The colour of money

A lot of green went into this hobby...

Green is the colour of money. And I'm guessing a lot of green when into the care and upkeep of this smart looking car seen in the parking lot of our local airport.

That's some shine...

Thunderbirds are Go!

Poised for take-off...

When I was a kid, one of my favourite TV shows was Thunderbirds, an action series that featured puppets marionettes instead of live actors. The coolest part of the show was the sleek air- and spacecraft that were the actual Thunderbirds.

Last summer, I watch Victoria's relatively new bridge as it was raised to allow a barge pass through from the upper to the lower harbour. In the upright position, the bridge resembled some high tech spacecraft about to launch. It would have looked right at home among the Thunderbirds.

Untold story

Owner gone missing...

Recently I passed a bench in an empty bus stop. Perched on top was a hat and a pack of cigarettes. It's hard to imagine the circumstances that would cause a man -- I'm assuming it's a man -- to abandon these.

Blue

 

Colourful chopper seen near Oceanside...

Indiana Jones and the Lost Gods of Rapa Nui

Easter Island relic at Central Saanich's Butterfly World...

 

For awhile it seemed that Harrison Ford was going to reprise his signature character, Indiana Jones, in one last screen adventure.

I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen. Ford is now 78. COVID has effectively shut down the movie industry for a year or two. It would then take two years for such a movie to be made which means that Ford would be into his early 80s at that point. 

And who really wants to see a decrepit Indy shuffling about? We want to remember him as the whip-cracking, fedora wearing two-fisted adventurer of our youth.

Plus the recent death of Sean Connery -- who plays Indiana Jone's father -- must surely be giving Ford food for thought as to how he wants to spend his remaining years.

The Banana Boat

It's very yellow!

The Banana Boat is the name that my wife and I have given to our inflatable kayak. We don't bust it out very often, but it's always a fun day when we do.

It's unique for the transparent floor which lets us peek into the water below us as we paddle along.

Heading out into Brentwood Bay...

Not up to code

Sketchy sun shelter... (say it fast five times!)

I'm not sure I would trust the integrity of this death trap DIY structure of beach logs standing on an Oak Bay beach.

The chimney

Not so mysterious...

This Vancouver Island structure rises out of the forest around it very much like Stein's Pillar in Oregon. 

However, this structure is strictly man made... it's the remains of an old chimney that formed part of a cement factory that once stood on the site. 

Today it is the location of a major tourist attraction known as The Butchart Gardens.

The Island

But is it art, really?

Recently a public arts group, built this small artificial island, complete with its own tree, and anchored it off a nearby park. "Island" is really just a fancy term for dock.

They invited the public to come and "experience" their art, and locals were happy to oblige during these hot days of summer.

All of this seems innocent fun, except that they moored it in a controversial section of our Gorge Waterway. This particular section of water has become the site of derelict boats being used by the homeless, or those who simply want to live on the water without the responsibility of buying waterfront property.

The city has spent years trying to clear the boats out. The problem is that the water is owned by a different level of government. They had just started making headway with the problem, when this island came along to encourage others to simply put up any old floating bit of junk to live on, and justify it as "art".

The Watering Can

Wet and fun, oh yes!

On a summer day, a popular destination for kids (and their grateful parents!) is the giant watering can in Victoria's Beacon Hill Park.

Whether it's a shower, a spray or a spew of water, it's all good medicine for hot and hyperactive children coping with severely restricted summer activities during these days of COVID-19.

Not a ride at the fair...

Industrial carousel...

Although this looks like some sort of high-tech fair ride, that's only an effect of the wide-angle panorama setting on my phone.

This is a stacker-reclaimer... a big-ass piece of engineering designed to move coal between freighters and rail cars at nearby North Vancouver.

The sheer size of it captures the attention of everyone who drives, cycles or walks past its construction site at Victoria's Point Hope Shipyard where it has been under construction by Ralmax Group for the the past eighteen months.

No, not the seats for the ride...

Double patties

Water beats rock...

Another view of the 'double-patties' that were mentioned in my previous post. You can imagine how much higher the river levels are in the winter to have carved out this unusual formation.

The bridge leads to a network of trails that will take you deep into the forests further upstream. Just remember to bring your bear bells with you.

The Moss Lady

Serenely sleeping in the shade...

You'll find the Moss Lady tucked away in the shade of Victoria's Beacon Hill Park.

Artist Dale Doebert was inspired by the Mud Maid in Cornwall’s Lost Gardens of Heligan. The 35-foot long sculpture is covered with a specially designed clay-based acidic soil so that she will eventually be cloaked in moss.

The wraiths

Ominous creatures overhead...

I know that these kites flying over Parksville are supposed to be squids, but they still look creepy and alien-ish as they flutter in the breeze.

23.5

The mysterious red door...

23-1/2 Fan Tan Alley in Victoria's Chinatown has been featured here before, but I've never caught a glimpse of what lies beyond the door until recently.

Nothing remarkable, just stairs leading up to ???

I've always been curious as to what the 1/2 means. Is 24 considered an unlucky number in Chinese? Did they somehow build an extra apartment between 23 and 24? Is it a portal to some alternate reality?

Those were the days my friend...

Fading but not yet forgotten...

If you wander around Victoria and look up you'll see a goodly number of ghost signs. These are faded signs typically seen painted on the sides of buildings advertising for businesses that have long since disappeared.

Amazingly, these particular signs have endured for over a century. 

Neither here nor there

Everywhere but where you are now...

Airy aerie

Soon to making sweet sweet eagle love...

And speaking of eagles...

On Galiano Island a few months ago we spotted this pair of eagles "skree-ing" in a tree overhead as we were walking along the harbour waterfront.

It was just good luck that we turned and I happened to glance up another nearby tree to see this nest.

Soon to be the sight of eaglets...

An eagle's nest is known as an aerie. Typically they are constructed from large sticks and lined with moss, grass, seaweed, etc.

A typical nest can be as wide as ten feet in diameter and up to nine feet high. However, first year nests are usually smaller, and the nest size will increase each year as eagles re-use the nest and add sticks to it. So that would suggest that this nest is a newer nest.

Bald eagles are territorial. Breeding pairs return to the same nest site year after year.

Very large nests can weigh as much as 1000 pounds!

The death of conspicuous consumption?

An apropos message in today's times...

In my Facebook feed recently was this quote:

The great irony coming out of all this is that the world's economy is in danger simply because people are only buying what they need. Think about that.

The COVID crisis has revealed just how flawed our First World consumerist lifestyle is with its emphasis on 'growth' where 'growth' is really just a euphemism for 'buy more useless s**t'.

Ferries and flowers

A colourful ferry under colourless skies...

BC Ferries connects Vancouver Island to the rest of Canada. In these days of COVID-19 though, they are suffering from a severe drop-off in travelers as a result of lock downs and a closed border between the U.S. and Canada.