My 2nd "B" post

I am posting to ABC Wednesday and Wild Bird Wednesday today (even though it is Thursday :). Although I won't post to "Barn Charm" this week, I did include a section on barns since it fits nicely with the letter "B" and I had a lot of pictures from some recent excursions.  Thanks to TexWisGirl for starting me on a bit of a barn-watching obsession :) 

This is my 2nd letter "B" post for ABC Wednesday.  The last one was in July, 2012.  As said then, "B" is a very easy letter for me.  The two most important B's in my life are in the photo below.  If you go to that 2012 post, you can see many more wonderful shots of Bill and Black Jack.  You can even see Bill on a bicycle.  Everything I said in that post still holds true.  To quote myself, I said of Bill, "He makes me laugh, and he loves Black Jack, and we share good times and he understands me.  I love him.  Simple as that."  Below, you can see Bill rock-hopping after Black Jack.  She is on a mission to find the source of some obviously wonderful smells in the Squamish rocks.

Bill

Bailiwick

Bill taught me the word "bailiwick" and I will never forget it. Although the origin of the word has to do with a bailiff's jurisdiction, the metaphorical sense is the one often used (a special quality or characteristic or area of interest that is part of someone's character).  It is Bill's bailiwick that he can't bear to force anyone to do anything.  Rather than force Black Jack to stop digging up smelly and possibly dangerous stuff under the rocks, he just picks her up. She is happy because she loves the vantage point from her buddy's arms..

As for Black Jack, with a few variations, I could say the same words I said about Bill.  She makes me laugh and she loves Bill and she understands me (I think) and I love her."

Don't tell her I also said that, unlike Bill, she is a bit berserk at times.  Whoops, do you think she heard me?

Birds for Wild Bird Wednesday

More photos from our day at Boundary Bay.  I think this is most likely a Northern Harrier.

This hawk was also at Boundary Bay.  I have struggled with identification, so any help is appreciated.  (Thank you, EvenSong, for your much appreciated thought in my last post.)

I think this is the same hawk as the one above.  His/her expression seems to be saying with rolled eyes, "Puleeze" in response to the sign s/he is sitting on.

That sign refers to this small enclosure that seems to be a favourite retreat for many of the birds.  They fly around in that space looking for all the world like they appreciate the fence.

I was happy to catch a photo of this Bald Eagle in Squamish.  My previous post shows the same eagle just after lift-off. 

This juvenile eagle may be the offspring of the adult above since they were hanging out together.  When the adult departed, the juvenile flew into the rocks directly beneath us.  S/he seemed to be feasting on something in the crevice.  I was shooting through branches, and his/her wings were flapping for balance, but I was happy to get a fairly close look at him/her.

Yum.

We had a good opportunity to study the eagles' footprints on the beach.

I heard a light tapping along the walking trail and watched the trees for a while, believing that something interesting was nearby.  Then we saw this beauteous Downey Woodpecker.

His mate was nearby.  It was the first time that I noticed the white stripe on their backs.

Barns

I took lots of shots through the truck window as we drove to Harrison Hot Springs.  

I was rather big on..

some of the blurry shots.

This beautiful old barn..

seemed to be on the byway for the Trumpeter Swans.

Barn, house, truck, fence and swans were brushed in white for this colour-coordinated photo.

Speaking of colours, I loved the dappled browns.. 

of these bonny beasts. 

Many of the barns appeared tiny against breathtaking backgrounds.

I loved this old silo and wondered if it was a heritage building.

"Byre" is a new word to me that is defined as "an outlying farm building for storing grain or animal feed and housing farm animals."

Some buildings had a rather bedraggled appearance..

that I found beguiling, and for some reason, I associate (incorrectly, I think)..

a broken-down but still functional exterior with my new word, byre.

Driving along this boulevard, I realized I will never take such a background for granted.

And, blueberry fields at this time of year are nothing short of astonishing.

The backgrounds were equally baronial when we drove to Squamish.

Looking to the top of The Chief, I thought I saw a bullfrog.  Do you see him?  He sits facing us, with a glum expression on his face.  There is a tiny little person standing on his nose.

The Chief is clearly the boss of Squamish.  The town looks minuscule here.

Homeward bound, I took many sunset shots.  I thought this was one of my better ones.

And, a "B" post wouldn't be complete with at least one bridge (The Lions Gate).

We were stuck for quite a while in traffic as we waited to cross the bridge, but I had fun babbling to ever-patient Bill about our great day, and taking photos to my heart's content.

Bill slowed down so I could get this rather intriguing shot of a decorated tree and lit-up palm in front of a restaurant by Sunset Beach.

And, speaking of Sunset Beach, my only "B" shape of the post happened there.

A "B" post wouldn't be complete without mentioning my favourite colour, blue, and since I had also missed mentioning blooms, this art by Kenojuak Ashevak (last week's featured "A" artist) manages to combine, blue, bird and bloom all in one print.  It is titled "Owl with Flowers" and is done on glass.

One more "blue" piece.  This is Dave Brubeck, one of my favourite jazz musicians.  The mural is in Yaletown and was painted by Elizabeth Hollick and Laurie Macisaac.

I have huge respect for Dave Brubeck, who died in December 2012, just before his 92nd birthday.  You can hear him playing, "Take Five" in the video below.  That song was written by his saxophonist, Paul Desmond and is the one that first caught my attention many years ago.  There's another fascinating video at this link uploaded in 2011 where Dave talks about the response of the group when he suggested using new beats and time signatures.  

My new-to-me artist for the week, David Bomberg, (1890-1957) also has DB initials.  The link here goes into some detail to describe how WW1 changed him.  A quote in my little gem of a reference called "The Art Book" says: "Bomberg used angular and semi-abstract forms to express the vitality and dynamism of the twentieth century and the machine age." The painting below is possibly my favourite of the ones I saw.

Cuenca - Facing West - 1934

This Wikipedia link is also a good one.  Here are a couple of other works.  

Racehorses - 1913

You can find many more examples of his art here.

"The Red Hat" - 1931

I have loved the sound of a beautiful bass voice for years, and a classic song to show that vocal range is "Ol' Man River."  I listened to many recordings before selecting Angelo Johnson's rendition of this song.  I hope you enjoy it.

Lastly, Bill and I went to see "The Life of Pi" last evening.  I'll be honest.  We didn't enjoy it all that much.  It made Bill seasick and neither of us get much pleasure out of watching creatures get killed (computer generated or not).  However, we are definitely in the minority, so I hope I haven't hurt anyone's feelings here.  This reviewer was one of a handful who expressed what I felt: "By the time the credits roll it all feels like a whole lot of stress for no good reason."  However, we had a wonderful time.  Remember how I said Bill makes me laugh?

For some reason, setting up the camera to take pictures strikes both of us as hilarious.  Add 3D glasses to that and we become quite boisterous.  I was barely at all embarrassed that we did our photo shoot in the Elysian Cafe (we love this place) next door to the theatre :) So, here we are, smiling and wishing you well.  Thanks for reading the blog.  For more thoughts and images to represent the letter "B" you can check out the beautiful ABC Wednesday meme and don't forget to check out Wild Bird Wednesday as well.