Oranges (and Red?)

Well, it's a beautiful Sunday here in Vancouver, but I'm looking back just a bit to Friday, and to a hodge-podge of oranges (with some reds) to share with Orange You Glad It's Friday.  They were all spotted over the past week!  Thank you, Maria, for hosting!

This orange bike.. 

led us to a delightful encounter with artist and adventurer, Sherri Hodder.

She was sitting by one of our favourite ponds along Coal Harbour.  No orange in this photo, but Sherri's jacket, headband and bike fill the bill.  Her interpretation of these bullrushes..

began as you see below, and a few days later,

led to a wonderful work that is still in progress. I really love this representation of a corner of our world as seen through Sherri's eyes.

I think it was the same day we met Sherri that I heard the the last bit of an interview on CBC news with Norman Doidge, an author who has been doing some interesting research on the brain.  A couple of days later, I HAD to have his two latest books.  I'm reserving judgement until I finish reading at least one of them, but expect updates as to my thoughts :) We don't have a wireless internet connection so when I want to add books to our Kindle, we make the two-minute walk to Urban Fare grocery store.  Bill came with me and with Orange You Glad It's Friday in mind, I took a few photos, this one of Urban Fare's window from the outside,

and then a few from inside.

Their Lunar Year decorations were up, 

and one of my former students (thank you, Jeremy!) wrote to me, "This year is extra special year of "Blue Sheep" (乙未年), so you should have extra good fortune + fun this year!"  

In fact, though the sheep/goat is called blue, there sure were a lot of opportunities to capture the colour orange, and I thought my dear Bill and Black Jack were beautifully framed here.

A few days ago, on one of our walks, we came across this cyclist.  He is visiting from France, and was working so very hard to ride his bikes up this rock.  Yes, I know, not exactly your normal tourist activity, but what struck me was his perseverance, his talent, his energy, and his ability to conquer frustration.  (You may be wondering about the colour orange, but I promise, there is some to come.)

Over and over again, 

he tried, and failed, to make the ascent.  This, in fact, was after one of his failed attempts.  He made it part way, and sort of walked the bike up, but that wasn't his goal.

Bill asked him many questions, and as so often happens in situations like this, they engaged in a fascinating conversation.  

Black Jack wasn't quite..

so impressed :)

While they talked, I discovered orange that I would have completely missed,

had we not taken the time to look carefully..

at his bike.

I love these shots and I loved the encounter.  The young man will be here for another couple of months before he returns home to France.  I hope we meet up again.  He hadn't achieved his goal as we finally got back on our bikes, but Bill looked back and sure enough, just as we rode off, he did make it up that rock and that made us really happy.  Bravo to him! 

We rode on to a little pond and waterfall where we often stop, and this little tiny blossom caught my eye.  Isn't it lovely?

Some dogs were playing by the waterfall.  I have some fun shots that i want to share with Eileen's Saturday's Critters (yes, I'm late again), but in the mean time, check out the competition for this orange ball.

In fact, this Lab ended up all on his own with three balls to choose from while the other two took off on a merry chase.

Yes, you guessed it.  The orange ball won the day!  (To be continued next post)

This cat lives on our street.  Black Jack finds him to be.. 

a most fascinating neighbour, so we have to curb her enthusiasm..

just a little.

These blossoms were just opening as we bid the cat a good day, and continued our walk..

to the path along False Creek.  This lady in her orange outfit was impossible to resist.

Later that evening (Thursday), we rode our bikes to International Village to see the movie, A Most Violent Year.  The theatre is inside quite a large mall and there were Lunar New Year celebrations going on there as well.

And once again, many opportunities to capture oranges (or reds?).

I took a few quick shots,

always fascinated with the brightness..

and the textures..

that seem to go hand in hand..

with this holiday.  I do wish my very best for a wonderful 2015 to everyone celebrating!

Loved this tapestry, 

and as we rode up the escalator to the theatre, took this last shot looking down.  The movie?  Not a relaxing watch at all!  New York in 1981 was in the midst of some very ugly challenges. That said, it is a beautifully acted drama and an intriguing study of a moral code among criminals that gave me much food for thought.  I did have to look away a few times, but overall, I do recommend it if you are a movie and history buff and willing to endure some implied violence and rough language.

These last photos are from a concert that we attended on Friday evening.  We have followed the career of cellist, Marian Hasselberg for a few years now, and my admiration for her grows stronger with every performance.  The concert was titled RED, but I thought..

many of my photos could be argued to have orange content :)  Marina performed an entire program of contemporary Canadian music with double-bass player, Mark Haney.  This photo came from their last piece, composed by Mark and titled "Then We Saw Red."

My 300 mm lens was all wrong, but what I was trying to capture here were the musicians as well as the dance-form animations behind them.  Here is a quote from Mark's site about that wonderful piece: "Then We Saw Red" [is] for cello and double bass with delay pedals; this piece was composed to accompany the test footage Norman MacLaren show for his iconic "Pas De Deux", which will be projected.

I love this shot of Marina, 

and also this one, as the composers and musicians share some congratulations at the end.

Many, many thanks for stopping by.  Until next time!

Friendships and Fascinations

Two link-ups for this post: 

Our World Tuesday (thanks to Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer)  

ABC Wednesday - letter "F" (thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt, Roger, Reader Wil, Leslie and Trubes)  

The Friendly and Fascinating people who work hard to keep these memes Functioning smoothly are worth their weight in gold in my book.

Perhaps, Friends and Fascinations might be a theme of this post.

ChrisJ, a Friend met through blogging, would welcome a few extra prayers and/or positive thoughts these days.  I am hoping the power of caring hearts added to her already very strong Faith will bring strength to her and to two members of her Family who are seriously ill. Her niece (daughter of her beloved sister, Kaybee) and granddaughter (Haley) are both in hospital in completely separate situations.  On top of those worries, Chris has recently lost her dear cat, Scruffy, to sudden illness. Know that we are feeling for you right now, Chris.  Thank you for reaching out for your loved ones, and for giving Scruffy such a beautiful life!  This music composed by César Franck always brings me a sense of peace and I hope it will do the same for you.

Fragrant roses were displayed at Harrison Galleries on Saturday.  Knowing that ChrisJ's granddaughter, Haley, especially loves these Flowers, it seems they were meant for her.

Our Vancouver outings lately have included a Robin Williams tribute (Good Morning Vietnam) with a pre-movie talk by three stand-up comedians, each of whom suffer from some form of mental illness.  The talks were open and Frank, but also extremely humorous. Joey Commisso,

Dana Gould,

Simon King,

and Mike Greenwood (to the right of Dana Gould) are performing with Vancouver's Comedy Festival, and each had words of wisdom tucked between many laughs.  They were not only Funny but Fearlessly eloquent and their words reconfirmed for me that empathy and laughter go hand in hand to make us feel better.  Perhaps, they even save lives. 

As for the movie, it brought me to a greater understanding of both the talent and the plight of Robin Williams.  Though I hadn't seen the movie in its heyday, certain scenes were a part of my consciousness, and it was good to finally Fit all of the pieces together.  All in all, a most enjoyable and memorable evening.

Crocuses have been popping up for a Few weeks now in Vancouver.  These were growing outside St. Andrew's Wesley when we attended Jazz Vespers almost two weeks ago.

I learned a few Facts about St. Andrew's this morning.  It was built between 1927 and 1933.  The web site states that the building was originally designed by Twizel and Twizel, and constructed from Nelson Island granite and Haddington Island stone.  The interplay of window design and Twigs catches my eye every time we make our way to the side door.   

The Jazz Vespers series has brought us a lot of pleasure over the past few years.  This particular concert Featured trumpeter..

and pianist, Alan Matheson,

and Finnish acoustic bassist, Wade Mikkola.

This dog attends regularly and is Famed for joining in during applause.

Alan Matheson can carry a musical phrase so smoothly and sweetly, and for such a distance, one wonders sometimes whether he ever runs out of breath.  The sound seems to Float as a Feather might traverse a Field before settling lightly on a Flower.

As many times as we have visited St. Andrew's, I had never really Focused on the beautiful expressions in the etchings..

of the glass doors and windows between the Foyer and the sanctuary.

Colors, shapes, music, art, wildlife, people..  it seems the older I become, the more I am Fascinated with the world around me.  Perhaps, if you found time to listen to César Franck's music, you may be ready for a change of pace, and Connie Francis singing "Fascination" Fits rather nicely into my mood so I hope you will enjoy it as well.

 

On Valentine's Day, we walked along False Creek's shore, observing..

the Flora..

and Feasting our eyes on..

the Flashes of color amid the greenery.

Our Fauna viewings were limited to this lovely couple with bright eyes and Fulgent hues.

I have photographed this Fence more times than I can count, but as with the flowers, its reflections appear new to me every day.  Theresa (speaking of blogger Friends), I have other fences for your Good Fences meme.  I'm Falling behind with posts and comments, but consider this a start. 

As we walked, the sky to our right was blue, but a contrasting darkness Fell over the Cambie Bridge ahead of us,

accenting the Flawless paint job of the play structure..

and highlighting the Fetching tones of the cherry blossoms.

Bill checked them out, loving the aroma but Failing to keep his..

eyes open with the sun on his Face. Or perhaps that was pure Felicity in his expression :)

Much better with the sun behind him and love the Friendly couple in the background here :)

Coming across a bike polo game was Fun.

As someone who spends many hours on a bicycle, but would never dare to try the Fabulous stunts these skilled athletes perform in the course of a game,

I can only say, "Fantastic balance and nerve!" 

Bill's Favor of retrieving an escaped ball..

resulted in a big smile from the organizer of the tournament and that is when we learned that this was more than just a lot of people having a good time together.  In Fact, they were raising Funds for a variety of excellent causes including contributions to a wish list of items needed for some less Fortunate people of the Downtown Eastside.  Called 2V2 Kiss to Make it Count, we learned that each participant had paid a Fee to enter,

and by the size of the crowd, a significant amount was raised to encourage a healthy lifestyle and happier life for many.  The Festive atmosphere (scorers had to kiss their teammate for the goal to count)..

and Valentine Fervor seemed to Follow us as walked past this Camellia (?) bush,

and up the street to the café at Harrison Galleries to enjoy treats and Full-on..

  enthusiasm for the Fundamental spirit of the day.  

 

Haley is another of our Favorite baristas, whose kind smile and hard work brighten our visits.

When we left the gallery, we did a little grocery shopping. Bill and I sometimes Fight to carry the goods, each of us hoping to lighten the load for the other.  In these shots, I've won the..

bag, but Bill has nabbed my camera and is taking photos.  Black Jack gets her treat,   

and then I turn back as he asks me to do.  I'm happy to do that small Favor..  

 for the privilege of carrying the goods.  The small details of our Fascinating Friendship :)  Many thanks for stopping by.  Wishing you a day of discovery and Fulfillment.