Saturday, July 31, 2010

Renewal on the Water

Sitting on a bench on Kitsilano Beach,
not wanting to move.
I'm afraid of missing something.

I can't be everywhere; I just want to be here...for the moment at least.

The slapping of balls by palms or fists over volleyball nets (several games at once),
Bare feet dancing and hopping in the sand, trying not to let the ball fall.

The salty, fishy smell of the beach and the people not caring what time or even what day it is.

I don't want to leave this haven in the city, where a young man pulls out his guitar, adding to the music of the sea.


Container ships wait in the bay, companions to the smaller boats --- sailboats, kayaks, and water taxis, and...unfortunately, power boats that scar the smoothness of the water.

Thankfully, I can't hear the ugly, macho-driven speed monsters.
Luckily, the sound of guitar strumming, chatter of power-walkers, and laughter of children are drowning it out!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Walking on Water or Flying?

I cannot truly say what attracts me to this picture. Is it the young man's body as he seems to effortlessly fly across the water?  I watched him for quite a while.  His arms stretched out in different directions, he could almost be a bird in the sky surfing the clouds.  Somehow, he reminds me of the Silver Surfer I'm sure I've seen in some comic books.  He seems like he's holding the sky and the twinkling water in his control.  While I'd never do it, skimming across the small pools of water seem like walking on water.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Kerrisdale

I'm looking down West 41st, once again accompanied by the memory of my favourite travel companion, Jason.  No, he's not really here and I truly hope he's at peace. 

At different times over many Christmas and summer holidays spent in Vancouver, he and I walked, hand in hand, down West 41st enjoying some of the little specialty stores and sidewalk cafes.  We crossed the East and West Boulevards (it's actually Arbutus Street, I think, but, in this area, the signs simply say "West Boulevard" and "East Boulevard").

A long band of green space in the middle divides the boulevards and an unused (at least by a train) track runs down the middle amongst the greenery.  Only children and walkers use this now.  What is it about train tracks that make it irresistable to me and others? 

Going down the streets off the main road, mature trees stand majestically.  I walk by where my sister and her husband once lived while still living in Vancouver.  The street and area is still beautiful with character houses--some being renovated.

As usual, I feel Jason's actual absence, but am determined to enjoy it and dream for the both of us.  I sit outside a cafe, nursing an iced mocha and watch people going back and forth, feeling happy and energized as time goes by. 

A lone feather, at the time I'm writing this has landed on my foot. Vancouver has a great many birds, especially seabirds so I don't react at first, but it's alone.  Who knows?  I remember once Jason told me he wanted to come back as an Eagle!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Fire Clouds in the Sky

I was walking with my mother on Crescent Beach tonight after my math class.  The sky over the ocean as the sun is going down is capable of such change.  No two sunsets I've seen over the water is ever the same.  On the way to the beach, Mum pointed over to the ocean and said that "it looks like the sky is on fire!"  and it did!  Colours of bright red and orange lit up even the sides of houses and cottages almost like a huge fire.

In the sky, I noticed that when the light hits it, actually looks like an ocean above the ocean with waves and ripples.  A pointy orange cloud looked like a volcanic mountain in a distant sea far above the ocean (if that makes any sense).  A whole new world seems to exist every night depending on placement of clouds and sun.