I Made It! (sort of) The Letter Z

As we sat in Harrison Galleries on Monday, I zealously looked through several art books on the shelf.  I was hoping to discover an artist whose name begins with "Z" to feature for my final entry of the latest series for Mrs. Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday.  In fact, I didn't find a single "Z" artist (though there are many on line), but I fell in love with this painting by Harold Braul. Bill remarked that there are (sort of) "Z" shapes in the shadows and cast by the bicycle wheels and the leaning bodies.  I grasped at that thought eagerly.  The riders are zipping nicely and that surely grants them admission to a "Z" post.  Thanks, Mr. Braul!

This children's alphabet book was among the art books.  Bill held it while I photographed the "Z" page (see his fingers on the left?).  I thought the small writing would give me the author's name, but sadly, it isn't there, so I will have to update this entry.  I liked the book.  I see that the name "Harrison" is written in the lower right-hand corner of the illustration.  Hm.  Perhaps, Jennifer Harrison did the drawings?  Look around the border of the page for lots of words with "Z" in them.  I'll keep you posted on the author, but for now, top marks for a creative approach to the letters of the alphabet.

For Z-titled music, I'm afraid I wasn't very original.  I love Zip-a-dee-doo-da.  Here's the Disney version.  And, here's the Fabulous Thunderbirds version.  If you have the space and the time, I think you should stop reading this right now (or very soon) and do a little dance around your living room, with child in tow if there's one in your household, to at least one version of that song. I also looked for an artist with a Z" name and came across glass artist, Toots Zynsky. I love, love, love her work.  Check out her site, but if time is limited, just this one exquisite piece found at the link above should convince you.

The rest of this post will, I hope, zip by fairly quickly.  What follows are the photos I took on Tuesday.  This first one was taken around noon from the park across from our apartment.  The rest were taken at a stop along Coal Harbour, during our bicycle outing.  All have a dreamy, foggy look and I've just discovered there's a term called zero-zero that means foggy, or misty, or vapoury or..  well, you get the idea.  It works for most of the rest of the photos, since we encountered quite a bit of fog and mist today.

There was no fog when we arrived at the first pond, but I noticed the bull rushes had flattened down since our last visit, and they seemed to have..

some "Z" potential, especially when I..

zoomed in to catch this shape.

There was a distinct "X" in this Fox Sparrow's face, but I also thought..

the reed it was sitting on seemed like the middle line of a "Z" (try looking sideways).

Wavy "Z's"..

under the ducks..

and in the reflections,

and in the wing patterns could be spotted with a bit of imagination.

Black Jack's zeal in giving Bill..

a big kiss..

made me laugh zanily,

especially when I came to this last photo in the series.  Black Jack was just so pleased with herself and Bill had some warm, fuzzy feelings too.  I think :)

For the first time ever, I spotted a hawk by the pond.  It was high in the tree, and I didn't..

get much of a photo..

and I'm still trying to identify.  Maybe, a Sharp-Shinned Hawk (it didn't look much bigger than a pigeon from my vantage point but as said, it was a long way up),

or possibly a Cooper's Hawk.

It zoomed into the air, and..

was whizzing along and out of sight before I had a chance to catch much of a photo.

Bill, as always, entertained Black Jack while i took photos.  That's one of my favourite trees, and surely, there must be a "Z" within those gnarled branches.

Now, here is where the zero-zero part really comes into use.  I've never seen mist like this over Lost Lagoon.  We were on the other side of the highway, but even from there,

could see the fog collection and moving over the buildings.

We decided to walk under that overpass,

via this tunnel.  Two minutes later, we were staring..

into a delicate mist

that obstructed most of the action in the middle of the pond, but left some pinks and..

some reflections to enhance the feeling of mystery.

It was difficult to get much of an image of the Christmas tree..

at the centre of the pond..

and the cormorants on this log were barely discernable,

but for some reason, looking through these branches made the tree stand out more.

This jogger may be a former colleague of mine.  Bill was impressed with the lights on her back-pack and I took the photo on a whim, though the lights didn't really show up as I had hoped.  Later, when I looked at the photo, I realized I'm fairly certain I know this person.  How zazzy to have come across her though we must make sure to say "hello" next time!

The geese were flying back and forth over the two ponds,

and the swans were swimming along quite peacefully,

though occasionally one of them would stretch its neck in a protective gesture.

They swam right into the reflection made by the tree.

I took one photo of the mountains,

and one of the tunnel that we walked through again to return to our bikes.

I was sad to see this person sleeping (I hope) in the tunnel.

These (cherry?) blossoms were on the bush beside our bicycles.  They added some pizazz to our outing for sure.  Thank you to the hosts of ABC Wednesday.  And to my dear readers, if you have been tempted to try writing alphabet-linked posts, this is the perfect time to join in, as a new round begins next Wednesday.  Thank you for humouring my "Z"-related efforts today.  Happy Wednesday, everyone!