view at Burnaby Mountain

This past Sunday I went up to Burnaby Mountain in the hopes of taking some photos of the autumn colour but it hasn't progressed as far as other places lower in elevation. The photo above shows alder trees along a road near Simon Fraser University. When they are in colour, they'll be a bright yellow which looks awesome with the sun shining through in the background.
The ferns and moss add to the greenery still present in the area.
The image above looks at the mountains on the northside of Burrard Inlet opposite Burnaby Mountain and the photo below shows the Eagle Mountain area where I had been hiking from the middle to late summer. Eagle Bluff is in the centre of that photo.
Above we look north up Indian Arm opposite Burnaby Mountain. Below is the Western Pearly Everlasting gone to seed way past its beauty of the summer past. You can literally see autumn in the air! There is some colour on the mountain but I suspect more will be had in a week or two. I'll have more photos then, at least that's the plan. Meantime, enjoy these photos!!! - V

star and heart

This afternoon while up on Burnaby Mountain to check out the autumn colour I saw this star and heart near the bottom of a cistern. I first saw it a couple of summers ago and it always makes me think of Brad. The colour is just starting. It'll need another week or two before its better. I'll post some more photos soon. Meantime, enjoy this one! - V

coming turbulence

Someone I know has gone off to Mexico for a week's vacation. Little does she know that a hurricane is racing its way toward her location, Puerto Vallarta. It'll be a category 4 storm by the time it hits the coast where she's at. Such timing, such bad luck! Currently its calm but it will change, and change it will.

Meantime, here on Canada's west coast in the Vancouver area its raining and will be most of the week. If we're lucky, we may see some sunshine but that won't be until the end of the week. She's not missing much in any case.

So, how's your week starting off? Regardless of how it is or what's coming your way, make the best of it! - V

autumn colours

The autumn colours out here on the west coast vary each year depending upon the temperatures. Back east in southwestern Ontario warm days and cool, even frosty nights helped bring out the colour but here the natural vegetation will likely get you plenty of browns and tans rather than the brilliant oranges, yellows or reds like back east. Occasionally we get to see such brilliant colour but the trees tend not to be native to the region and instead are native to other regions, such as eastern North America or Japan. The photo above is one I took in early October 2008. Regardless, we do take the time to enjoy, so enjoy what your autumn season brings you! - V

Halloween or Solstice?

With Canada's Thanksgiving soon behind us, the end of October and Halloween will soon be upon us. These photos are from a series of images I took back in October 2009. Obviously the stone circle gets used because there was a remains of a fire within the circle. Just use your imagination and let it run free! - V

hot

Is it hot here or what? Autumn also mean the harvest and usually guys doing this have some well-developed muscles. I've done work like this, so I know! Have a great Thanksgiving Day! - V

Canada's Thanksgiving Day!

In honour of the season here's a photo I took on the western end of Burnaby Mountain in October 2009 with the cherry trees in colour. This scene is of the walkway from the Horizon Restaurant. If time permits, I may go up there this weekend to check out any colour present, and I know there's some since I've seen it from the SkyTrain on my way to work over the past week. Take the time to see the sights and listen to the sounds of the season. Enjoy! By the way, its the Thanksgiving weekend but the actual statutory holiday is on Monday. Enjoy your weekend!!! - V

autumn and Thanksgiving

So, in honour of the season here's a guy wearing one of the colours represented by the falling leaves. Have an awesome weekend! - V

autumn

Its truly autumn now. Its cool outside, especially once evening comes. I'm heading off to bed very soon. Its cool enough in the apartment to have to put an extra blanket on the bed. There's no heat here until later. If it gets colder later (and especially when there's snow), the heating system can barely keep up in keeping the place warm enough. That's what I truly miss from back east in southwestern Ontario, a warm apartment, sometimes so warm you have to open a window to cool the place down. But I'll make due as always..I have enough blankets! Have a good night! -

autumn grasses and turbulent clouds

Yesterday (Saturday) on returning home from grocery shopping I stopped to take a few photos which included the autumn grasses with their fall colours and the turbulent clouds in the sky above. A storm was brewing but it didn't amount to much in the end. These photos were taken near the Canada Pools building and the Justice Institute of BC in New Westminster. Enjoy! - V

flowers

I bought three of these plants last autumn and kept them going through the winter after I had cut them back. These mums are flowering in the dining room window despite it being spring and not at all time for mums! - V

weekend

The weekend is finally here but it started with a bang in a manner of speaking. Yesterday evening, when it was time to leave work, it was pouring rain mixed with ice pellets. I kept saying it could snow and the guard that had relieved me kept saying, "don't say that!" All of this was on my mind as I was humming the Andrew Sisters rendition of "Jingle Bells" as the mix of rain and hail came down. Everytime I mentioned the "snow" word I would hear, "Don't say that!"

Well, I was off without unpacking my umbrella. That would wait until I reach the station I was to catch the bus at. I joined someone on the homeward trip on the SkyTrain. We were chatting as the storm continued unabaited outside. There was a flash of lightning as we stopped at another station and then thunder. While chatting we both relayed our stories about lightning, including my comment about the thought back east where the chance of getting struck by lightning was better than winning the lottery. Then on our way again there was another bolt of lightning and loud thunder. That's when I learned that she was afraid of lightning and switched to another seat across from me, so that she wouldn't have to see the lightning!

She mentioned that people get killed by lightining and then I'm thinking to myself, "how does moving away so as not to see the lightning change anything?" Lightning is still going to do what it's going to do! I'm not much for irrational fears but on the otherhand, if it's our time to go and our number is up, then so be it. There's no sense in fearing the end (death) since we're all going to experience it at one point or another. It's as much a fact of life as birth is!

Then another flash and clap of thunder followed with more rain and hail. I got my bus and was home soon enough. The rain continued into the night and was still pouring as I went to bed around 11 pm.

It's now early afternoon Saturday. The sky is dull and overcast with light rain falling which doesn't seem surprising at all since most of November has been like this: dull, grey overcast with rain, and lots of it!

This afternoon I plan to take the SkyTrain over to Metrotown in south Burnaby to get some grocery shopping done before returning home to get some laundry done. Mundane stuff, yes, but it all needs to be done and out of the way. After that, it's more time at the computer. I may even take some time to scan some photos and see how they turn out. A few of the good ones will be posted if all turns out okay. That's the plan anyway. More later! - V.

ditto

While at work today, I took the time to check on the long range weather forecast. If there's something that is common through the rest of the month, that's rain. So like the last post, it's rain, rain and more rain. As depressing as all this sounds, all is not lost. As the temperature drops toward the end of the month, it's likely the rain will stop and we may see some more sunshine but also some snow. The latter is good for the skiers who are starting to get some in the mountains.

This morning we had a bit of a tease. There was a large area of clear, more or less cloudless sky overhead in Vancouver but that didn't last by late morning all that was replaced by a dark cloud cover and ice pellets for a time soon replaced by rain. The clear spot in the sky had moved east toward Metrotown while all around this opening, dark clouds could be seen and white pellets dropping down from them.

As I write, it's raining rather steadily with no sign of letting up. The long range forecast has rain everyday with the possibility of some sun next Tuesday but we all know that can change long before then. But when the sun does appear, people will be out in droves as is normal in these parts, especially after long periods of dark, gloomy weather.

While on the subject of the weather, I was checking out the status of the current climate change we are going through on a global scale. The Greenland icecap is melting at an alarming rate adding the equivalent of 0.75 mm (0.03 inch) to the world sea level each year for the period from 2006-2008, which is up from the period 2000-2008 when it was at a rate of 0.46 mm. This information was in a report authored by Michiel van den Broeke, of Utrecht University. The report was contained in a study published in the journal Science.

Not only is the Greenland icecap melting but there are great changes in other areas of the Arctic, such as the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The same goes for the Antarctic in the southern part of the globe. I'll present more on this subject on my companion blog, Haliaeetus, but this will have to wait until atleast the weekend when more time is available.

Meantime, remember, changes are not all bad news but also present new possibilities, new challenges, new scenarios for learning about the globe, how weather works and our effects on the entire weather system. We don't life in isolation, so our industrialisation has had to have changed the weather patterns to a great extent over the last few hundred years. How much this has contributed to a natural cycle we will soon find out as the world temperatures go up and ocean levels rise! - V.

rain, rain and more rain

That pretty well describes the month of November so far, rain and lots of it. Once autumn arrives it's a given here on the west coast that the rain will come as well. When it's nice, it's really nice but the reverse is true about the colder, wetter months of the year. Some days we have been teased by the sun as it tried to poke its way through the cloud cover and other days we've not fared as well. There have been the odd day where the sun has made a more prominent display but for the main it's been overcast and rainy.

With all this rain there upper elevations are getting a dusting of snow and a fair bit in places. I noticed back in October where the mountains, particularly in the interior away from the coast, has a good dusting of the white stuff. This should make the skiers happy for sure!

So, as I get ready to head out to work on yet another day of overcast, dull, rainy weather, have a great day where ever you are and keep that sunny disposition inside even if the weather outside is otherwise! - V.

Burnaby Mountain in October

This past Saturday I spent a few hours having a look at the autumn colouur on Burnaby Mountain, especially the western end of the mountain. These are just a small sample of photos I took that afternoon. If you go to my sister blog, Haliaeetus, you will be able to see a lot more of them and other photos as well. To start off with the sun shining through the trees along University Drive near the Simon Fraser University (SFU) campus caught my eye. I did check it out from the other side but that proved not to be anything special.

Bikes are common around here and so is the grade in the road. It can get a lot steeper than the sign above may indicate. After all the rain we had recently, I there were lots of mushrooms growing about if you looked carefully, such as this clump of fungi growing in a crack in a sawed off portion of a tree. Then the photo below that shows a peak of Burrard Inlet looking through the trees along the path to the cherry grove, rose garden and restaurant.

Each year the colour of the leaves is a bit different on these cherry trees. One year they were more coppery in colour. I guess it has a lot to do with the temperature differences between day and night. Back east where I lived most of my life, autumns can be warm during the day and then frosty at night bringing out some very spectacular colour in the maples, like bright yellows, oranges and brilliant reds. Here though, I've found colours to be a lot more subtle with the odd punch here and there.

The image above looks north into Indian Arm at Burrard Inlet north of the Burnaby Mountain. The upper reaches of this waterway disappear in the cloud and mist that is common this time of year. The photo below shows a close-up of the oil tanker in the above image. Yes, there is a refinery on the shores of Burrard Inlet. The storage tanks for the oil are on the south side of the mountain. More on all that later.

The autumn colour was evident on the western end of Burnaby Mountain from where the restaurant is located on south. The large shrub in the photo above is located to the north-northwest of the Horizon Restaurant and below a very large beech tree. Below is a close-up shot of its reddish-coloured leaves. There are more trees and shrubs further south with yellows or muted reds from cherry trees to maples, and since the mountain is a remnant from the period where an ice sheet once covered North America, there are rocks and boulders strewn along here and there. You can see them in various photos. There is even a circle of rocks with what looks like remains from a fire, likely a celebration of the autumn equinox! What do you think?

The view of a walkway through part of the cherry grove and leading south away from the restaurant. Below is another cherry tree in colour along the way back to the Tran-Canada Trail.

A circle of rocks with the remains of a recent fire and we weren't invited to the celebration of the autumn equinox? Well, perhaps this will happen next year.

The rocks and boulders remain from the ice age and add a nice touch to the landscape, don't you think? They certainly are a lovely added feature to these photos!

And finally, the view above looks west-northwest from the western end of the mountain. In the foreground is nearby Capitol Hill with Stanley Park in the middle background and the North Shore further back. You can see a bit of the Lions Gate Bridge on the right. The landscape in the distance disappears in mist. This area is part of a temperate rainforest. Below is a close-up shot of some maple leaves in various shades and colours. I hope you've enjoyed the journey and the photos! - V.

Thanksgiving

Today being Thanksgiving Day, a statutory holiday here in Canada, I had accepted a shift to work the day from 8 am till 4 pm but since it was a holiday, it meant that the buses were running on a Sunday schedule (which also applies to holidays). This meant walking to the SkyTrain station as opposed to taking the bus since those started later than the trains.

So, I left home at 6:20 am heading south along a major thoroughfare. As I walked briskly, I noticed the light frost on the ground. The grass and the cars were coated with the white stuff, a true sign that autumn was here! Then as I walked along southward, I noticed the quarter moon high in the dark sky. Dawn and the rising sun is later and later as the weeks progress toward Christmas! The moon was at about 85 degrees above the southern horizon and to the south of it were streaks of clouds in parallel as if sprayed by an invisible hand in the night sky. The odd bright star could be seen, those that weren't blotted out by the bright city lights.

As I neared a turn before heading westward, I could see the sky brightening off to the east-southeast, the dark giving way to a lighter blue shade along with rose! The sun rises further south as we near winter. Once winter arrives, the sun is rising from behind the Cascade Mountains near Mount Baker, a volcano in the state of Washington to the south, while during the summer months it is rising from behind the Coast Mountains north of the Fraser River. This means it is rising in the east-northeast but I digress!

So I got to the station, and while waiting for the gates to open, observed a flock of ducks flying eastward over the Fraser River near Columbia station. The southeastern sky continued to brighten as 7 am approached. The rose colour became more obvious and the light chased away the darkness. Then the gates opened shortly after 7 am and I was off on a packed train with others heading to work or to where ever their day's activities would take them.

My day went quick and was over in no time. Well, it certainly seemed that way. Rather than sitting behind a desk all day, I was off doing rounds through the building. This made time fly and before I knew it, it was time to head for home.

Despite it being Thanksgiving, I opted against having any turkey, which is traditional here (as well as during Christmas), and had some sandwiches, nothing particularly fancy, but some with cheese with jalapanos, some with garlic sausage, and later after the hot Italian sausage was ready, I had a couple of those with some hot sausages left over for tomorrow. Now I'm sipping some white wine, some Viognier from the Pays d'Oc in the south of France to be exact, Hugues de Juste 2007. Hugues de Juste by the way was a chevalier cathare (cathar knight) born in 1211 AD and who died in 1244. But I'm digressing once again.

So, as it's getting late and I'm about to head off to bed (5 am comes early), how was your Thanksgiving Day? Care to share your story??? - V.

water

Summer may be behind us but there is still a lot of nice weather ahead of us to enjoy now that we're in autumn. There is something about water that we find soothing, whether it a fountain, a babbling brook or the waves at the seashore. Here are some shots I took along the seawall at Stanley Park in Vancouver during the last weekend of September. You're viewing English Bay. The rainy days of fall will soon be upon us but it's nothing like a sunny day to bring out people to enjoy the fine weather. That could mean sailing on the bay, walking their dogs, having a run or just enjoying a leisurely stroll along the water. Enjoy the photos!!! - V.

more on Philip Fusco

It's nearing noon Sunday, and before I head out into town for the afternoon, I post this. This post is not only about Philip Fusco, model, but also about summer, something we remember from the not too distant past. What better way to illustrate some of those memories than with photos of Philip taken by photographer Michael Thomas. What better way to help show off Philip's physique than some hot swimwear and to bring back those memories. I hope you enjoyed your summer and took advantage of all the wonders it had to offer. And for those in the southern hemisphere, your summer is not that far off. Make the best of it and enjoy each and every day! Now we are into autumn here in the northern hemisphere which has its own wonders, as all seasons do. I'm certainly going to make the most of it. Enjoy yours!!! - V.

colours

Autumn is here for certain with cooler daytime temperatures and even much cooler nights. It averages in the mid-teens (Celsius) during the day and near the upper single didgets during the night. It's expected to be sunny again this weekend but we'll see. Currently it's been raining but we need some of that too. This past weekend was very pleasant t-shirt type weather. With the cooler nights we are seeing a lot of fall colour in the area. These photos were taken Sunday. The first photo isn't of the autumn colour but I really do like the colour and design of the highrise condo on West Pender Street in Vancouver.

The rest of the pics show the emerging fall colour along West Georgia Street (Vancouver) as I walk closer to Stanley Park. Then the last photo shows the colour as I near the park with the Coast Mountains in the background! Take a look around you and take the time to enjoy the scenery!!! - V.