More Raw Journal: 23 vi 06
23 vi 06
up at 6; checked out by 7:15 – no breakfast: café closed.
Made tea, talked with woman from Gloucester, England, then left and walked toward Spanish Banks. Low tide.
Vancouver sleeps in late.
Sand on beach I suspect may be artificial for humans’s pleasure.
9 a.m. I leave the beach proper for the walking path – thrushes heard from the shore called me.
Telephoto lens had proved its worth.
Wonderful shot of a sign "ROCKS" to warn swimmers at high tide
Hawkseye and wild oats strong smell of skunk:
Spotted? Striped? Roadkilled?
Spanish Bank Creek was restored in 2000 to provide spawning for Coho and Chub –
"Please help ensure the success of this project by keeping dogs and children out of the stream. Logs brush trees and shrubs have been placed to provide protection for young fish."
Walking "Admiralty" trail in Pacific Spirit Regional Park. Another walker with a dog commented "don’t often see a fully backpacked walker" – he recommended leaving Admiralty at the next stop (in environmentally sensitive area by creek) and walking on beach. But I have been on the beach and want to see more of the trail. Canadians are helpful and friendly as a whole and B-P [Lord Baden-Powell, founder of Boy Scouting and author of the seminal Scouting for Boys]would be proud of them.
Beautiful scene looking out of trees over beach towards mountains at "West Canyon" trail intersection with Admiralty. 10:17 a.m.
10:43 stalking the elusive thrush with the long 75-300. No success at images so far. Thrush eluded the macro lens and while I changed lenses it exposed itself along the path, flying off with a flourish as I removed the lens cap.
There is a pond near Jericho Beach east of the hostel, a favourite of birders, according to two walkers.
Pregnant woman and mate with two German Shorthaired Pointers, seven and ten years old, brown heads, spotted bodies, built like Weimaraners.
Bracken here as tall as I – arbutus trees shiny waxy evergreen foliage like rhododendron – no flowers, only fruit something like Oregon Grape.
11 attempted more shots of thrush
11:10 looking at [Greater Vancouver Transit Authority] map near Acacia Beach – female Ranger asked whether I needed help – # 44 bus will take me all the way into Burrard Street, but I must walk over the hill on the Salish trail to Chancellor Avenue.
[Shortly after meeting the ranger and taking her advice I found a laminated card with mobile phone numbers including several listed by first name, and then various wildlife agencies, regional police, and rescue squads. I reasoned that this belonged to the ranger, returned to Acacia Beach, but she had gone. I fit the card into an interpretive board at the Beach.]
To my right on Salish trail is a stream I can hear rushing over small falls but cannot see.
11:24 a.m. red-capped (?) Woodpecker in flight it shows white wing patches
Tsuga canadensis [Hemlock], young sapling, dead – not many older trees.
11:45 emerge from woods at a school
Met ranger again and told her where her card was.
12:15 waiting for bus 44 across from University Hill Elementary school:
while waiting for bus, drew sketch of mountains, treeline, school and playground equipment behind a chain link fence along divided highway.
12:35 p.m.
At the Chevron station bus stop, corner of 4th and MacDonald, waiting for the 2.22.N.22 Bus downtown – took bus 84 rather than 44; Driver the ubiquitous helpful sort, told me that the 44 runs only every ½ hour and I could transfer easily. So now I wait for this other bus. The 44 would have been a single run to Pender. In future I will follow that, although I appreciate the helpful spirit.
Something you don’t see in the States: a trash bin with an attached recycling rack. I sketched this in my notebook, but I also took a photograph of the specific bin from a different angle several weeks later. The top is sloped to deflect snow; the remainder of the bin is perforated metal; the rack is solid, but has a slit at the back for drainage. The legend on the rack reads "recycling rack bottles and cans only".
1.13 I am at the Seattle’s Best café in 550 Burrard [where I had agreed to meet my cousin Stuart, who works in 550 Burrard].
Took the 22 bus – really crowded. Excellent and amusing driver – one mildly unpleasant incident involving a man angry because the 22 did not stop one stop back – "I’m not upset – I’m curious – you just sort of stop whenever you feel like it." The driver’s reaction afterward: "people say all kinds of things to this uniform."
The Canadians make a lot of use of one and two dollar coins, sparing them, I suppose, some of the difficulties of printing vast quantities of ones. They surely wear better and probably automate better – the coins, not the Canadians – Why haven’t USAmericans caught on to this?
Reminiscent of Orwell’s comment on the British character [in "Why I Write"]: "the coins are heavier".
One could gain the impression that BC is unified culturally but what is most striking is the diversity of styles and backgrounds of persons I’ve met here – many orientals, yes, relatively few obviously First Nations – many Europeans, but again quite a range of these. Great diversity of accents and expressions.
The [Jericho Beach] hostel has its fair share of druggy drinking college kids but quite a few older folks with a range of experiences.
[The following description is not entirely from my raw notes; I had drawn several sketches and a thumbnail floorplan with explanatory notes rather than the narrative appearing below.]
Colour scheme in the Seattle’s Best: tomato bisque mocha wood light walnut or ash colour typical. Chairs of leather and wood, or just of wood, comfortable and squat. This particular SB is a kind of passageway between a "side entrance" to the building and the main building lobby. At the lobby side, bags of coffee and boxes of tea are displayed for sale in tall shelves; the bar and the coffee machines face out towar the lobby. A cart with milk and cups is placed between a bar seating area and the main seating area, where six large tables and seven smaller tables are arranged between great bay windows and a sort of half-wall; between that half-wall and the main food counter are five more larger tables, a counter, and then a space where folks can line up and see the food selections in glass cases. There is also a rack with soft drinks and bottled water. At the far end from the lobby is a gas fireplace with two large sofas and two enormous leather-covered arm chairs. Also at this end are the restrooms, which can only be accessed with a key from the staff.
The counter is like a wheel, repeated in a wooden design above the service area. A wall panel along the lobby wall declared "How we became Seattle’s Best Coffee" – a typical Horatio Alger story. The chairs here have an unusual lopsided design, hard to describe in words, and difficult enough to capture in a sketch. There is also a wooden suggestion box on the wall.
My cousin Stuart Cole, who works in 550 Burrard, said that I should look for a man with a beard and a yellow and black backpack – surprisingly few men have beards here. I don’t know that I was expecting to see many, but it is notable that there are so few.
1:58 p.m.
Awareness of time is the first step to the control of time.
It’s hard to make a schedule without a sense of sequence (=awareness of time).
Talked into a vanilla tea latte (=chai) by the barrista – not nearly as nasty as it might be.
$5.70; 6.05 = 11.75
The barrista says that he can make as much as a barrista in Vancouver as he could as a professional photographer in Winnipeg. He had a show at the Canadian Embassy in Bogota Colombia and thought this would propel his career....
East Indian fellow says he doesn’t want coffee to go: coffee must be enjoyed our of ceramic. Amen.
This led to the talk about photography: barrista said that he was in South America and could not get a coffee to go – this is partially the culture of hospitality.
What would it mean to create a culture of hospitality, where hospitality was the prime virtue?
Do mountains promote a culture of calm? The Nepalese – the Swiss – the Quiche – the "Ecotopian" all seem to be basically calm... laid back... accepting ... is this geographically influenced?
2:25 Arabic north African geometric tesselating Moroccan Moorish Navajo colour schemes influenced by landscape and culture.
Diffuse lighting colour a wall to cast that light into room use full spectrum lights but with a rheostat.
Disperse items - - use some bookshelf space for display.
Amazing to think only slightly over 24 hours ago I was arriving – very full catalogue of experience already. I shall have to sleep all July and August to recover.
Raise some baskets up on chest of drawers to create etagiere.
How to blend the natural findings and really existing landscape outside with the indoor decor – perhaps easier in a city where the outside environment is largely artificial.
2:36 Here are some African folks wearing robes and kente headdresses walking by – relatively few blacks here; I have the impression Europeans and Asians are about equal in forming the majority. Broad diversity of appearance, dress, and age coming into this building – not necessarily into the coffee shop, which is a kind of walkways between the main lobby of the building and a smaller side entrance, through which I came initially.
Ah, there goes a fellow with a beard ...
Many languages here, as well, partly an experience of the urbs also of a port city, but also a tribute to the invitation of Vancouver.
Here’s a fellow leaving the building with a backpack, a bag of golf clubs and a mohawk.
Bicyclists, one of whom seems to be a security guard – neither with bikes. Probably some type of courier – some bikes parked along street.
Guys with muscle shirts and tattoos "industrial" jeans -- and ID badges.
Stuart Cole recommends Café Artesiano for coffee; Hornsby Street
Photos 250-264 Horseshoe Bay to Snug Bay.
Evening with the Mackay-Coles; a protracted al fresca meal, lots of beer, coffee, and delectable chocolate cakes, a walk through the regional park which is literally across the street from the Mackay-Cole residence, and where a pair of owls had been reported. We saw no owls, but found two largish owl-pellets, much to the delight of the children. We walked as far as Killarney Lake, and then back. Then a late evening downloading some images and talking with Stu, then to bed in Calum’s room – Calum being quite happy to camp out in a sleeping bag on the carpetted floor of his parents’ bedroom.
up at 6; checked out by 7:15 – no breakfast: café closed.
Made tea, talked with woman from Gloucester, England, then left and walked toward Spanish Banks. Low tide.
Vancouver sleeps in late.
Sand on beach I suspect may be artificial for humans’s pleasure.
9 a.m. I leave the beach proper for the walking path – thrushes heard from the shore called me.
Telephoto lens had proved its worth.
Wonderful shot of a sign "ROCKS" to warn swimmers at high tide
Hawkseye and wild oats strong smell of skunk:
Spotted? Striped? Roadkilled?
Spanish Bank Creek was restored in 2000 to provide spawning for Coho and Chub –
"Please help ensure the success of this project by keeping dogs and children out of the stream. Logs brush trees and shrubs have been placed to provide protection for young fish."
Walking "Admiralty" trail in Pacific Spirit Regional Park. Another walker with a dog commented "don’t often see a fully backpacked walker" – he recommended leaving Admiralty at the next stop (in environmentally sensitive area by creek) and walking on beach. But I have been on the beach and want to see more of the trail. Canadians are helpful and friendly as a whole and B-P [Lord Baden-Powell, founder of Boy Scouting and author of the seminal Scouting for Boys]would be proud of them.
Beautiful scene looking out of trees over beach towards mountains at "West Canyon" trail intersection with Admiralty. 10:17 a.m.
10:43 stalking the elusive thrush with the long 75-300. No success at images so far. Thrush eluded the macro lens and while I changed lenses it exposed itself along the path, flying off with a flourish as I removed the lens cap.
There is a pond near Jericho Beach east of the hostel, a favourite of birders, according to two walkers.
Pregnant woman and mate with two German Shorthaired Pointers, seven and ten years old, brown heads, spotted bodies, built like Weimaraners.
Bracken here as tall as I – arbutus trees shiny waxy evergreen foliage like rhododendron – no flowers, only fruit something like Oregon Grape.
11 attempted more shots of thrush
11:10 looking at [Greater Vancouver Transit Authority] map near Acacia Beach – female Ranger asked whether I needed help – # 44 bus will take me all the way into Burrard Street, but I must walk over the hill on the Salish trail to Chancellor Avenue.
[Shortly after meeting the ranger and taking her advice I found a laminated card with mobile phone numbers including several listed by first name, and then various wildlife agencies, regional police, and rescue squads. I reasoned that this belonged to the ranger, returned to Acacia Beach, but she had gone. I fit the card into an interpretive board at the Beach.]
To my right on Salish trail is a stream I can hear rushing over small falls but cannot see.
11:24 a.m. red-capped (?) Woodpecker in flight it shows white wing patches
Tsuga canadensis [Hemlock], young sapling, dead – not many older trees.
11:45 emerge from woods at a school
Met ranger again and told her where her card was.
12:15 waiting for bus 44 across from University Hill Elementary school:
while waiting for bus, drew sketch of mountains, treeline, school and playground equipment behind a chain link fence along divided highway.
12:35 p.m.
At the Chevron station bus stop, corner of 4th and MacDonald, waiting for the 2.22.N.22 Bus downtown – took bus 84 rather than 44; Driver the ubiquitous helpful sort, told me that the 44 runs only every ½ hour and I could transfer easily. So now I wait for this other bus. The 44 would have been a single run to Pender. In future I will follow that, although I appreciate the helpful spirit.
Something you don’t see in the States: a trash bin with an attached recycling rack. I sketched this in my notebook, but I also took a photograph of the specific bin from a different angle several weeks later. The top is sloped to deflect snow; the remainder of the bin is perforated metal; the rack is solid, but has a slit at the back for drainage. The legend on the rack reads "recycling rack bottles and cans only".
1.13 I am at the Seattle’s Best café in 550 Burrard [where I had agreed to meet my cousin Stuart, who works in 550 Burrard].
Took the 22 bus – really crowded. Excellent and amusing driver – one mildly unpleasant incident involving a man angry because the 22 did not stop one stop back – "I’m not upset – I’m curious – you just sort of stop whenever you feel like it." The driver’s reaction afterward: "people say all kinds of things to this uniform."
The Canadians make a lot of use of one and two dollar coins, sparing them, I suppose, some of the difficulties of printing vast quantities of ones. They surely wear better and probably automate better – the coins, not the Canadians – Why haven’t USAmericans caught on to this?
Reminiscent of Orwell’s comment on the British character [in "Why I Write"]: "the coins are heavier".
One could gain the impression that BC is unified culturally but what is most striking is the diversity of styles and backgrounds of persons I’ve met here – many orientals, yes, relatively few obviously First Nations – many Europeans, but again quite a range of these. Great diversity of accents and expressions.
The [Jericho Beach] hostel has its fair share of druggy drinking college kids but quite a few older folks with a range of experiences.
[The following description is not entirely from my raw notes; I had drawn several sketches and a thumbnail floorplan with explanatory notes rather than the narrative appearing below.]
Colour scheme in the Seattle’s Best: tomato bisque mocha wood light walnut or ash colour typical. Chairs of leather and wood, or just of wood, comfortable and squat. This particular SB is a kind of passageway between a "side entrance" to the building and the main building lobby. At the lobby side, bags of coffee and boxes of tea are displayed for sale in tall shelves; the bar and the coffee machines face out towar the lobby. A cart with milk and cups is placed between a bar seating area and the main seating area, where six large tables and seven smaller tables are arranged between great bay windows and a sort of half-wall; between that half-wall and the main food counter are five more larger tables, a counter, and then a space where folks can line up and see the food selections in glass cases. There is also a rack with soft drinks and bottled water. At the far end from the lobby is a gas fireplace with two large sofas and two enormous leather-covered arm chairs. Also at this end are the restrooms, which can only be accessed with a key from the staff.
The counter is like a wheel, repeated in a wooden design above the service area. A wall panel along the lobby wall declared "How we became Seattle’s Best Coffee" – a typical Horatio Alger story. The chairs here have an unusual lopsided design, hard to describe in words, and difficult enough to capture in a sketch. There is also a wooden suggestion box on the wall.
My cousin Stuart Cole, who works in 550 Burrard, said that I should look for a man with a beard and a yellow and black backpack – surprisingly few men have beards here. I don’t know that I was expecting to see many, but it is notable that there are so few.
1:58 p.m.
Awareness of time is the first step to the control of time.
It’s hard to make a schedule without a sense of sequence (=awareness of time).
Talked into a vanilla tea latte (=chai) by the barrista – not nearly as nasty as it might be.
$5.70; 6.05 = 11.75
The barrista says that he can make as much as a barrista in Vancouver as he could as a professional photographer in Winnipeg. He had a show at the Canadian Embassy in Bogota Colombia and thought this would propel his career....
East Indian fellow says he doesn’t want coffee to go: coffee must be enjoyed our of ceramic. Amen.
This led to the talk about photography: barrista said that he was in South America and could not get a coffee to go – this is partially the culture of hospitality.
What would it mean to create a culture of hospitality, where hospitality was the prime virtue?
Do mountains promote a culture of calm? The Nepalese – the Swiss – the Quiche – the "Ecotopian" all seem to be basically calm... laid back... accepting ... is this geographically influenced?
2:25 Arabic north African geometric tesselating Moroccan Moorish Navajo colour schemes influenced by landscape and culture.
Diffuse lighting colour a wall to cast that light into room use full spectrum lights but with a rheostat.
Disperse items - - use some bookshelf space for display.
Amazing to think only slightly over 24 hours ago I was arriving – very full catalogue of experience already. I shall have to sleep all July and August to recover.
Raise some baskets up on chest of drawers to create etagiere.
How to blend the natural findings and really existing landscape outside with the indoor decor – perhaps easier in a city where the outside environment is largely artificial.
2:36 Here are some African folks wearing robes and kente headdresses walking by – relatively few blacks here; I have the impression Europeans and Asians are about equal in forming the majority. Broad diversity of appearance, dress, and age coming into this building – not necessarily into the coffee shop, which is a kind of walkways between the main lobby of the building and a smaller side entrance, through which I came initially.
Ah, there goes a fellow with a beard ...
Many languages here, as well, partly an experience of the urbs also of a port city, but also a tribute to the invitation of Vancouver.
Here’s a fellow leaving the building with a backpack, a bag of golf clubs and a mohawk.
Bicyclists, one of whom seems to be a security guard – neither with bikes. Probably some type of courier – some bikes parked along street.
Guys with muscle shirts and tattoos "industrial" jeans -- and ID badges.
Stuart Cole recommends Café Artesiano for coffee; Hornsby Street
Photos 250-264 Horseshoe Bay to Snug Bay.
Evening with the Mackay-Coles; a protracted al fresca meal, lots of beer, coffee, and delectable chocolate cakes, a walk through the regional park which is literally across the street from the Mackay-Cole residence, and where a pair of owls had been reported. We saw no owls, but found two largish owl-pellets, much to the delight of the children. We walked as far as Killarney Lake, and then back. Then a late evening downloading some images and talking with Stu, then to bed in Calum’s room – Calum being quite happy to camp out in a sleeping bag on the carpetted floor of his parents’ bedroom.
posted by M E Achtermann at 2:30 pm
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