Coast Mountains and some thoughts

Saturday afternoon, late before the sunset, I was up on Burnaby Mountain north of where I live to take in the view of the snow-capped mountains to the north.  The photo above is just one of a series taken that afternoon. The scene here looks out toward the mountains from the north side of Burnaby Mountain.  The boats in the bottom of the photo are heading up Indian Arm.  There were a number of boats out that afternoon, including a sailboat.

The temperatures have gotten warmer and are around 10 degrees Celsius at the moment.  The rain is back but there are plenty of signs of spring around.  Crocuses, spring heathers,  forsythias and other spring flowers and shrubs are in bloom now, even the first magnolias.

At work, I have someone working with me into the second week and we get along great.  He's a Gemini, like Brad, and he loves it where he's working now.  If you don't know, I'm a Leo!  It made me think of what it would be like working with Brad.  That was one of the original plans, and I'd see to it happening if he's still interested and up to it.  With a year or two here he'd be a changed man with a broader, deeper understanding of life and what its all about.  It would be awesome to have a hiking companion too!

Well, I'm going to have a quick shower and then head off to bed.  Its nearing 10:30 pm and the morning comes fast enough.  Have a good night, or good day, guys!

~ Volker

the mountains and other stuff

On the way in to work this morning I noticed that the nearby mountains, the Coast Mountains on the north side of Burrard Inlet, have received a good dusting of fresh snow. The sun was out in all its brilliance and the sky was a clear blue. It was a beautiful setting to see the mountains in an otherwise green landscape. Surprisingly there is still plenty of autumn colour to be seen here in British Columbia's the lower mainland despite it being well into the second week of November.

Its Remembrance Day tomorrow, Thursday, a day to remember the armed forces Veterans on the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. As honourable this is, WWI was to be the war that ended all wars and here we are still fighting each other in various parts of the world. If we removed greed for money and power plus avarice from the picture, and allowed people to live their lives in peace we'd have a much greater world but the reality is that people are no different than countries: they get in each other's business! Instead we have unrest and war over resources, water and who knows what else. I think you get the picture.

You've probably heard it before but often we have to learn the hard way as opposed to the easy way. When mankind is totally sick of it and fighting and gets back to its senses, we'll have an end to war! Meantime, it continues with the next world bully stirring the pot to foment more of the same as if we've learned nothing at all from the last two world wars! That's enough on that subject and we'll move to something more positive.

So it looks like rain on Thursday, so I'll likely get some laundry out of the way and do other work that needs doing around the apartment, like cleaning the kitchen and bath! The reason why I have a day off work is because where I work is a financial institution and all of them are closed on statutory holidays, which is what Remembrance Day is classed as. So what are you doing that day?

The Italian Stone Pine I bought the other week is doing quite well. I even can see some beads of resin oozing out on some of the branches on the crown. The plan is to re-pot it in the spring something that needs doing with a number of other plans in the apartment. The pine will spend most of its time out on the balcony and only be in the apartment for Christmastime! The poinsettia that I bought last Christmas is also doing quite well and is the longest I've had one live past the holiday season and here we are closing in on another Christmas. Hope things are well! - V

Belcarra and Sasamat Lake

Today I finally got away to hike northwest of Port Moody. I ended up taking the C26 bus to Belcarra and then starting the Springboard Trail from there which took me eastward to the Woodhaven Swamp after which I joined the Woodhaven Trail to Sasamat Lake. From the end of Woodhaven Trail I took part of the Sasamat Lake Trail on the west side of that lake back to the Bedwell Bay Road where I eventually caught the C26 bus back to Port Moody. I'll have photos once they've been uploaded and edited plus more commentary to go with the pics.

Sunday, its off to Vancouver's West End for a haircut and a walk along the seawall afterwards. Then its some grocery shopping before returning home. The work week starts at 5 am Monday when I get up to start the new week. Enjoy your Sunday regardless how you plan to spend it! - V