Meanwhile, in BC – Chilliwack

June 28, 2014 by Created by RCW

Not just a Canadian band of the 70s and 80s, Chilliwack is also a small town in Southern BC, a couple of hours west of Vancouver.

It also happens to be where my mom lived until a few days ago (before she moved).

: A lone crow watches over the misty valleys

: Droplets decorate shrubs outside the house

: The clouds enter the mountain valleys below your feet

: Swirling shell meets a fork in the road

: A ribbon of fog ties a bow around the mountain

: My mother’s malamute is looking for a snack

: A small spider hops across the back of a deck chair

: His raised hairs suggest he’s as scared of me

So let me ask you, Whatcha Gonna Do?

See also, photos of: Fort Langley/Harrison Hot Springs

Meanwhile, in BC – Ft Langley, Harrison Hot Springs

June 27, 2014 by Created by RCW

Taken a little trip around British Columbia this month after attending a science conference in Vancouver.

Here are the first batch of photos, taken in and around Fort Langley and Harrison Hot Springs.

: Historical totems welcome visitors to Fort Langley

: Fort Langley is littered with antique shops

: Transcanada railway runs through Fort Langley

: Not sure, but think we had one of these when I was a kid

: Supposedly the face of a fox, Mt. Cheam looms over Harrison Hot Springs

: This bucket seemed so lonely on the edge of the pond

: Harrison Hot Springs plays host to people of all social leanings

: Daughter looks on while mom preps the picnic

: Seemed like sound advice to me

: For the number of times his image appears, you’d think Sasquatch was King of BC

Tiny circle of life

June 16, 2014 by Created by RCW

Apparently, I need to dust as spider’s meal seems a tad linty

Getting past my past

June 11, 2014 by Created by RCW

Live live – my new motto

June 10, 2014 by Created by RCW

Dear Toronto Marlies…

June 6, 2014 by Created by RCW

Memories of the 2013-14 hockey season

(It took 4 days, but I was finally able to pull my depressed head out of my @$$ and write a final address to the players of the Toronto Marlies hockey club, who lost the AHL Western Conference Final earlier this week.)

Well, gentlemen, it has been a hell of a ride this season—one full of soaring highs and crushing lows—but throughout it, please know that your fans have been immensely proud of you and all that you have achieved.

We cheered when you soared. We hurt when you hurt. Our hearts broke at exactly the same moments yours did. And we did all this because you are a second family to each of us.

My friends are probably sick of hearing about you guys. My Facebook and Twitter connections will get a brief respite from the near-daily onslaught of things Marlies-related. But all of them know, I will be back to crow about my boys and the wonderful organization soon enough.

While I continue with the preoccupations of summer and hope you do the same, know that I am counting the days until I hear the first reports of training camp, the sewing of names onto jerseys, the irritated rumble of the Zamboni prepping that first sheet, the spine-chilling slice of metal blades into perfect ice.

For as much as I will enjoy the sun, sand and water of The Beaches, I cannot wait for the sweet embrace of the Ricoh’s front doors and the buzz of another Marlies season opener. When I peer once again into the South end of the ice and watch my boys start the dream yet again.

All the best, gentlemen. Be well. Rest up. And for God’s sake, stay hungry.

Memories of the 2013-14 hockey season

Back to the Aquarium – Everybody Else

May 29, 2014 by Created by RCW

And after the sharks, the jelly fish, the rays and the reef, there is all of the other amazing animals at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto.

: The colours seem almost artificial, they’re so vivid

: A school of silver slivers swim silently (say that 10 times fast)

: A gar shares space with a muskelunge

: Probing the lake bottom makes for some nasal scarring

: A collection of twins sliding across the pebbles

: Striped fish sit boldly in the darkness of deep ocean

: The crab tries to huddle its 2-foot wide body into the crevice

: A menacing under-bite on the wolf eel

: Like marine flowers, anemones brighten the rock wall

: A mottled fish tries to blend in

: Camera simply refuses to focus well on seahorses

: Gentle fronds reach out to snatch food from the water

: A simple ball of toxin

: A determined horseshoe crab tries to break into the resting tank

Back to the Aquarium – Call me Ray

May 28, 2014 by Created by RCW

Aside from the shark tank, rays also have their own tanks where they rule the roost at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto.

: In the touch tank, the ray slips quietly under the surface

: A young black tip shark searches for food

: The ray flaps its wings, barely disturbing the other fish

: The bonehead shark looks like a small hammerhead

: The small ray seems to want to play with the onlookers

: Sharing their space, the bonehead shark soars above the flying ray

: Two rays fly through the tank

: A young girl leans into the touch tank to reach an adventurous ray

: A school of fish ignore the distant ray

: A young girl shows no fear in the shark tank

: Flying in formation, the rays cross the tank

: Not sure if the mother is offering her daughter to the sharks or just saying “Look, honey!”

: My friend Victoria works up the nerve to take a touch

Back to the Aquarium – Reef madness

May 27, 2014 by Created by RCW

For its sheer variety of creatures and its rainbow mosaic of colours, the coral reef displays are high on my list when visiting the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto.

See also: Shark Tank and Jelly Fish & Friends