Vancouver--Bloom off of the Rose?

I discovered something yesterday--while I still love Vancouver, I realized it couldn't always give to me!  That sounds selfish, I know, but I was hit with a heavy fit of depression and was thinking: why aren't you cheering me up, Vancouver? I was, and still will credit the city for inspiring good feelings in me; however, I know that I have to bring something to Vancouver as well!  It inspires me to write!  I need to write!  I can't wait for it to glow and inspire in order for me to write.  I need to do it!  I was expecting Vancouver to cure me of loneliness, grief, and hopelessness.

I don't know how many of you know Evita! (the musical), but there is a fabulous song in it when Eva Duarte-Peron is arriving for the first time in Buenos Aires and she sings how she's looking forward what it can give her.  She also talks, in a song before, that she wants to "B A part of BA Buenos Aires"!  While I have no intention of doing what Eva did to get to where she got (slept her way up to first lady of Argentina, I admired her spirit of putting herself out there!

Our Girl, Sirrah!

Our Girl, Sirrah!

Written by Patti White

Your ears point forward, your tail waves happily back and forth as you poke your nose

through a space in the fence.

I only got to know you for 3 weeks

And I could never leave for a walk with you without my camera.

You took my breath away

And put me under a spell, where I didn't dare miss anything--at least that's what I was afraid of.

It seems you sailed over a fence, effortlessly.

I don't know where you are for a little while then see you run up to me, as if to check where I am just as

much as I'm looking for you.

I see you, now, at the side of a handsome, dark-haired gentleman.

He's on his knees and cuddling you around the neck the way I always loved to do.

He died before he got to meet you, but now, I do believe you're together.

Your mouths are both open in joy as you both collapse in the grass.

You roll onto your back, exposing your tummy and he rubs it, the way you loved it

when we all did.

You watch over your whole family from your place just above the house.

Nothing, no dog, can take your place in their hearts or mine.

In your short life, you took care of all of us

And I'll remember your gentle, soulful eyes and ways both playful and graceful.

Thank you, Sirrah, for being more than man's best friend!

Little Silver Companion

I no longer have you, but somehow I've been able to keep going and see beauty around me.
Somehow, I could catch, in a snapshot: memories, objects, life.

I went out for a long walk by the ocean today.
I was feeling empty without you.  I looked into my packsack, hoping to see my little silver companion.
It wasn't there, but at home.

How could a little silver camera be such a comfort for me when you're no longer around? 
Somehow I always hope that when I get a picture developed you'd be right there smiling in one of the shots--maybe even making a face!

I went out for a long walk by the ocean today.
I realized that I needed to trust the memory in my heart,
Imagine your gentle voice and laughter, even without my little silver companion.