Snow for a Snow Shovel

 

There is no doubt about it.

Victoria is covered with a blanket of snow.

I woke to the beauty of the falling snow shifting in the wind.  

The updrafts keep the snow in the air so long that I wonder if it will ever hit the ground, picking it up and swirling it heavenward so often.  

But some snow has landed, for the streets, boulevards and sidewalks are covered.

I don't see the tell tale parallel black lines that cars leave on the road. 

No one has ventured out and it is already 9 am.  

Of course, it is a Saturday, and we have a three-day weekend, for it is Family Day on Monday.

This is an intervention from the heavens, since I often imagine that place, at least getting there, to be a white landscape.

Arta

Physio is Good

I'm on my second round of physio at Foul Bay Physio. My physiotherapist is Ian Catchpole. I was looking forward to the second appointment, since I feel as though I've moved so far ahead with the exercises from the first I visited him. But when I got to the building the elevator was broken. Rebecca and I took three flights of stairs, not something I would have chosen to do if things had been equal. When we got to the third floor is when she remembered the office is on the second floor of the building. By the time I got to the physio office, I was pretty well warmed up.

At home I'm to do my physio exercises three times a day (I try to fit in 5 times) working my arm gently, enjoying the stretch rather than fearing it.

There are a lot of things in the day that I have to organize so that I get them completed. I am still making a list and checking it twice. It seems like I have to go from physio, to eating three meals a day, to brushing my teeth after every meal, to at least taking my plate to the kitchen and then that eternal round begins again.

The skirt at the bottom of the tree.
the tree too high for me to tip my
camera in the direction of
those taller branches.

Yesterday (Jan 21st),  I added my first walk outside. It was Catherine's birthday.

I told her I would go for an outside walk in honour of her birth. It would be my first walk along the street, since coming here.

Catherine told me to take a picture of something beautiful along the way.

That was my first idea when I came outside and saw Rebecca's tall tree that she calls a Doctor Seuss tree -- it has a wonky spine and the tree goes a long way up. I took out my camera and was trying to capture the height of that tree, stepping backwards, backwards, then finding myself tripping and that's when I righted myself against a nearby cherry tree.

I dropped the idea of photography as the first thing I should think about when taking my walk.

I tried to keep my eyes focussed a few yards ahead of me on the pavement, and notice where I was. There was a wind chill. I felt my scarf blowing at my neck and could feel the wind inside of my coat, its bite against legs. I was thinking about the temperature somewhere around 7 Celsius. It was the wind that was giving me the that I should get back inside. 

In other circumstances, this walk would have felt good. I went to the end of the block and back … twice, once more than I had intended.

Arta

Shared space

Rebecca shares the living room space,
resting on the couch, her arm suspended
to keep the blood running down to her heart,
counting the days until the cast comes off.

Eleven, today.  Ten, tomorrow ....

Before I came to Victoria, there were already four people in this San Lorenzo Avenue bubble. Two people work from home, and two are going to college or university from home. Shared space is carefully worked out so 4 people can either go to work or go to class in the same house. As well, I’ve arrived for 3 months. A fifth space has been created space for me: That would be a space for my books, my files, my New Yorkers, a place for my computer and a my bags, my files, my rule and stapler.

Steve bought me a new table at Canadian Tire: grey 8-foot, collapsible utility table. He put that in the room above the garage, the room where Duncan works: a grand piano in one corner, some exercise equipment against another wall, Duncan with a space on the east wall and me looking toward the south, out the window into the backyard.

I like sharing space with Duncan. I'm learning when his Duncan’s classes are and how to get myself to a different room when they are on, since I don’t want to be in his background during his Zoom meetings.

I love spreading my writing material out. I want to make all of the jobs before me, visible at all times, though I wouldn’t recommend this as a strategy to anyone else. As well, I want all of the accessories within easy reach: coloured pencils, yellow highlighters, an erasers, a stapler, and a hole punch. I don’t need a snack drawer. Next to my desk is the water cooler. Across the hall is a fully equipped kitchen.

My sister, Moiya, asks me on the telephone, how I am. She says, no really? How are you really?

Given the current circumstances, I can't think of what else would add to my happiness.

I'm learning to have some social encounters via Zoom.

And let's face it I have four other people here in the house that I can talk so a lot of social encounters could happen.

As well, Steve has a dog. I'm not a dog person. The dog and I are never in conversation. Still the dog has trained me to let it out to the back porch when it scratches on the door and conversely to open the door when it wants to get back in. No dog needs to go out and in every ten minutes, except this dog, Penny.

As an added bonus, f I get out of bed in the middle of the night, my noise wakes her and she comes upstairs, always using her nose to give a hard enough bang on the door that the latch on the lock gives way and she can get in.

I haven't quite sorted myself out, electronically. There must be some curmudgeon in me, or may it is just that learning any new electronic programme is hard. I had a cheque that needed to be deposited to Canada Trust. I've seen Miranda do this with her telephone. Steve tells me it's easy-peasy. So I do a tutorial one day and then make a valiant effort with my cheque which doesn't work out. The next day I do a few more tutorials, go back to that app on my phone and I try to see what went wrong. But I keep doing the same wrong thing over and over.

Again, still no success and I think to myself I could have walked down to the Canada Trust in 40 minutes, deposited the check, walked back, and got some exercise benefit from the walk.

On the third day, having created only anxiety, Steve rescued me. He showed me a drop-down box I didn’t see. As well, sometimes just the act of swiping my finger up on the screen down the screen can give me new choices that I need. I just have to remember that action of that swipe is available.

Like everyone else that is electronic, I make mistakes but none of that is Covid related. A few days ago someone taught me how to do voice recognition typing on Google Docs. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Now I can sit and talk to the screen forever and the typing is don automatically. So great to be introduced to an electronic transcriber, who makes fewer mistakes that I do when I try to transcribe things.

Such a fabulous world.

Arta

The Parliament Building in Victoria

Moiya and David missed the ferry yesterday morning.  They were #15 on wait list and they didn't get on the boat, though the boat did take up to #14.

Moiya and David were told they could leave their car in the lane and come back at 2:30 pm for the afternoon sailing.

They spent the day across the street in the parliament buildings.

Moiya sent the pictures below and recommends this adventure for anyone who misses the morning ferry.

Arta

Sightseeing in Victoria: a photo essay

Sight-seeing in Victoria
Dave and Arta 
with Moiya behind the camera

Rogue Art at Royal Oak Bay
The mother whale who tended her dead baby for 10 days.

We stayed close to home, trying to sight-see Victoria.

I have done this once before with Greg, Wyona and Rebecca.

Their excursion had stopped for a day in Victoria.

What Greg wanted to see was the houses here, so we drove through quiet, treed and flower garden-laden neighbourhoods.

... cherry blossoms at the long house ...

This was different.

Moiya, David and I were on our own with a lunch that she had packed.

Always take Moiya on such an adventure.

... I have only seen the outside and not the inside of the longhouse ...

She brings the best lunched.

We walked up Mount Pkols – sea level to 1.5 km.

The vantage point there lets a person turn in a circle seeing the US, then the north sea, then Vancouver and continuing around a full 360 degrees, a perfect view.

... totems at the longhouse ...

Blessedly, the sun was behind the clouds and rain was predicted for the day.

So we drove, trying to beat the rain, over to Mount Tolmie next, still hopping out of the car to find the highest vantage point to see the city.

The cherry blossoms are out but the trees aren’t fully leafed out, so it is possible to see between branches to the Juan de Fuca Straights and seemingly further.

... so many sail boats to see ...

The wind was blowing.

We had the hoods up on our rain jackets and it was too cold to picnic, so we drove home and picnicked on Rebecca’s living room table, her fire warming our backs as we planned for the next part of the day: see downtown, then drive to Beacon Hill Park.

We walked along the harbour, from Front Street to the Legislative Building, and going into the yachts listing in the harbor.

We walked back, wishing we had stopped at the Information Centre, which was closed by now.

But we were glad we hadn’t stopped in a way.

... Dave and Arta at the harbor

They would have given us so much literature that Moiya and David would have had to stay another week to go see everything and I would have been right by their side.

We finished off the day by driving along Beacon Hill Drive, and then down through Oak Bay where David went very slowly for us so we could admire the homes that back onto the ocean.

Breath-taking.

... wondering if we should take the water taxi ...

Occasionally Moiya would ask if I were enjoying the drive. I was trying to keep the wonder of it all to myself.

My evening was spent in a chair in front of the fire, too tired to move anymore.

When I was fall asleep someone would suggest that I go to bed.

But it was just too hard to get out of that chair, so I let them keep waking me up and then I would fall back to sleep again.

Hard to lead a person to bed, especially when they are too tired to make it on their own.

Arta

Raptors, Westholme Tea Co. and Gallery, Eve Provincial Park

... bear holding ceremonial mask ...

Moiya, Dave and I want to do the Pacific Marine Circle Route and we thought we would do the circle by heading up to Duncan again.

 We went to the Tourist Centre again.

 The second time there was even better than the first for this time we at least had a plan. We were already on our way around the circle route.

However, the manager of the tourist centre told us that it would be best to see Port Renfrew at low tide, which we were going to miss since the tide was already on its way in.

 We switched gears and went to see the Raptors Centre.

A hawk talk was going on just as we entered and shortly thereafter was the chance to see the raptors fly above us as we sat on some bleachers.

Gerard, one of the raptor trainers stood there as first a fledgling hawk was released for flight, then a bald eagle, and a turkey vulture, a horned owl and a peregrine.

 I would recommend this stop for anyone.

 The tours are at levels for every budget, the highest level being have a hawk land on your arm.

... fledgling eagle ...

I didn’t choose that one: $54.

 The birds are released one at a time for the show.

 The magic was that eagles began to circle above, one that were not connected to the eentre.

They could also see the prey below, either in the form of food or they could see some of the other birds who are their natural enemies.

 It was a thrill to listen to the trainer talk to his own hawks, coaxing them to fly by for the audience.

The bald eagle flew by within an arm’s reach of me.

...tea at the Westholme Tea Co. & Gallery...

The hawks stuns the fish and pick them up off the water, but the peregrine might dive for food, as deep as 5 feet into the water, so his legs are built with no feathers to get wet in the dive.

The centre has eagles, peregrines and owls, either raised by the trainors, or birds that have come in and now need a rest home.

One owl had been in an accident and caught in the front grill of a car for 5 hours.

That bird will never regain its full flying strength, but it is enjoying a good resthome.

 ... Gerard and a turkey vulture ...

The Westhome Tea Company and Gallery was only a short distance down the road.

They are a place that grows and sells its own tea as well as other exotic teas.

The couple have owned their place for 10 years.
 She pots and he grows tea.

 Well worth the time to stop here.

tea pot at the Westholme Gallery

The manager at the tourist centre also suggested Eve Provincial Park, a small gem missed by many, she said.

We went to find it and discovered why it is a tourist sight that is often missed.

The sign was so small we couldn’t see it.

... outside the WestholmeTea Co ...

A teen-ager gave us the best tip to find it – just go over the bridge and turn right.

His directions worked when we figured out that his right was our left.

Our trip home was along that same lovely Malahat, back through the doors of Costco and finally home where we prepared our evening meal and talked about how wonderful the day had been.

Arta

BC: Duncan, Chemainus and the Kinsol Trestle Bridge

... at the top of the Malahat ...

Moiya, David and I want to see Vancouver Island but we haven’t established a serious set of The Ten Best Things We Want to See.

I had in mind that I wanted to see Duncan BC. Moiya and David thought it would either be fun to go to Tofino, or up to the top of the island.

So we set out for Duncan, B.C., my first choice and I guess the rest will have to come later.

We had stopped at the summit of the Malahat, though again we didn’t know what we were going to see.

I only knew a phrase from the radio like “an accident on the Malahat” but I had no idea where this road was or where it was going to.

... 2 trees lean over an old dirt road ...

We had decided just to pull over every time there was a chance to do so.

At the first look-out where we could get ourselves organized to stop, we saw Mount Baker in Washington, and the planes taking off from the Victoria Airport.

... sisters rest in a garden in Chemainus ...

Salt Spring Island was in plain view and the path that the ferry would take was charted on the information plaque.

... watching cars disembark from the ferry in Chemainus ...

Our saving grace was the Tourist Centre in Duncan for we had no idea where we were going once we got to Duncan.

High on my list was to see the BC Forest Discovery Centre which uses the same parking lot as the Tourist Centre.

But it is not open until the Easter Weekend.

The tourist centre volunteer says the BC Forest Discovery Centre has a train which runs very 20 minutes.

This outdoor museum tells about the steam powered machinery used in early logging operations in the Cowichan Valley.

I had already decided to sit on the train non-stop – well worth the $15 entry fee.

But alas, no train to be ridden today.

... the bay at Chemainus ...

Still the man at the tourist centre pulled out a list of “20 Interesting Things to Do in the Cowichan Valley” before taking us over to a display of post cards by an artist in that community.

I think his last name was Kelly.

He couldn’t make a living selling his paintings but he got an agent in Toronto to work for him who sold the paintings in Europe, the last painting of the local post office selling for 1.1 million dollars.

I went out to read a little more about the artist tonight and could remember his last name was Kelly, but I didn’t have enough information to find out more about him.

I guess I will do that on another visit.

I do know there is a local museum that holds about 17 works of his that were gifted at the end of us life.

one of the murals on a street corner at Chemainus

Oh, so much more to do in Duncan, B.C.


The guy at the Visitors Centre was thorough with us.

When Moiya said that she didn’t think she could hike a long way he showed us on the map, how to go to the Kinsol Trestle so that she would only have a short couple of bocks to walk instead of a kilometer, by the other route.

We could do this by going around some back roads: Bench to Riverside and then a gravel road which got smaller and smaller, and just when we would think we were lost and should turn around, there it would be, the parking lot that we could use.

The trestle bridges the Koksilah River.

We would have preferred a longer shot.
Here David just picks up our gnarled hands.
As well, we couldn't find a board on the bench
that wasn't covered with scat.
Add to that, Moiya trying to save me from 
sitting in the wrong place, 
almost pushed me off the bench.

The trestle went into disrepair and a massive community effort began to find funds to repair it: 7.1 million dollars which made every step across the bridge feel like quite a treasure to me.

David said maybe that was the best part of the trip today, the pictures and signs that show the history of the bridge, and pictures of old trains going across it filled with logs being taken to the mills.

I loved the sound of the water rushing in the canyon and I could imagine the salmon running up against the rapids below us.

Lower Left: family picnics with red table cloth

The Trans-Canada Trail rims Shawinigan Lake and then cross the trestle, moving northward.

festive tourist look at Cheaminus

We saw walker, runners, a man biking with his child bouncing behind him in a 3 wheel-cart.

An old woman was walking an even older dogs, at least if I could judge which one was going faster than the other.

One family had descended from the bridge, half way down the hill to a picnic table on which they laid a crimson table cloth and then pulled out their picnic basket.

Moiya asked me tonight if I thought we would every be able to find the charming side road off of the Trans-Canada Highway, the one that began when we turned right onto Herd Road.

The one where we thought we were lost most of the time.

Of course that made me laugh for the road was hilly, down into charming glens, then up hills again, traversing the side of a hill where there were charming houses both above and below us, steep driveways on either side.

Moiya and Arta on bridge

Beehives lined the back of one large field. Slash was piled high in another, in fact three high piles of slash which we thought were much higher than the burning restrictions would allow.

When we stopped to check our map, and try the gps, neither of which strategies were working for us, there was a big sign in front of us.

For sale / free run / corn fed / NGO duck and chicken eggs.

I wonder now why we didn’t go in and buy some, but we were so busy trying not to be lost.

Duncan is famous for the outdoor totems poles.

David and Arta wave hello

We selected the totems to studying that are near the railroad track – two groupings of 4 each.

It takes a lot of time to study the totem poles, to go from plaque to figure and then figure back to place.

I don’t know the symbols for raven and bald eagle since their wings or their legs might look the same to me on a totem pole; nor do I notice that often whale has his great tail swirl around and come back in front of him.

And what makes it harder is the tale is called a fluke, and not knowing that, I am trying to figure out what fluke means.

Some of the poles were painted. Some were natural.

A couple of the poles were transformation poles. All of the poles told a story.

I had memories of neew stories about whales – I can’t remember where I heard them -- probably from listening to new stories Rebecca was telling.

We ate in the park before studying the totems.

The sun went behind the clouds and a wind made us grab our coats while we sat on a bench and ate a late lunch out of our picnic basket.

Cowichan means warm land, or more precisely warm sun on my back, so I was wondering where that sudden shadow had come from that came over us and why.

I was getting tired of the work I was doing on the totem poles. Tourism is hard work.

There is a lot to learn on reaching any one of today’s destinations.

And just reaching the destination is hard work when it is the first time any one of us have been there.

And we make it triply hard by not knowing where we want to go to begin with.

I have known tonight, that if I don’t write an account of today, it will begin to merge with what we do tomorrow, and I won’t be able to find time to write about either adventure.

... we found the short trail to the trestle ...

It will be sufficient to say that Moiya and I also managed two trips to Costco today – one on the way out of town and one on the way back into town, and still we had time to spare, though not enough time to get blogged how much fun we really had.

Just a great beginning to a wonderful island adventure.

Even seeing all of the rock outcroppings as we drive the main streets of Victoria is an overwhelming tourist vision.

Arta

Rebecca and the Coffee Shop

Photo Credit: Rebecca Johnson

View of Mt Tolmie sunrise from the Coffee Shop
where Rebecca had her breakfast this morning

I am sure I am having a fabulous time in Victoria.

I am doing some typing for Rebecca.

In between short spurts of time doing that, I am trying to walk, mostly in the mornings.

Steve reminded me that this morning's walk might not have been quite as safe as he would have wanted it to be.

Yes, I was in the dark, going down to the sea, though the way was lit with the street lights and the occasional bedroom light where people were waking.

Funny, I could make that into a poem.

I was in the dark,
going down to the sea,
though the way was lit with the street lights
and the occasional bedroom light where people were waking.

I think the walk feels better in that poetic form.  Rebecca and Steve walked their new dog, Penny, in a different direction, probably to save my life for she can hardly be contained by her leash yet, a sweet little new puppy, really.  But she is underfoot -- at home and outside.

Rebecca had a 7:30 breakfast meeting at a coffee shop where she took a picture of the sun rising.  All of us should be so lucky as to see the sun rise every morning.

On Walking during the Day

For me the best time to walk is early in the morning.  I can get down to the ocean and back in 6,000 steps and if I do that the rest of the day falls in place.

... my first evidence that someone else
was on the beach besides me ...

Today I tried to catch the sun coming through the trees with my camera. 

The brightness overwhelms me, even with my sun glasses on, so that is not going to work.

When I get down to the shoreline I have to assess how dangerous it will be for me to walk over the boulders before getting to the medium rocks.  So my head is kept down, not wanting to turn an ankle.

In the sand I can see someone has been there before me, but I don't know how to name the imprints of the bird tracks that I can see in the sand.

... waves of the ocean rolling in one after another ...

I study them as I walk along and then see a heron in the water, so I position myself to get the best picture ever.  After about 20 shots on my camera I look at the rocks again and laugh to myself, for I am in the middle of some geese and their goslings. 

Another 20 shots later I leave for I have bread rising on the counter that must be put in pans before Rebecca and I go to work.

I took cinnamon buns to class last week.  One woman told me that those were the best she has ever tasted in her life and that I should start a bakery business.  She gave me a name for it.  Arta's Bakery.

That made me laugh.  I have been in the business for years and though it has not made me a lot of money, at least I haven't gone bankrupt over it.

Today I am taking country seed bread to the class.  Thus the rush on this post. 

My walk was late, so i have timed the bread to the last minute. 

We shall take it out of the pans and have it there hot.

Last week I told the class that Rebeca had helped me by brushing the tops of the loaves of bread and putting black sesame seeds on top.

In the lower right hand corner of the photo are 3 or 4
little goslings huddling togther.  Very cute.

This week she was up greasing the bread pans, for she could see it was time to put the bread into the pans and I was no where about.

Yes.

She was right.

No where to be seen.

I was down at the shore, photographing goslings.

Arta
.

Beacon Hill Park, et al

Camas flowers in bloom
in B.C.'s West Kootenay region. (kootenaynativeplants.ca/)

Wyona and Greg were in the parking lot at the port in Victoria, as were we.

She called to see where we were and finally said, raise your hands and we will raise our hands as well.

Rebecca didn’t wait to get the message. She strode ahead, probably having spotted the waving couple before I did.

When the cruise ship lands the people pour off of the boat.

Some take the carriage ride around the centre of town, two beautiful white horses, their feet clooping along the pavement. There were a couple of buses, presumably to take people on tours – maybe to the Buchart gardens. A trolley had some other people on it, going off in the same direction. There were 2 black limos and one white one, waiting for private tour groups.

We drove along the side of the ocean. Wyona said driving would be better for her than walking. A couple of nights ago, Greg and she jived the night away and the next morning, her body was paying for it. So we went to Mile Zero of the Trans Canada high, the spot where Terry Fox began his run. Then we drove through Beacon Hill Park, a place some mistake for the Buchart Gardens, it is so lovely. But Rebecca cautioned us from thinking this way for apparently the Buchart Gardens ends with fireworks in the evening and is so over the top with its display of flowers in every season, that it is well worth taking it in.

We stopped first at Beacon Hill Park, at the petting zoo, even though we had no children with us.

Baby goats are there, so tiny, and so many of them.

Children and parents can feed the goats or brush their fur, or as one woman did, just sat so still that a baby goat leapt up on her back.

The goat pen had in it a peacock with its feathers on display.

Two, then three baby goats tried to nibble on the ends of the feathers on display. When the peacock ruffled its feathers a bit, a couple of the baby goats came in from the back side, trying to eat some of the brilliant colour on the feathers. There was a pea hen in the trees, high above us, nesting. A couple of peacocks were on the roof of the shelter, and done was outside, somewhat ignoring the four of us. I have never been so close to a bird of that magnificence, for so long a time.

Rebecca continued to drive us along the magnificent seawall, telling us about walks she has taken there with her family, spotting at one point where kite-flyers gather because the wind is so spectacular there. Just right for kits.

Rebecca’s regular driving route as she was touristing for us was interrupted with road repair, so she wove us through the side streets where we admired the lawns, the massive red flowers on the rhododendrons, the delicate azaleas, the blue camas beneath the garry oak, the sight of the water rolling in from the ocean.

Rebecca drove us to the top of Mt Tolmie, after first driving by her house. Wyona asked for the car to stop for there was a deer only a few feet to the side of us. Usually the animals are skittish but Wyona is an animal whisperer and this deer offered many closeup for her photographing pleasure. This stop was right outside of Rebecca’s house, but we didn’t go in – just doing a drive-by for Greg.

At the the top of Mt Tolmie we got out to see that 360 degree view of the world, the mountains in Canada, the mountains in Washington, the small uninhabited islands in the ocean. Rebecca also narrates a story of indigenous peoples on this spot, many of them, historically occupying this land, going back as far as 20,000 years. I always listen carefully for when she talks, she drops another piece of the puzzle of indigenous occupation that I have probably missed.

The homeless are apparent downtown, men and women along the beautiful green meridian of the road, just waking, rolling up their blankets and putting whatever they own back in the shopping carts that they will push all day.

We stopped for a Dr’s appointment for Rebecca. She has been waiting for this appointment for a year. She has a cycst on her finger which she pokes to relieve the pressure. Her Dr told her, no more poking yourself with a needle, which advice she also got from the specialist. My guess is that Rebecca will find a way to take care of this, more suited to medical practise. And then wait her turn in the cue for an operation to come up for her.

Wyona walking beside a peacock at the petting zoo.

While we were waiting for Rebecca’s appointment, really waiting in the hall for the Drs locked office to open, Wyona got a call from her Dr. in Calgary.

Just saying, why not get these appointments over at the same time.

We dropped Wyona and Greg off downtown, Rebecca telling them to stand at a bus stop and ask any driver how to get back to Ogden Point where the Celebrity was docked. Wyona and Greg had laughingly said that it would be nice to go back on the ship’s shuttle.

When they hopped out of the car at red light and got to the sidewalk, we were driving away, but could see Wyona and Greg laughing and calling out to us, “Look, the shuttle.”

Yes, it was just across the road.

As Rebecca said, “Odd when these things line up, as though they are supposed to happen.

Rebecca asked me the best parts of the tour:

1. The forecast was for rain, but the clouds opened up and gave us a beautiful sunny day. Not even a spit of rain. A day that no one could ask for better.

2. I like hearing Greg say that he was enjoying the personalized tour. The one that took us through side streets and into the little boroughs: Oak Bay and Sanich, etc., instead of to the parliament buildings. I liked hearing he enjoyed those little coves.

3. Wyona brought brunch for us, taking cae of all of our chocolate croissant or banana bread needs, plus drinks for all. As well she distributred Maui Caramacs (chocolate, creamy caramel and macadamias), Salt Water Taffy with the flavours of Hawaii, and Candy Coated Popcorn with Macadamia nuts. She brought the theme of Hawaii home to us.

4. I liked seeing Greg and Wyona get out of the car in downtown Victoria, and then stand on the sidewalk, the intrepid travellers finding their own way back to the ship. They have done that job with more difficulty when they don’t speak the language. The English is easy here – often a British accent, though the guy at the Passport Office last week had a definite French Canadian accent. I had forgotten until then, that we do things in two languages since we never hear the second language here on the other side of the world.

5. I liked Rebecca’s account of the land, how those beautiful blue camas flowers have underneath them bulbs that have been traded up and down the coast for 10,000’s of years. 
And she knows how they have to be cooked, slowly for 2 days until they are edible. And how they can sustain people through the winter. Just a wonderful story about how the indigenous people lived off of the land.

6. Rebecca told us that when she picks up visitors to Victoria for conferences, she gives them a similar tour, but has them stop by the ocean where she buys frozen fish which can then be fed to the seals. I have heard her talk about this many times, but haven’t tried it myself.

Maybe next time.

Arta

Route #11

I remember riding the buses in Victoria from when I stayed here for four months after my hip operation.

I remember from the theatre, the fast route home is to go upstairs and out the parking level there and over to the bus stop across the street.

But the route that goes to UVic is numbered 11 and it is closer to the theatre.

riding route 11 -- UVIC

A longer ride, I can remember a bus driver telling me.

But after the opera I was looking for a long ride and this one was well worth my $4.

We went along Gourge Road for a long distance and through downtown Victoria, 45 minutes later arriving at UVic from where I could walk home.

I could have caught another bus, but those extra steps are good for me and when I am rested I don’t mind taking them.

The show, the ride and the walk were so pleasant.  I should have spaced them over a number of days and saved so many pleasures for the same day.

On the other hand, I could fill every day with buckets full of enjoyment.

Arta

The journey that begins with the first step

Looking down on the lilies
which are really not visible.

Rebecca told me that she loves the walk to Mount Pkols.

I thought she meant the walk that takes her from her house to the base of the mountain, and then the 1500 metre climb to the top.

Late tonight she assured me that is not what she meant. She meant drive to the base of the mountain and then walk up it.

Not knowing that and believing that it is a walk she takes often, I set out today to do the same thing.

If I had it to do over again, I would take enough money with me to take a bus home.

Not knowing that, I walked both ways. I didn’t really mind the way there.

https://islandnature.ca/2012/04/white-fawn-lilies-at-pipers-lagoon-park/

It was only the 10,000 steps that I usually take every day.

What was hard was the descent, for I was getting tired, and then the walk home.

Half way down the mountain there was a bench provided by the Friends of Mount Douglas. The saying on the plaque on the bench said, “Sometimes sitting is the best move.”

I got the joke and took the rest.

I knew one of my pictures was not going to turn out, but it seems so beautiful from above.

At the lookout I could spot a beautiful flower through the moss on the gray-lichen covered branches of the trees below. I was showing the picture to Rebecca and she turned to her own photos to show me that she had taken a picture of the same flower: the white fawn lily. She said it is like a crocus and then google told us that it grows just in this area of BC.

Whitaker Hike
on Mount Pkols

Walking home was a mystery for the streets all seemed to have the same name on the way back.

 I could mostly tell I was on the right track by landmarks I had seen along the way: a Sikh laying cement bricks in a driveway (I had noticed the brilliant colour of his turban), an abandoned couch in a yard, a sunshine yellow bush.

A trip I would not have wanted to miss.

And a trip I will train for, so that the next time I do it, my walk back home will have the same spring in my step as the walk there.

Arta