VAX to VAN to VEX

 Finally attended a mass vaccination clinic and got our second doses. Very reassuring but the pandemic is still with us. Stay safe out there...

The vax plus really low airfares plus we have put this trip off twice due to you-know-what, means that we could finally fly out to Vancouver, our favourite outdoors spot. (By the way, we had a Max8 and it's smoother, quieter, better airflow, and has bigger bins.) Glorious mountain ranges welcomed us back to the Canadian west coast. We're in an ideal location next to Stanley Park. Can you see Pat with the white towel? Can you see the captivating view of dawn from up there?

The West End neighbourhood is familiar and feels a bit like the Beach in Toronto. Flowering dogwood. Funky, retailed, take-out galore, and the walk  is from English Bay to Burrard Inlet   ------- Sea to Sea! High school grads and ducklings both starting out new lives --- who has a better chance of a good life? 

Can't keep a Gardener out of the patch, even if it's a 17th floor Aussie Sky Garden.

The vexing part is the daily record breaking heat dome over the Pacific north-west. Brutal 40+C temps for the whole week. Ironic that even our fridge would conk out in the heat! But the worst part is I am aching with a hip injury that makes it hard to walk far. Not good --- we came out here to hike on shore and in the mountains! Physio here we come...

HELLO DADS! FAREWELL SPRING...

 Two cosmic happenings today. Most personal is the tribute to my dad, from whom all my strengths come. Cool dude, eh? And then it's the last day of spring ----- a season that came and went quickly in this pandemic era. Glorious farthest-north sunrise brings hope, odd cloud formations mimic uncertainty.

Local wildlife carry on like it's just another day. Raccoons in the trees, monarchs on the purple cat mint, Cirque de Squirrel.

Snakes prowling in the pond. The fox wolfs down fish skin and leaves a marker --- that thing with a tail is not a mouse!

The Coast Guard channel tender Ridley glided into the bay. By chance I saw it in town ---- way bigger than you think. Some docking practice and then it ships out within 8 hours. No shore leave for the crew?!

Best way to honour our fathers is to work hard and with meaning. Pat honours Roy Draves by tending the pond with lifting and grit.

I never gave my dad flowers ---- not manly at the time, I guess. Now somehow it seems right to match my dad with today's exuberant spring colours. Here's to you, dad, with love.

Walter Wyszynski 1911-1985.

F WORDS

 Fur. The brazen black bear has smashed our feeder and others in the area. The feeder was taken down and we haven't seen Blackie since. The fox is another story ----- visiting often but looking skinny.

Fog. Heat wave + cold wave = rain and fog. The iconic point was shrouded, then sunny. Reminds of the "Long White Cloud": the Maori name for New Zealand.

Festive. For Birthday Week the daytrip was McGregor Point, known for distinct flora, winding trails, and awesome birding. A place to reflect when things seem upside down? The Other Guy got a much-needed homecut.

Freaky? Snakes by land and by sea...

Flowers. After bulbs and tree blossoms, the showy blooms burst like a fireworks finale. Not many bees around but what a pile of pollen. Tiny wild strawberries glow red like a traffic light saying "Stop and look at me too..."

Flutter. Butterflies have arrived but only in small numbers so far. Monarchs here, swallowtails there.

Free. Our annual Free Pile got rid of a lot of stuff. Here's the "Before" picture. What got snapped up first?