Winter whitewater

Stamp River Falls

Stamp River pours through a cleft in the rocks as it makes it way down to Port Alberni.

The falls are impressive to see. Even more impressive is the fact that salmon somehow fight upstream past this barrier, although they have help from an installed fish ladder.

A peek from the peak...

Snow and clouds at five thousand feet...

A view of the nearby ranges from the top of Mt Washington. My wife and I were there for a day of skiing. This year's warmer than usual winter has thinned out the snow at the top.

Sun, warm temperatures and no crowds... perfect!

Get in touch with your inner Dark Knight

DO?, BE?, DO?, BE?, DO?...

Buddha once said: "The mind is everything. What you think, you become..."

You know who kicks Buddha's ass? Batman!

Batman said: "It's not who I am underneath... but what I DO... that defines me."

You don't become by thinking. You become by doing.

I overcame my fear of heights through a series of bungy jumps and a jump from the 900 foot high Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas.

I couldn't trick myself into thinking I was brave or unafraid of heights. I essentially went BERSERKER and simply threw myself off the edge. THEN I became less fearful of heights.

Patience, bravery, sympathy... we tend to think of these as character traits that we either have or don't have. That makes it difficult to see how you can become something that you're "not".

But, if you think of them not as traits, but as skills to be learned, then it becomes easier to change who we are by taking ACTION sometimes in spite of what you think of yourself.

Regal

Casting a royal look...

One of the sand sculptures from last summer's sand sculpting competition in Parksville BC.

Find your happy place

Lush greenery lines a slow moving river...

Everyone should have a place where they can escape to whenever their immediate situation is frustrating them to the point where they would just like to punch somebody in the face.

This is my place... a lazy river that is lined with lush green trees under warm blue skies.

Biblical

Receding flood waters flow in and out
of the popular Russell Farms Market

Vancouver Island set a record for rainfall during the month of January, particularly during the last weekend. At time it came down in sheets that continued for hours.

The result was that some roadside businesses -- such as the one pictured above -- suffered catastrophic flooding. This roadside produce stand is expected to be closed for months as a result.

Further up island, debris and downed trees were swept down swollen and surging rivers and out to sea. As tides rolled in, they simply redistributed all that flotsam on to nearby beaches.

A carpet of root balls, down trees and debris...

Gong hei fat choy!

A traditional dragon dance put on by our hosts...

My wife and I recently celebrated the Chinese New Year thanks to one of her co-workers who purchased a restaurant table at a charity event.

It was attended by many high-profile locals in business and politics. One politician -- who shall remain nameless -- proudly congratulated the attendees for their good will and charity in not giving in to the racism that was rearing its head in other parts of the country, thanks to the current corornavirus situation.

The irony that the statement itself was a sort of subtle virtue-signalling racism of its own was lost on this politician.

A gingerbread house depicting our local Chinatown...

This year is the Year of the Rat. I was born in The Year of the Dog, while my wife was born in The Year of the Monkey. Apparently, that makes us strongly sexually attractive to each other.

Just sayin'... 😜

Brentwood Bay

The Mill Bay to Brentwood ferry chugs along...

To the north of Victoria on the east shore of Saanich Inlet is bucolic Brentwood Bay. There are a couple of nice restaurants there, but not much else. It's mostly a bedroom community for Victoria.

It's a nice staging point for a kayak ride down Todd Inlet which will take you in behind Butchart Gardens.

It's also one end of the Mill Bay ferry route, one of only two ways of getting past the Malahat. The ferry doesn't take a lot of cars though, and periodically there are calls for a bridge across the Saanich Inlet.

The tiny town of Brentwood Bay...