BC Day, Pride Week, and Happy Blue Monday!

Today is BC Day.  An interesting article in "The Province" newspaper is titled BC Day Special: 50 Fun Facts You Didn't Know About Our Fascinating Province.  It is headed with the photograph you see below.  i would like to credit it, but the photographer isn't named.  The photo highlights the fact that in the 1950's, Vancouver was second only to Shanghai in its number of neon signs.  I'm not sure that gives us reason for pride, nor is the information that Vancouver had the first Skid Row in Canada, but the article is nevertheless an interesting one.  The invention of the Jolly Jumper in 1957 is noteworthy to me. My sister and I enjoyed one as toddlers. I'm pretty sure I remember that correctly, but by 1957, I would have been in Grade 4 :) Hm.. I hope The Province researchers checked out their facts carefully.  Perhaps, it was patented long after it came into use.  The important thing to me is that The Jolly Jumper is still used. It has stood the test of time.  Another fact resonates with me is that Vancouver Island is home to one of the oldest known Red Cedars, estimated between 1500 and 2000 years old.   Whatever the facts shown in the article, I can say with passion that I love this province and am truly thankful to have made my home here.  

I am linking up this morning with Smiling Sally's Blue Monday meme.  

 Many thanks to her for celebrating the colour blue.  

 I saved these photos of flowers taken in Stanley Park last week.. 

 just for her.

Continuing on with the highlights of our day yesterday, a huge one was seeing Tupper.

Seven long days with nary a glimpse of her.  She disappeared the day before the week of firework shows began and returned the day after they ended.  A coincidence, I suppose, but we do have to wonder.  Maybe, she is even smarter than we realized.

She ran after me as if to say, "Wait for me.  I promise I'll be back sooner next time."  Bill and I are always a little sad when days go by without seeing her and our hearts soar when she makes an appearance.  Come back soon, pretty lady.    

 We rode our bikes to Caffé Citadella yesterday.  Sitting outside in a beautifully shaded spot, I took this photo of art on their wall through an open doorway.

 Bill stepped out of the doorway, and I thought he looked..

 especially handsome.  (Do you see the art behind him?)

 The sun was playing with shadows, the grasses wafted in the breeze,

and we were as content as two people can be.  Bill told me a story of holding his hand out the window of the family car as a kid, feeling the changing force of the wind and imagining he could fly.  I loved his story, remembering something similar myself.  The shadows and light played around us as we talked.

 The building is one that never fails to bring pleasure.  I've saved some of the photos of its fences and balconies for Theresa's Good Fences meme on Thursday, but here are a few..

 with a close up of the heritage information (with particularly vibrant blue in the background)..

and some of the architectural details..

 that bring us back to BC's early years.

We left the café and rode after that to a spot near Olympic Village.

 There is a place that we've passed many times and thought about stopping to explore.  Finally, yesterday, we spent a little time there.  We thought about the homeless as we sat on huge slabs of cement under a bridge while Black Jack..

picked up smells that brought out the beast in her for sure.

 Our bikes waited for us in what feels like another world above.

 We walked under this bridge, 

and I noticed some bedding tucked into its rafters.  On the way back, I noticed two fellows almost totally hidden against a back wall.  Surprised, I said a quiet "hello" to them, but they didn't answer.

The bridge, 

 with cement supports reflected,

 and huge steps, only just navigable for us, 

 and a little too much for Black Jack,

contributed to a feeling of having entered a somewhat friendly dungeon. 

 I took a couple of photos of the world..

 above us and we thought it was time to head home.

 Some blue daisies beside our bicycles..

took on different shades of blue/mauve in the varying light,

 and a lone moth perched in their midst rated another few photos before we left.

We have reached the last day of Vancouver's Gay Pride Week and though I do wish all humans would recognize the harm and terrible suffering to wildlife caused..

by balloons (we saw these high in the sky from our spot on the cement stairs),

 I did want to mark the celebration of individual expression.  Just as we were at the final turnoff, this group caught my eye.

Friendly, colourful, each with a unique style, I thought they were perfect!

 When I asked them to "get silly" they were happy to oblige :)

Neither Bill nor I "do" parades very well, so the time this group took to stop for us really meant a lot.  Thanks, happy people.  You brightened our day!  We wish each one of you a good life!  And, thanks as always to any readers who have found time to stop by the blog.  If it's the colour blue you are craving, don't forget to hop on over to Smiling Sally's meme.