Thursday, July 19, 2012

Fishing For Clouds At Crescent Beach

THE VOLLEYBALL NET at Crescent Beach was not being utilized so I tried to catch images of clouds between the threads throughout the week. Peeking through the netting, I was fishing for a good shot.

Clouds have many moods and their ever-changing formations add texture to a blank-blue canvas sky. Chasing clouds is as exhilarating as chasing rainbows in some circles. Check out Carver Cards and discover the joy of capturing an array of illusive clouds with a camera.

Shifting from dark and brooding to cotton ball fluff, every cloud eventually fades to give the sun its full glory.

Inspiring gloom as well as bliss, a cloud often contains rain within its ghostly mist and is as transient and hard to hold as emotions that drift in and out of our daily lives. There is no use in clinging to a cloud.

And it is perhaps also worth noting what Canadian songwriter/singer Sarah McLachlan once said: "Happiness is like a cloud, if you stare at it long enough, it evaporates." Sarah McLachlan

See more skies from around the globe at Skywatch.

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle for more BC scenes.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Monday, July 16, 2012

Penelope Goes To White Rock Museum


THE WHITE ROCK MUSEUM has a radiant new logo that looks like a rainbow twisted in the shape of a "W". This rainbow connection is a happy coincidence that makes my Penelope Pick-A-Puddle greeting cards currently sold there very much at home. The museum gift shop recently moved to the breezeway of the former train station as part of a restoration project.

Although trains that go by the heritage building no longer stop there, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railway is fully operational and visitors must exercise great caution and avoid walking on the tracks. Frequent freight trains and the Amtrak passenger train heading to and from Vancouver in BC and Seattle in the US hurriedly go by. (Postscript: See Peace Arch News story about July, 2013 accident HERE.)

Strollers can enjoy the promenade alongside the museum and the water views of the bay. Although hazy by the sea at times, it is always a sparkling place to be even when it showers.

Sounds of seagulls and water lapping onto the beach bring a sense of wonderment.

The wooden planked pier nearby is a favorite destination rain or shine.

Although a portion of the train station (Photo, 2010), its promenade and parking lots are on land that gained ownership by the BNSF in the US decades ago, the essence of the area is local. One of the smallest cities in Canada with a thriving artistic community, White Rock stays modern with new condos and highrises while striving to maintain its heritage, independence and charm.

To enjoy sights from around the globe, check out the link at the sidebar and visit Our World.

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Monday, July 9, 2012

Charming Couple Visits West Coast Of BC

THE UMBRELLA AND RAINBOW PURSE were inseparable. The pair belong to my friend Kay from An Unfittie's Guide To Adventurous Travel who visited the West Coast recently. I couldn't help notice that the inanimate objects at her side had vivid personalities all their own. They looked as comfortable together as salt and pepper and peaches and cream and reminded me of a happily married couple.

The umbrella hovered over the purse handling it with care. "Keep searching," it seemed to say.

"I am sure your keys are in there somewhere, dear."

Wherever the adorable pair stopped, the purse beamed as brightly as a pot of gold. And the Monet inspired umbrella leaned into a hug as if to say to the people nearby, "We missed you and think we will stay for a while."

To enjoy sights from around the globe, check out the link at the sidebar and visit Our World.

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Monday, July 2, 2012

Raining Umbrellas In My World

RAINING CATS AND DOGS is a familiar way of expressing a heavy downpour. One artist took that saying literally and put it on an umbrella. The ceiling at my local nursery Art Knapp PIantland was decorated with umbrellas when I went there recently. There was something for each personality type. If you can see yourself walking in the rain with the umbrella (pictured above), you probably get a lot of comfort from your pets and have a great sense of humor.

This one seems perfectly suited for nature lovers who take time to smell the flowers but prefer not to stay in one place for too long.

This slick umbrella would appeal to the cool and sophisticated types or those who are a little reserved and do not like a lot of flash.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, a risktaker with a distinct playful side and a passion for Picasso might like this bold design.

Perhaps a mystic wanderer with creative tendencies would enjoy splashing through the drops with this dragonfly pattern.

Hopeless romantics easily ruffled might be drawn to this lovely umbrella.

Adventurers who like to walk on the wildside might leap at the chance to take this colorful umbrella with a lush jungle scene on their travels.

Although I love pets, gardens and nature (and am by no means a city slicker), I am torn between the soft silver New York city scene and the vivid dragonfly patterns. Which umbrella would you pick from the selection above?

To enjoy sights from around the globe, check out the link at the sidebar and visit Our World.

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Celebrating My Canadian Home

A MERE 145 years old, Canada is a toddler in contrast to the ancient places around the globe. Ruled by the British prior to July 1, 1867, Canada gained more complete power only in 1982, without firing a shot, by attaining the legal rights to amend its own Constitution independently of Great Britain.

Amid the baby steps there were bumps and bruises. Growing pains and crises of identity are to be expected in this vast land as it evolves.

Giant steps were achieved when Lester Pearson was Prime Minster of Canada from 1963 to 1968. His minority government introduced the leafy Canadian flag we wave today as well as Universal Health Care and the Canada Pension Plan.


Without the watchful eye of its citizens a nation can easily slip and fall on the path to creating a kind and wise society where future generations can thrive. Some of the milestones achieved have slowly eroded and need to be restored to their best potential. What Lester Pearson said decades ago when Canada entered its Centennial year still applies today:

"... we are still a young nation, very much in the formative stages. Our national condition is still flexible enough that we can make almost anything we wish of our nation. No other country is in a better position than Canada to go ahead with the evolution of a national purpose devoted to all that is good and noble and excellent in the human spirit." - Lester Pearson

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms