winter is nearing but...

Although winter is nearing we haven't seen any snow on the ground here in the valley, well, anything that's going to stay that is.  This is how Queens Park looked like after a snowfall but this was a couple of years ago.  The best we can do now is a few frosty nights.  Well, we know Jack Frost has been busy!  The mountains on the other hand have had plenty of snow.

Friday evening after work I stopped by the pharmacy in downtown Vancouver to pick up the rest of my meds. Then it was a quick stop at Chapters before starting the homeward journey.  On the train I saw this cute blond-haired guy with green eyes sitting in the opposite row of seats, you know, a dark brown leather jacket, blue denim jeans and the hair swept forward.  I got off at Sapperton station to head over to the grocery store and he stayed on likely heading over to Lougheed station like a lot of other hotties!

Today has been spent taking it easy, not doing anything especially straining or stressful.  I bought another small tree to dress the dining room table for the season, a cypress with a lighter green foliage than the one I have had for a couple of years.  I once had an Italian cypress tree that was bought as a small 8 inch tree in 2000.  It had blue-green foliage and was re-potted twice before I sold the house and left it with the new owners.  I would leave the tree outside from early spring until late autumn (usually October) and then bring it inside for the winter to spent its time in the front bay window.  It was around 3 feet tall when I gave it away, like I did with my other plants, though I should have given some of them to my cousin, as I later found out.  He and his wife would have appreciated them.

So, how's your weekend been? - 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.

Surreal

Heading out to work in the morning is usually uneventful and dull but this morning (Friday) as the bus drove east toward the SkyTrain station, I could see that the Fraser River was covered in a fog with the sun just starting to peek above the clouds and the Cascade Mountains to the east. Once I was on the train and we were past New Westminster station, the surreal nature of the fog became very apparent. The Fraser River had a fog hanging over it which spilled over to the land to the east. Between New Westminster station and 2nd Street station highrise condos on land and barge cranes on the water poked through the low-hanging cloudcover. Off to the east and low on the horizon the sun shon like a beacon over this surreal display and off to the south-east Mount Baker, a volcano, rose above all the clouds and mist to add its bit to the scene.

As the train continued on toward Vancouver from 22nd Street, frost was noticed on the roof tops of houses and off to the south the city of Richmond, much of it just above sea level, had both mist and frost as far as the eye could see. Smoke and exhaust stacks sent their contents high into the sky. If you looked carefully, you could see the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state plus the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island in British Columbia off in the distance.

After Metrotown station the train usually fills up rather quickly. At Joyce station the people would just file in like lemmings. This morning I don't know how many times my toes were stepped on but enough times or pressed toward the wall near the entrance to the train, one of three on each side of each car. Its almost necessary to wear body armour to keep from getting injured. Some would push their way in eventhough there was little free room. Then Broadway station was another similar scene as it is most days. Then the doors had trouble closing, so SkyTrain staff advised passengers to assist closing the doors that were having trouble closing. The trains are driverless you know! However, the train finally got to its destination in Vancouver where I got off to make the short walk to work.

This brings to mind that I miss having someone with me on these treks on the train. Of those times when I was squeezed in amongst people, I didn't mind sharing space with a cute guy, if you know what I mean. This would have me thinking of Brad, of course. He would love sharing the ride with me, I'm sure. The odd occasion a guy would rest his back against my chest or an arm would stretch over my shoulder while he would hang on to the pole behind me.

The oddest scene was a short woman, likely southern European, in a crowded train facing me and pushing her hands against my chest to keep her balance, all the while laughing nervously. This has happen in the past and happened again a couple of days ago. Or the case where I stood near the door and crowded in as usual only to hear a woman behind me say "excuse me" when the train hadn't stopped yet and therefore the doors still closed. I had turned around, look her straight in the eyes and said, "I'll move when the doors open!" or something to that effect. When they did open, people spilled out and another woman thanked me for saying what I did. I guess it had to be said to remind these people lacking common sense. We all have our days, so I guess this person had hers!

Meantime, with all this aside, I am still waiting for Brad to arrive. I do hope he hasn't gotten lost of something. He's a lot better at navigating at sea than on land, so I promissed to take care of navigating on land when we travel and leave the water navigation to him. That way none of us will ever get lost and we benefit from each others strengths. Something to look forward to, don't you think? Mostlikely, though, I think he may have stopped at a number of locations along the way and is having too much fun!

Well, it is late and time for bed, so I'll close this post for now. Have a great weekend and keep coming back for more commentary and photos! - Volker