The vertical Canada/U.S. border in Oak Bay B.C.

Sometimes when exploring Gonzales Hill or Anderson Hill Park in Oak Bay our cellphones give out a discrete "beep" and message welcoming us to the U.S.A. It's indeed a dizzying feeling to have one's head in the U.S. whilst one's feet are still firmly planted on Canadian soil.

A difficult winter

Winter can be quite a hardship for our wild birds. Many people will provide a bird feeder in their backyard to help. However, in this case, a Good Samaritan has extended their assistance in the form of a bird feeder in a public park.

FAN•TA•SEA•ISLE

FAN•TA•SEA•ISLE is a wonderful piece of driftwood art created by folk artist Rich Rico that is located in Esquimalt in Greater Victoria's westside. Rich met up with some american visitors who posted a video of him on YouTube which can be seen HERE.

Dog of St. Patrick's Day

Sadie, a nine year old Irish Wolfhound, decked out in her St. Patrick's Day greenery and quietly watching the passing parade.

At first shy to have her photograph taken,
she eventually became quite interested in my camera.
I admit to a weakness for terriers.

The aluminum tree

We Westcoasters harbour a great appreciation for our forests and trees, so, it's understandable why we might immortalize a tree in aluminum –right down to the detail of the woodsman's chop near its base.

Dog of the day

"Echo" a Border Collie, has a unique stick trick which is only used when he has an audience. He doesn't bury it, he doesn't fetch it, instead he creates Expressive Reverse Sand Calligraphy. In this example he began on the far right and wrote his way backwards to the far left. Though not quite finished, we wondered what his message was.

Esquimalt shines a light – 3 ways

This lamplight along the public shoreline walkway in Esquimalt (a westside community in Victoria BC) is powered by wind, solar, and mains energy. This is the only example we've seen of a lamplight that will not fail.

Considerations

On our daily rambles we often see a mitt, glove, scarf or some other found item carefully placed in a prominent spot. This is done by a passerby in the hope that the owner will likely retrace their footsteps and the lost item will be reunited with its mate.
The fact that someone has decided to stop and and take the time to perform this small but important gesture contributes to the enjoyment of our walks. It creates an atmosphere of thoughtfulness and consideration.
And they are fun to find.

The Swallowed Anchor

Is the name of this mariner's dream on Victoria's west side. Likely a haven for Long John Silver or Captain Jack Sparrow. Avast ye swabs!!

Considerations

Graffiti "artists" typically don't appear to have any consideration for where they create their "art" – except, perhaps in this case. Here, Graffitists have restricted their work to the anti-graffiti notice on the pristine canvas of the public washrooms in the Oak Bay Municipal Hall building. How considerate!

Dog of the day

This is "Elvis." 50% Hound dog, 50% Unknown, and 90% Fur!

House of Flags

When the wind blows (which is just about every day), the sound of festive, patriotic, flags can be heard for several blocks around this house on Victoria Ave. in Oak Bay. Note to our American friends – the flying of a flag, let alone many flags, on private property is quite unusual here in Canada.

Drainspotting

Many cities that border on bodies of water will remind citizens about where street drains will eventually lead. In Victoria BC, those drains are identified with a small badge featuring a purple starfish and the potentially misunderstood text "City of Victoria Drains To Ocean":Vancouver BC, on the other hand, uses a somewhat graffitish approach with an iconic yellow salmon silhouette leaving the viewer to extract the meaning - "Yellow fish live in here" perhaps?:San Francisco CA, takes a much more direct, no-nonsense, approach with a stern "No Dumping" warning, moderated by a dash of poetry "Only Rain Down The Drain" and, if all that has failed, finishing off with a crab invoking the reader to rat out an offender with a: "Report Pollution 695-2020":

Sidewalk Scrabble

Beginning in 1907 and continuing up until 1937 , the city of Victoria installed buff blue ceramic tiles (made in Zanesville Ohio) to spell out the names of streets. In part the idea was to thwart hooligans from stealing street-name signs from utility poles. Some tiles, in high pedestrian foot traffic areas, became damaged or vandalized.In the past they were often destroyed during sidewalk reconstruction. However some, like this example on Clare St., found preservation and, in this case, a new life in a walkway.Nowadays when the city does sidewalk reconstruction the street-name tiles are cut out with the surrounding concrete and embedded in the new cement as was done at this intersection:Today there are only 62 left in the city.

Oak Bay alarm cluck

Oak Bay is an upscale municipality of fine homes flanking the east side of the city of Victoria, BC. While wandering around this lovely neighbourhood, in addition to the cawing of crows, screeches of seagulls, and twittering of English Sparrows you may be surprised to hear the crowing of this fine rooster (press the "play" triangle):


Click arrow to play video
Your ears may not deceiving you. Instead, you might simply be near this enclosure at the corner of Hawes Rd. and Redfern St. (behind the house at 923 Cowichan St.)Note the owner's consideration in providing a seat for viewers to enjoy the morning's cackle.

Considerations

On our daily rambles we often see examples of what we refer to as "considerations" (we also see examples of inconsiderations but prefer to remain positive). These examples take many forms and some cannot be illustrated with a drawing or a photograph – for example, walking single file when passing oncoming walkers, picking up after your dog, taking your trash to the nearest receptacle – but we will document the ones that we can, and will be posting them from time to time in this blog. In our first photograph we have chosen a lost pair of leather gloves, left in an Oak Bay Avenue hardware store. They were placed in the store's window, with a note saying "Help, I'm Lost! Looking For my Owner" so that perhaps the owner might see them in the window and claim them. Now that is considerate.[Update. Today, Feb 10, we noticed that the gloves are no longer in the store's window. Happily, their owner has retrieved them.]

Watch the skies!

In our first year in Victoria, during a walk along the Ross Bay shore, a somewhat agitated fellow came up to us and, pointing to the sky said: "Do you see that? They've started up again. It ain't right our government letting the Americans do weather experiments, right here, over our heads."
That was our first introduction to the world of chemtrail conspiracy theories. We've heard the story again, on several occasions, mostly whenever overhead clouds seemed to look not quite "right." Paul, at the corner of Fort and Douglas Streets is determined to bring the message to all who are willing to hear it.Airplane contrails...or...chemtrails?"Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!" (last line spoken from the movie: The Thing from Another World 1951.)

What's in a name?

We often get stopped by tourists who think they've lost their way because the street name that they were told to follow has mysteriously changed names. Are they still on the same road or have they accidently made a wrong turn?
Usually, it's just a question of the road remaining the same but the name itself that keeps changing. Here is a typical example. We traced the street name changes going along one road, keeping the water to the right and not making any turns off the road. We arbitrarily started at the intersection of Belleville St and Government St. in downtown Victoria and headed east along a popular tourist route.
Belleville St. becomes Pendray St. which becomes Quebec St. which becomes Montreal St. which becomes Kingston St. which becomes St. Lawrence St. which becomes Dallas Rd. which becomes Hollywood Crescent which becomes Robertson St. which becomes Crescent Rd. which becomes King George Terrace which becomes Beach Dr. which becomes Cadboro Bay Rd.
It's an "English" thing we've been told.

Dog of the day

"Fetch stick!" – a command which Chomley enthusiastically obeys.

How considerate

Making sure the message gets through and is understood by both two and four legged walkers.

Pick the low hanging...rocks?

Not sure if hanging rocks on this tree's branches is a method to shape them or simply an innovative way to decorate them.

Molting seal, Gonzales Bay, Victoria

Yesterday's evening walk down to Gonzales Beach yielded a pleasant surprise – a juvenile elephant seal, looking much like a piece of driftwood, lying in the sand. Elephant seals are shielded from extreme cold by their blubber, more so than by fur. The animals' hair and outer layers of skin molt periodically. The skin has to be re-grown by blood vessels reaching through the blubber. When molting occurs, the seal is susceptible to the cold, and must rest on land, in a safe place called a "haul-out." While most animals shed hairs year-around, elephant seals do it all at once. The molting process is so abrupt that it is called a catastrophic molt.

This can't be right

In the front lawn area of this house at 929 Cowichan Street in Victoria, is a complex wire mesh cage covering a small pond. Confined inside the cage are two very morose looking Mallards.

Pole to pole to...garden?

When telephone poles are replaced, the new one is first attached to the old. Once the concrete has hardened and the new pole is stable the old one is usually removed for recycling. However, this one may enjoy a different fate.

Gonzales Bay Diamonds

Well, maybe not quite diamonds but beach glass is none the less very beautiful with its frosted finish caused by the incessant action of waves and pebbles. White (previously clear) seems to be the most prevalent with indigo blue and pale lavender being the rarest. If you are very lucky you may find a piece that has some raised text or graphic.

The Darling Snowdrops of January

We had a wonderful walk today. Finally, after three weeks of overcast, blue skies return and we discover the first snowdrops of the year. You can see more of my art here.

Dog of the day

In "Mystic Vale" a hidden, natural, gem just a tad south of the University of Victoria and unmarked on most area maps, "Holly" is sheparded by her master. Holly was a Christmas dog – hence the name. She is a cross between a Border Collie and an Unknown. While she does not like to swim, she is obsessive about rocks. In the creek that runs through the middle of Mystic Vale she worries one rock in particular - mouthing it out of the water, then pawing it back in. She can hold her breath underwater for an eternity as she coaxes the rock out of the water then back in. "I worry about the wear on her teeth" says her master.

Holly and her precious rock.

Oh Deer! At Government House

During a recent walk on the grounds at Government House, something caught our eye. Can you see it?
A closer look reveals a beautiful, very still, doe.
Then we realize that she is accompanied by two stags. It's amazing that such large animals can virtually disappear just by standing still against a forest backdrop.
Crossing a pathway in front of Government House.
Both stags have lost their left antlers – perhaps in competition for the doe's affections?
We very often see deer in the south and east side neighbourhoods of Victoria. Government House, the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of the Province of British Columbia, is centrally located in the city and has a large, public accessible, property that includes the "Woodlands" a Gary Oaks parkland that provides a good home to free-ranging deer.