Saturday evening and Sunday morning walks

Saturday evening, Black Jack and I walked down the Blanca Street trail to Spanish Banks Beach.  We met up with a mother and her two children, a boy around five or so, and a girl a little bit older.  They loved Black Jack, and she them, so we ended up walking together for quite some time.  There is something perfect about kids and dogs when they are communicating, and these kids were convinced that Black Jack was responding to their every command. I think they may have been anticipating Black Jack's actions, and giving the command just before, but whatever, the three of them were definitely enjoying the interaction.  No pictures, but definitely a good part of the walk.

There wasn't much light, but I took this photo of a heron fishing by the beach.

A large dog chased it away.  I felt disappointed with the dog's human, but the heron was fine.  It fished a bit further down the beach.

We came back through Jericho Park.  I love this tree.
Another view of the same tree.
Sunday morning, we were back in the same territory, via a different route.  As we walked down the Point Grey Hill, I heard an excited and happy voice call, "Hi, Black Jack."  The same two children were with their mother on a tandem built for three.  For some reason that makes me remember a story from my childhood.  I wasn't a particularly graceful kid, with long, skinny legs and only fair coordination.  My mother, determined to give her kids every advantage, signed us up for ballet and tap dancing lessons.  My sister, smaller and much better coordinated, had to do a duet with me.  The music, if I remember correctly, was "Tea for Two".  Perhaps, you can see the connection to the tandem.  Admittedly, it's a bit of a stretch.  Anyhow, my dear sister wasn't all that enthusiastic about public performances, and although she came on stage with me, she then danced herself right off again, leaving me to do a solo performance.  Not one of my favorite memories, but it has brought laughter more than once, in the years since.  My dancing skills have only deteriorated since that day.  

But, back to the walk.  We met the heron that EvenSong named Ned.  (Since I have never seen more than one heron at Jericho, this  must be Ned.)  He was fishing in the marsh.  It was a grey day, but still, I took pictures.
Then, we walked through the rabbit bushes.  Black Jack was on a short leash, and on her very best behavior.  
A large dog came charging past us, and the bunny took off, safely, I'm happy to say.  Bad picture, but I found it interesting to look at the feet.  I have some old pictures of my last dog with the same position of back feet almost ahead of the front feet.  It was thought that he had Greyhound in him, but maybe he was part rabbit.
I watched for a while, and once the dog was gone, the rabbits assembled for a group photo.
Another dog, and another chase. I guess it keeps the rabbits in shape, and they survived just fine, but I have to wonder at the humans who allow their dogs to do this.  Again, I was intrigued to study the feet.  
It surprised me how many sailboats were out on this grey, coolish day.  It also surprised me that they went so close to the ship.  In my past, I had a sailboard, quite different from a sailboat, but still risky if the sailing skills aren't secure.  I was fairly confident on it, and spent many happy hours playing on the lake in Ste.Agathe des Monts in Quebec.  Several years later, I was living in Nova Scotia, and tried to use it in St. Margarets Bay.  It was a whole different story when learning to take the tide into account.  One day, the wind died completely, the tide was going out, and the only way I could get back home, was to lie on the board and paddle with my hands.  It took a very long time, and I'm a bit ashamed to say, I haven't been on a sailboard since.  Maybe, this summer, I'll take some lessons down at the Jericho sailing school.  
Our last "beast" of the walk was this squirrel.  Black Jack saw it and froze.  The squirrel did as well.  I wonder if they think they're invisible when they melt into the tree trunk like this.
That was our walk.  I'm a bit behind on posts.  There's another Spanish Banks walk, and a visit to the heronry, with a Serena update, still to be posted, but maybe I'll do those this evening.  It's a beautiful morning, and it's lovely being on holiday.  We're off for some more adventures.  To where?  I'm not quite sure.