The sedge has wither’d from the lake, And no birds sing. -- John Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci"
Above the morning chorus of finches, towhees, and red-wing blackbirds, one bird was making an emphatic statement, screeching out the same pattern over and over again.
It was bread day last Friday morning, and I was preparing the last loaves for Mildrith, the wood-fired oven.… Continue reading
Stanley Park is a jewel in Vancouver, but I’ve never felt at ease walking deep inside the park’s forest trails.
There is something awry here. Nothing I can put a finger on, just a feeling I get when I venture too far. Once, when cycling alone on the trails, I came upon a small area with a firepit, clothes strewn about and figures in the distant woods and underbrush.… Continue reading
Ringed in light: the Living Rock Island on Bake Day, Feb. 23, 2024, 1:04 a.m.
A group of neighbours and their houses sit atop the rock cliffs above Craddock Beach, South Pender Island. Generous land spaces separate them, each looking out across Boundary Pass to the northern San Juans. A few more down the road get glimpses of the beach, but none get the panorama of the bent bay the way we do.… Continue reading
The Stanley Park Causeway, a narrow ribbon connecting the Lions Gate Bridge and the City of Vancouver, curves through a thick forest of cedar, fir and hemlock trees. It’s the only way into and out of the city for people who live on the North Shore. A narrow three-lane road that carries 60 – 70,000 cars each day.… Continue reading
Listen to this song by the gravel-voiced crooner and barfly poet Tom Waits. It’s “Emotional Weather Report” from one of his earlier discs, “Nighthawks at the Diner”. If you like, you can follow along with the lyrics as you listen.
The droll way Waits delivers the song, which equates a television weather report to his emotional state, is perfect.… Continue reading
