Our Weekend World

Our weekend was another beautiful one, with sunshine and refreshing breezes. I am sharing it with Our World Tuesday, with many thanks to  Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, and Jennifer for the fine work they do to encourage people from across the world to reach out to each other.  The photo below was taken on Sunday as we walked along False Creek.

"come to time where people talk different but good together 

if you heart mind open you receive new knowledge"

Translation of Chinook jargon, as portrayed by artist, Henry Tsang 

Scanning the newspaper and Facebook reminds me that we were among the fortunate this weekend.  One story that made my heart ache took place in Rock Creek, BC, where wildfire destroyed 30 homes. People had to flee for their lives and several families had to make the horrible decision to set their livestock and pets free.  The news is not good for many of these frightened animals, and it is very disturbing to learn that the fire was human caused.  The photo below comes from a HAPPY news story found at the CBC news site.  Jennifer Lynn Brock managed to save ten horses.  At that news link, there is a little audio link where you can listen to her describe her terrifying ordeal.  Bravo to her!!  

We watched the documentary, How to Change the World, on Saturday evening. It is the story of the original group of brave and slightly crazy people who started GreenPeace Canada (not to be confused with GreenPeace International). Whatever your preconceptions about this organization,  the movie will touch you.  We can all be inspired by this motley crue of hippies, scientists, adventurers and mystics making a positive difference in the world. I laughed, gasped in awe, had to close my eyes at times, but overall, came away inspired to think about the slow process, often over a lifetime, needed to influence changes when something in our world needs fixing.  Bob Hunter, a main character, died in 2005 but his daughter carries on his work.  She went on a mission herself, even as he was dying of cancer.  She had to forfeit precious time with him, but it was his wish that she do that. He is at the centre of the photo below.  Like the lady who saved the horses (above), he went to his limit of his strength to do what he believed had to be done.  I thank him, and people like him, from the bottom of my heart!

As we walked home, I took photos of flowers at the corner..

of the street by the theatre.

The sun was bathing a few high-rises as we made our way across Pacific Blvd.  You can see the slow release water bags around the trees in the centre of the boulevard.  This strategy may help them survive the current drought.

I don't believe I have ever seen Vancouver's trees turn yellow and orange in August.  These are in David Lam Park,

where we walked after the movie.

We talked of the movie and enjoyed the balmy air,

while Black Jack checked out the shore.

This perfectly good boot rested by yellow flowers.

Perhaps it belonged to the same person who left the jeans (shown in last post).

We walked towards the Granville Bridge, remarking that some of the flowers..

along the shore looked like they could go straight into a vase.

On Sunday, I caught a photo of a sparrow in the park..

and marvelled that so many people could fit on one party boat.

The trees seemed even more orangey-red than they were the evening before.

In the afternoon, we walked with Black Jack to the Jazz Vespers performance at..

St. Andrew's Wesley.  This is Jane, greeting Brooklyn with..

the most delightful enthusiasm.  Though I don't have a photo (yet), I can tell you Black Jack also looks forward to her cuddles with Jane.  I think of Jane as the ambassador for Jazz Vespers.  Before performances, she always visits the canines present, but she is equally friendly with humans  :) She, Brooklyn (at the left) and Ross, posed for me in this lovely photo.  I've posted before about Ross and Brooklyn; you can read their stories here and here.

We love the music and appreciate the interesting talks at Jazz Vespers but perhaps you can see in Bill's face as he jokes with Ross and Jane that he..

welcomes the interactions with canine-and-music-loving humans..

at least as much as the wonderful music.

Love!

The Vancouver Legacy Jazz Orchestra that played on Sunday included some of..

the top musicians in the city.  Below, Fred Stride considers which encore the musicians will choose to play for the very enthusiastic audience.

This is Freda; she rarely misses a Sunday. Black Jack loves cuddles with her too.

We noticed these tiny little flowers outside the church as we prepared..

to walk home.  The Wall Centre's reflections never fail to catch our attention.

 Even a little Canadian flag is reflected from the building across from it.

We walked from the church to False Creek, and had to smile at this foursome.

They allowed me to take some photos!

"I wonder when our turn comes."

There is a short distance near this corner when the bicycle and walking lanes are not clearly defined.  Somehow, everyone manages to get on track without too many collisions.  Here, Bill drops some change into the busker's saxophone case.

There is something about the reflections of those blue recycle bins and orange wheelbarrows that always makes me start clicking.

Bill and I sat for a while before we went home.  When we saw this dog on a boat, my 18-50 mm lens was on the camera, so you will have to search to see that tiny spec standing at the front of the second boat.

I changed to my 300 mm lens for this shot, but the boat, by that time, had reached the other side of the creek, so the dog is still a tiny spec in a large frame.  There was an energy, though, about the trio that I really liked.

We were sitting on a kind of cement ledge, and suddenly noticed we were being watched.  This Chihuahua was at the end of the ledge.

I learned that his name is Bungo and his human told us she picked him up when he hung around their room for several days during a holiday in Mexico.  I'm sure there must have been some red tape to get him back to Canada, but there is no..

question Bungo lucked out.  His vet check revealed that he had three kinds of worms in his system that would have eventually killed him.  Once that challenge was sorted out, he blossomed.  Bungo is now healthy and happy, and I doff my hat to the young lady who saved his life.

This crow watched us as we sat, contemplating our very good life.

As we left False Creek, it was impossible to resist one more bloom.

and a last shot as we looked back at one of the trees I had photographed in the morning.  It was aglow with colour and confirmed that our summer this year is sporting distinctly autumn shades.  My thoughts as the post comes to an end?  Celebrate the moment, remember those struggling, appreciate the ones who strive to make a difference, do what we can, when we can to make a difference ourselves. Thanks for stopping by.  Your visits mean the world.