take a ride back a couple of summers ago, over to the island...

Prince Edward Island, that is.

This looks like a good route, lined with post-modern windmills...

Or we could stick to the more traditional telephone poles route...

So many choices...Sesame Street ... 

 

or Stompin'Tom Road?  Well, being as how Stompin Tom's an island character, let's stick with the theme...

 

My intuition paid off:  Look at this charming dream house just waiting for us here!

While I try to locate the owner of that dreamy property, why don't you  take a little walk down to the shore for a good look at the ocean.

If you look really hard, you might see the Confederation Bridge that we took to get to the Island.  It's free to come over here, but you have to pay to leave.  Maybe we should just stay?

Here's a fine piece of Canadiana by the incomparable Stompin' Tom.  Sing along on the chorus, why dontcha?  Be sure to stay all the way to the surprise ending!

Barnyard Blues & Postcards Home

I took a picture of our friend's old barn this afternoon.  It was sort of pretty, sitting there in a yard full of snow.  Yes, snow.  Still snow.  Always and evermore snow, it would seem.  Unlike in some places:

Vancouver, BC from whence my mother sent me a picture of the gardenia blooming in her garden

Christchurch, NZ where the Sagittarian is enjoying limes from her hot house

Nashville, TN where if the weather isn't always hot, the food certainly is

Not to mention certain other people I know of who have been lolling about on a south seas isle.

Well, here on the winterbit eastern Canadian coast, I do what I can to warm things up, adding a bit of colour however I might to a chilly clime bereft of cheery hues.

If you'd like to see 2 other Photoshopped versions of this picture, head over to Ragzedge.

One Light Left in Heaven

We pass this house on the drive to town.  Until about 2 years ago, there was still someone living here, and the place wasn't in much better shape at that time.  At night, through the darkness, we'd see a stark, bare lightbulb shining feebly but defiantly through a downstairs window. 

Recently, I heard a song that I fell in love with and I think it makes a touching story to go with this picture. 

"You know I'll wait here for you

I'll wait here for you

No matter where you go

Or what you put me through

And I have walked this floor for hours and hours

Underneath the moon

And I am slowly disappearing here

Just a ghost that's shining through

And I don't know if you'll come back to me

Or if I want you to

I'll be waiting for you"

From"One Light Left in Heaven"

written by Jim Cuddy & Blue Rodeo

Raise High the Roof Beams

While out driving around with my sister, I asked her to swing past the twin-spired church on the Squamish Nation reserve. She admitted that in all the years that she had lived in North Vancouver, and she had lived here longer than I, she had never been past this church. If I had been a more brazen soul, I would have at least tried the doors to see if I might gain entry. But I felt a bit obvious and rather like an intruder, so I merely snapped this photo. My brother later told me that had I gone inside, I would have been treated to a view of an original Emily Carr painting. I knew she had drawn and/or painted this church, which was the main reason I wanted to get a better look at it. I can't find a reproduction of that particular piece of art work on the web, though, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Continuing on our drive down unexplored avenues, I noticed this old house being raised to the skies, trying to keep up with its neighbours, perhaps.

It's a gorgeous old thing, perhaps even dating from the time that Emily was alive. It's hard to believe that it's actually being preserved-- at least that's what I think they're doing. Meanwhile, a pigeon is enjoying the view from the top.

To Let

I have had some enquiries about the habitability of our Raccoon Hotel. In the spirit of full disclosure, here is a photo of the back entrance/kitchen/living area. I find the combination of designer colours and collage-like textures particularly inviting.

In fact, I think it compares favourably with this fine example of Italian outdoor plumbing that I came across in Calabria.