And yet more sunsets (February 15)

 I decided to try sunset on Tolmie again tonight (having enjoyed the view the night before).  I am starting to wonder about adopting this as a daily practice.

Sunset was scheduled to occur (according to the interweb) at 5:35.  I arrived 10 minutes before, sliding into one of the parking spots on the back side of the hill, and walking up to the lookout.  I love seeing all the others silhouetted against the sky, setting themselves up to enjoy the show.

And a show it was.  Facing to the west, the sun dipped behind the clouds with a blaze of yellows and oranges.

Can you see the bird I caught in the lower left hand corner? (Miles tells me that next time, I should just assert that I did the catching 'with intention'!)

Chasing the Sunset (February 14)

Today was "heart day" (Valentines Day) and it seemed a perfect time to try to catch the sunset.  Gillian Calder and I ditched our offices at UVic, and drove up to the top of Mount Tolmie, planning the visit to coincide with sunset.  

Apparently every 'couple' in the vicinity decided to do something similar, so there was competition for parking!  Still, it was worth it.  

We were first treated to 5 or so minutes of glorious oranges and reds as the sun headed down. 

In closeup, it is almost like someone drew around the cloud with a giant neon sharpie!

 

I love how the clouds appear almost like waves lapping against the distant mountains.

As the sun dipped lower and the colours began to soften, you could see both the dark blue of the mountains, and the orange of the sky mirrored into the water of the harbour.

And then the oranges slowly bled out and we shifted to a pallette of pinks and greys.

Just a few punches of vibrant colour lingering in the cloud structures

Nature just seemed to be doing its own watercolour across the horizon.

The clouds were piled in the distance almost like some layered ice-cream cake dessert.   And the moon was just hanging up there in the sky above.

I returned to the law school, soul refilled from the encounter with beauty.   

When it was finally time to head home, some clouds had slipped across the sky.   I still had the camera in hand, and caught these cloudy shots.

I still haven't figured out all the details for photos at night, 

By the time I got home, the skies had cleared again, and i was left with this beauty.

A nice end to the day.

A November trip to the Lake - The first 24 hours

Reading week gave me an opportunity to escape to the Interior to spend some time with Steve and Alex.   My last flight out involved clear skies and amazing views from the window.  This time, the clouds were low and misty, with very few 'photo ops'.  Still, the flight over the Salish Sea, and over the mountains is something amazing.

The word for 'islands' in SENCOTEN means "ancestors of the deep"

Arriving in Kelowna where Steve was waiting

A date night selfie while waiting in Salmon Arm for the car to charge

An inviting carpet of leaves waiting for us at the lake

Steve had to work the next morning, but there was still time for an early morning walk around the property.  It is such a different view in the fall, both the colours and the vistas.  Most of the leaves are down now, which means you can see so much further into the woods.

  

The taupe coloured ferns get a pop of green and white from the snowberry

The bears have now headed back up to the hills.  No surprise, as the apples are now mostly gone.   There was only one lingering on this tree (the plants are all packed down around it, as the bear spent some time laying around there.

The last apple, hanging on the branch like a Christmas decoration

Geese out on the lake...in no hurry

We walked to the beach via 'the healing circle', stopping to touch the poles.   Still standing after all these years (though one of the poles is broken and will need replacing).  I liked imagining getting the canvas up on the teepee poles one of these summers.

The blues, whites, and greys of the sky, water and hills were totally peaceful and calming.

I love all the layers of colour in the sky

Will I be able to turn this zoom-closeup into a watercolour?

I love how both Penny and the beach introduce a slice of contrasting colour!

While Steve worked, Wyona and I took a day trip to Vernon.  What was totally surprising was how fast the sun goes down.   By 4:30 or so, as I was driving back to Wyona's place, the dusk sky was already upon us.

The view from Wyona's deck as the sun begins its decline.

The view from Arta's deck (Doral's deck) a half an hour later.

And thus ended the first 24 hours of my November visit!

First flight (in COVID times)

Selfie with the Charles Elliot (Temosen) poles

Thanksgiving weekend,  I finally took my first steps back onto an airplane since the beginning of the pandemic.  

I headed out to the lake to spend a few days with Steve and Alex.  

Safety first... masks on!

It was not my first time back to the airport itself: when Arta was sick last year, I did get lots of stops at the airport to pick up siblings and 'piblings'.  Piblings, it seems, is a good gender-neutral term for the siblings of a parent!  I like how close Siblings is to 'Pillings'.  lol. 

This was my first time back there on my own account. It was interesting to find myself back in the airport considering what seems similar, and what has changed.  Masks while flying is of course new.   But what remains unchanged is the magic of that little 13-minute flight.   I had my phone camera glued the window the entire time.

Here is some video footage of the takeoff (which flings you right out over the water).

And here are some views for me to remember:

Is this low tide or high tide? Does the beach expand or contract over the day?

I love the little puffy cloud in the corner, casting its shadow forward

I was on the lookout, but didn't catch sight of the ferry

The Tsawassen Ferry Terminal below!

 

The photo can't quite capture the shimmer on the water

And then suddenly, it is again a world of goods and warehouses

A mere13 minutes later, and I was in the Vancouver airport.  I had fantasized there would be time to sneak over into the International Terminal to say "Hi!" to Bill Reid's sculpture, "The Spirit of the Haida Gwai", but there was not enough time.  Instead, back onto the plane (the same plane as it turns out), with another window seat for the trip to Kelowna.  Again, phone glued to the window.

Skyscrapers right to the edges of the water

With no clouds, it was just a carpet of rock and snow

If you want a few minutes of meditative mountain video, here you go!

Ferry Fabulousness - A photo scrapbook from July 23

After some debate, Duncan and I decided to head out to the Shuswap for some time with the extended family.   This means, "The Ferry!"    The masking protocols have only just changed, so that the outside decks are fully accessible again.   While we were on the 9am ferry, Duncan spend the trip sleeping down on the car deck.  Not surprising, as he stayed up the night before!   I, on the other hand, spent the time up on the top sun deck.  It was a truly spectacular trip.  Here are some snaps, and videos (in reverse order, but... whatever!)

For those of you who like video versions, here are some clips from the trip.  

This first one catches the sparkle on the water (as the ship moved out from the Schwartz Bay Ferry Terminal

This one might seem long (ie. 4 minutes).  However, you get to see what it is like to be in Active Pass when the ferries pass each other going to and coming from Vancouver.   It is a fab part of the voyage!