Whirlwind House Guest en route to Oz

 My dad was passing through town on his way to Australia and stayed with us for a little over 24 hours. Luckily I had booked the day off once Kathryn suggested we have a bit more time together, so I was able to capitalize on the entire time for a visit.

 I wanted to have a hike somewhere that would be new for him, so we trekked up to North Vancouver and hiked a series of trails from the reservoir at Capilano Lake downstream through the canyon and ultimately to the salmon hatchery shown below. There were lots of Coho running and they looked to be in very good shape, so it was nice to see healthy fish returning to where they began to start the next generations. The grounds are quite informative as well and you can see into the huge tanks where they rear thousands of fry to the size where they are more likely to survive in the wild.

 We were also fortunate to have a nice close look at this little squirrel munching on some food quite fearlessly at the side of the trail. I would have taken a picture and assumed it was a red squirrel without a second thought, but dad mentioned that it might be a Douglas squirrel which is a more rare species on the west coast, and with a little internet searching low and behold it was. So a new mammal species for me to round out our walk and brief visit! :)

Outbound Inlaws

 Bevan and Valerie stayed with us for a few days before departing for their Alaskan cruise, which gave us a nice opportunity to have a visit and share and take in a little culture and relaxation. Between leaving work a little early and a whale watching cancellation due to bad weather, we were both able to be around for the majority of their time with us which was very nice. Here they are at the departure gate for their ship.

 Which was an enormous monstrosity of a ship! Apparently their room is midships on the starboard side. I think we'll stick to our small boats and nature tours for a good long time to come, but maybe the day will arrive when we'd like to be pampered in a giant floating hotel ;)

 On a very rainy Saturday before they set out, the four of us took a visit to the art gallery, which had a display called 'Mashup' which was an assortment of modern art, collage, and video editing. That sort of art in particular I find is a healthy split of 50% clever and 50% utter garbage (yes, signing a urinal maybe re-contextualizes the object from its original purpose, but it's a little too nonsense pretentious for me...) The highlight of the gallery was a small "dub room" where they were playing Jamaican music which introduced us to the fun album "Super Ape" by Lee Perry and the Upsetters. The photo below shows the main rotunda with a fancy modern art paint job.

Steven's visit and the various animals that ensued

 Kathryn's brother Steven was in town over a weekend recently and while showing him the sights, we managed to fit in several animal related photos worth sharing. With only a few days in town and an existing familiarity for much of the city, we spent most of the time at Granville Island or English Bay with a little visit to the aquarium tucked in. First off is the obligatory "Everyone Loves the Cat" photo in which all guests must smile as though pleased with the animal while he is digging his claws into their arm.

 The dolphins, belugas, and otters get all the mainstream love, but my favorite things at the aquarium are always the weird little fish tucked into corners that nobody notices. Like this Warty Frogfish, which I did not even know was a thing. Modern marine biologists have yet to quantify how much this creature sounds like Gilbert Gottfried, but hopefully someone is doing their doctorate on the topic right now.

 The baby geese are all hatched and their parents are both fearless and belligerent, but it was still surprising to see this sizeable family step into the busy traffic of Granville Island and stroll across the street. I even had a trace of my faith in humanity restored as all the drivers stopped and let the entire family cross.

Mayne Island Japanese Garden

 While both sets of parents were in town, we took a short visit to the Gulf Islands, and in one little jaunt we took a day to explore Mayne Island. As luck would have it the "Tour des Isles" was taking place that very weekend and we found ourselves with locals eager to drive us to the sites and showcase their home. So what began as a trip to a nearby harbor quickly escalated into royal treatment with chauffeured excursions.

 One spot immediately suggested by our guide was the Japanese garden, which was an absolutely stunning place to spent an hour in relatively quiet contemplation. Originally built to commemorate the early Japanese settlers of the island, many of whom were unfairly imprisoned during World War 2, it evokes an exotic feel to this little west coast town.

(click on the panorama below to enlarge it)

 We had never heard of this garden, so it came as a delightful and unexpected surprise. The combination of plants and sculptures made for a very pleasing landscape to relax and explore at our leisure.

Convocation and Valedictorian Speech

After 2 very stressful (but in hindsight very quick) years, I graduated from the BCIT Accounting Diploma Program. Both sets of parents came out for the ceremony along with my lovely Kathryn, which really reinforced what a special event it was for me. I have several years of part-time schooling to go before I complete my degree and then my designation, but this certainly marked the cut-off point where I quit worrying about returning to VFX and officially began my new career.

The ceremony was in a church near the BCIT campus which comfortably sat the board and top instructors from several programs along with 230-ish graduates and 1200-ish guests, so that seemed like a good excuse to try out New Professional George and deliver the Valedictorian address. A few years ago I would have hidden in the back, but now I am quite comfortable talking infront of large groups of people, so long as I have time to prepare.

Since BCIT was very clever and recorded the whole ceremony, I have easy access to my speech, and to save anyone else from having to sift through 2+ hours of people in funny hats receiving awards, I have edited out just my speech below:

New Years Visitors and the Polar Bear Swim

 We had some great visitors to begin the new year with my cousin Sarah and her husband Aric passing through Vancouver just in time to start the year out by leaping into the sea. We hadn't seen these two since their wedding, so it was really nice to have a full afternoon to catch up and have a proper visit.

 On our way to the water we had the fun of seeing the hovercraft parked on the beach. We always enjoy seeing this thing in the area, so naturally the one time it was open to visitors we were too busy and cold to wait in line for a proper look.

Rounding out our day, here's our GoPro camera footage which Kathryn shot as we charged into the water. Since its in a dive housing, the audio is pretty terrible, so don't crank up your computer volume to try and hear our mutterings and curses, but its as close as you can get to being there without actually having been there.
For those of you that are impatient, things actually get moving around the 1 minute mark.

Family and Friends to be Thankful For

 With our health, happiness and loving marraige, we both have a lot to be thankful for. Most of that is difficult to express in a quick trio of photos, but we also had visits with dear family and friends this year which are much easier to summarize in a blogpost as people who most certainly help us through the years. Kathryn's parents shared a nice week with us earlier in the summer, allowing for some nice excursions from the city along with an overdue visit. They are an excellent example of how to be married for decades and still be very much in love.

 My cousin Simone and her husband Robbie were in town for a visit this summer as well, and we had a surreal crossover with them and my old friend Riley from Manitoba and the long long ago. It was really great to catch up with people I hadn't seen for years and pretty much pick up where we last left things off.

 Rounding out the summer, my dad came along with us to Telegraph Cove for some wildlife viewing and good company. As always, our friends at Stubbs Island Whale Watching were incredibly generous with their time and we had a dinner party/barbeque pretty much every night we were up there.

 

 There are many more dear people in our lives than we have quick reference photos of, but to everyone that is a part of our routine in Vancouver or elsewhere, thank you for being in our lives and we are no doubt past due for a proper visit.

Squamish Peak Gondola

 In early June, Kathryn's parents came for a nice visit and we took a day trip to Squamish to ride the very new gondola up to the peak of a nearby mountain. This is in the same area as 'The Chief', but does not share that peak or impose on the people that are out for a hike rather than a day trip.

 The top has a very nice new building with a restaurant/gift shop and that hallmark of standing in high places in BC, a suspension bridge. Kathryn is noticeably more comfortable with suspension bridges than our first visit to the Pinawa suspension bridge and now gamely trots too and fro hundreds of feet in the air.

 The view is certainly worth the effort with a selection of viewpoints out over the valley and Howe Sound. You can click on the panorama below to enlarge it. There were also some very talkative but hard to photograph Sooty Grouse up in the trees and an assortment of short but pleasant hikes around the peak.

Steven Visit

The Mute Swans at Lost Lagoon are fed a special diet. Most people give them bread which is very bad for them.  Here we are feeding them cracked corn which is fine.  Steven was highly entertained making this one stretch for his snack.

Steven was more entertained by the evil looking gigantic cat that I call a pet.  Kodiak got along with him very well and condescened to snuggle after 2-3 days.  I just realized that my Penguin Pillow Fortesque is photobombing.  Kodiak's eyes are ice-blue which is why they look so red in the picture. They must be picking up the red of the sofa.

Steven is making friends and looking incredibly pleased with a Chestnut Backed Chickadee.  We had quite the swarm of them coming to have a snack.  They are incredible bold friendly birds.  Two pictures of Steven feeding birds. I hope that is not over kill.  I don't care I love that photo below.

Sarah and Aric's Wedding

A few weeks ago Geordie and myself were honoured and privileged to be invited to his cousin Sarah's wedding to her man Aric.  It was a lovely and unique ceremony.  How often do you get to see two people tie the knot in a trolley car from 1952 moving through downtown Toronto.  Ding Ding!

And there is the really happy couple.  YAY!  Not too much to say about that besides heart felt Congratulations and of course Best Wishes!

So it was in our wedding best that we toured around Toronto before and during and after the ceremony until the dinner and reception.  It was neat to see friends and family dressed to the nines on the vintage trolly.  This was the first time anyone had done a wedding like this!

Thanksgiving Guest

My cousin Carolyn was in visiting us for the Thanksgiving week-end.  One of the favorite things we like to do with our out of town visitors is take one of the little false creek ferries over to Granville Island for some browsing.  Its a good way to get a different perspective of the area and it has the possibility of spotting a harbour seal.  We were lucky as we had glorious fall weather the entire time.  And pumpkin spice lattes!

We also used the aquarium as an excuse to renew our memberships and visited that as well. We gently prodded various sea binkies, anemones and cucumbers.  We got splashed by a beluga whale too. It was good seeing my old friends Jack and Daisy. We also saw caimans, bats, sharks, otters and the South African Penguins which are a delightful new addition that Geordie and I will talk about more in a later post.

Carolyn and I are mature serious adults so we made a tacit tandem decision to put on the dolphin costumes in the kids area.  Here we are frolicking like the mature and serious adults we are.  We are quite the trend setters as when we were done others decided that we were on to a good thing on copied us.

Vivacious Visit in Victoria

I was so excited when my lovely cousin Carolyn got accepted in to the MA program at University of Victoria. Hurrah!  So Geordie and I went to Victoria to help get her settled in to her gorgeous dorm and see her and her mom.  This is us below being kind of gangsta'. Carolyn and I are wearing our new sunglasses.

We were big tourists too. Auntie wanted to do a high tea so we did. This is at Gatsby Mansion. A lovely high tea half the cost as that at the Empress in the same area and just as yummy.  We are holding our pinkies out to drink it properly.  Witty banter was exchanged.

We went to Bouchart Gardens as well. Auntie had been there a while ago but it was a first for the rest of us.  We saw fireworks and lots of lovely grounds. Expensive place but very pretty.  It was an excellent weekend and I was sad to go.  Fortunately I get to see my cousin more often so YAAAAAY!!!!! 

Lobstering

My father's family has been catching lobsters in the North Sea since the 50s and when Kathryn and I went out to visit in 2006 I was sure to include an outing in our travels. When the tide goes out on some rocks near my uncles house, the lobsters that have gone in there to feed at high tide are stranded and you can find them if you poke under rocks just right. My uncle is doing just that in the picture below.
This picture shows you the gear involved in lobstering. The hip waders keep the water out of your feet and the pair of gaff hooks help you keep your balance on the slippery rocks as well as poking around under rocks looking for lobsters and pulling them out if they are defensive and attack your gaff.
Once you find one and can pull it out from under the rock you have to grab it out of the water and put it in a backpack of seaweed. This can be trickier than you'd think as they thrash quite a bit when you grab them and can be easily dropped if you don't know what you're doing. Kathryn is shown below as a mighty hunter that also ate most of that lobster.

Tubing

Tubing has been on Kathryns list of things to do since we moved here and I feel very silly that it took us this long to get properly fit it in. With her brother Steven in town for the week we finally had the excuse and time to go and took a shuttle up to Cypress Mountain for an afternoon of recreational winter. The snowboard hills are on the mountain further away in the picture below.
The tube park itself was snug but given that its more for kids we still had a thoroughly enjoyable time. The only downside being that there were lots of lines for the lift up (though you can walk up and we often did) and there were lines again at the top to prevent heaps of people from colliding with each other. It was understandable structure but it does somewhat slow down your afternoon to wait in line every minute or so.
All it all it made for a most enjoyable day and got us out in the snow for a fun day of sliding, exercise and enjoying being away from screens and the like. Steven was kind enough to bring up a new waterproof/crushproof/freezeproof camera that I have been coveting for awhile now so it was also fun to get pictures while sliding around and not worrying about breaking anything.

For Sarah

Never thought that writing my first blog post would be this. This is for Sarah: my cousin and my friend. I thought others would enjoy seeing these photos which are my favorites of her.

Like me, Sarah loved The Lion King when she was smaller. See it is on her shirt when she is little and in the water. Though she liked Pocohontas too when that came out her stuffed Simba was usually along for the ride. This is at White Rock, BC. We are looking for clams and other weird sea creatures.
We were belting out on each song in Rock Band. This is in my Aunts basement Xmas 2008. I can't remember what we are playing here. It might have been Soundgarden but could have equally been any track. We played most of the early evening. I remember I gave Sarah my Green Day Insomniac tour shirt the year before. I think she wore it out. She was more artistic than musical but you can't tell from the riot we are having here. She looks really intense on the guitar.
At the last minute at Geordie and I's wedding we decided we wanted flower girls. Sarah and her sister Carolyn stepped in the day of no rehearsal or anything! Great thing was the blue on her dress matched our blue colour scheme. No intention or anything. I love her hair in this photo. She is so pretty. I also have a picture of her barefoot and tearing it up on the dance floor at the same event. So cute!
What else to say.....? I will miss you and love you forever Sarah. You have the entire universe to decorate and I can't wait to see your work.