Granville Island Treats

WHAT A TREAT to recently meet up with my photogenic friend, Carol, from birdsbikesnbeasts with her buddy Black Jack at Granville Island. It was great to see her face-to-face as we most often communicate digitally. The weather was warm and the setting was sublime.

The usual suspects watched us enjoy a chat and a snack. Ready-to-swoop seagulls hoping for handouts and sharp-eyed pigeons and sparrows were poised to scoop up crumbs from messy eaters.

Not looking for handouts but rather a bit of applause and some coinage were talented buskers who entertain regularly at the outdoor plaza. Serkan Sogukpinar (pictured above) was truly a treat to hear.

Serkan played old favorites with fresh flair. His fingers slid comfortably over the strings of his unique electric guitar. You can listen to its sound and see more of Granville Island HERE. Playing at various Vancouver seaside venues, Serkan's rendition of the familiar toe-tapping, hand-clapping Hungarian Dance No.5 can be heard HERE.

Good company and good music in a peaceful setting ... can there be anything sweeter? I like what scholar William Lyon Phelps had to say: "Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good plays, good company, good conversation - what are they? They are the happiest people in the world."

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

To see more sights from around the globe visit OUR WORLD at the sidebar.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Abundance Of Gratitude At Granville Island

GRANVILLE ISLAND is an oasis amid Vancouver City life and the perfect place to enjoy a face-to-face visit with my friend Carol and her adorable sidekick Black Jack from bikesbirdsnbeasts.

It was fun to chat and catch up on the news under a typical West Coast mix of cloud, sun and occasional drizzle.

Although the sky held promise of a rainbow, it was the sea that produced one when Carol arrived on the multi-colored Aquabus.

It was early morning and crowds were just starting to build.

While children fed pigeons, locals and tourists searched for tasty treats to eat on the plaza or to bring home. Decisions, decisions … it was not easy to pick when there were so many choices.

The Farmer's Market overflowed with luscious food and flowers.

Much of the produce is grown in BC.

If you did not have an appetite before you arrived, you certainly would after wading through this horn-of-plenty.

Handmade original art also abounded. I came face-to-face with a painting behind glass that was etched on the unevenness of a stone.

The work is by Michelle Vulama who also paints on jam-jar lids and cereal boxes.

I was enthralled by the mystical sounds of a pan flute permeating the air. Luis Martos is a busker at Granville Island. He blew me away with his Pied Piper rendition of Leonard Cohen's song Hallelujah. Although I could not find him playing it online, some of his other tunes are on YouTube.

Granville Island, located under a bridge, was an industrial area before its transformation and is now surrounded by high-rise buildings with expensive water views.

The waving flag reminded me that Canada Day was approaching on July 1st and that I would be lucky to live almost anywhere in this vast land that is a cornucopia of abundance and acceptance.

Have you felt gratitude wash over you? It is an imperfect world where not everyone on the planet has equal wealth, rights or opportunity for contentment. So good conversation with a friend in a peaceful setting filled with plenty of food for the soul and senses made me feel very fortunate indeed.

Listen to the national anthem O Canada being sung a cappella (video above) and visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

To see more sights from around the globe visit Our World at the sidebar.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

A Literary Yarn Told With Old Lace

A FANCIFUL FABLE about a talented, but too trusting, lace-maker is a cautionary tale by English travel writer and blogger Jenny Woolf to illustrate how the creative endeavors of the ill-informed can be snatched away when ownership issues are buried in the complex details of a contract.

Jenny's literary yarn unfolded strand by strand and readers were invited to compose their own ending to The Story of Poor Little Red Shoes. I participated and to my utter amazement (because I never win anything) my name was randomly drawn and I won a prize.

The mystery gift that arrived in the mail was antique lace that I learned was likely over a century old and possibly belonged to Jenny's fondly regarded relative, Mabel, born in the very late 1800s.

I can easily envision the dainty detachable collar prettily embellishing her dresses like an elegant necklace. Perhaps each snowflake, petal and jewel shape was created by hand with hooked needles and silken thread but no one knows for sure. Machines were invented during the Industrial Revolution in Britain and mass production of lace was well underway by the mid 1800s.

The love of lace spread throughout the world and it became highly valued.

Although it is impossible to tell if the making and distribution of lace began in any particular place, it is often connected with the once thriving trading center of Venice.

When holidaying in Venice in 2010, I visited the Island of Burano where lace, historically coveted by the royal and wealthy, had in former times been intricately fashioned by local women who might have gotten the idea when patching up fishing nets.

It is a joy to have this treasure in my care. I first planned on an ornate frame with a plain background to feature the work. But an ornate design reminiscent of Mabel's era caught my eye and I liked how the multiple patterns integrated. Ghostly reflections in the glass made it difficult to photograph my prize that now sits snugly on the bookshelf alongside a doily crocheted by my mother.

Read Unfair-y Tale Concluded to find the true ending of Poor Little Red Shoes.

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

To see more sights from around the globe visit Our World at the sidebar.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Stones Tell Tales At Crescent Beach

SNIPPETS of writings merging the past and present are etched in stones and scattered alongside the pathways at Crescent Beach in South Surrey. I learned there are 33 memory stones marked with thoughts gathered by artist Tina Farmilo.

Thirteen stones are arranged in a circle like pages torn from a diary by a grassy knoll. I see people meditating there sometimes amid the fragmented stories of days gone by. Aboriginal peoples, pioneers and families reach out as if from a dream or a poem. Is not "leaf shaker's moon" a lovely way to convey winter is coming?

Guided by the seasons, most words express respect for the weathered land and the sea that influenced their everyday lives.

I enjoyed reading the notes on stones amid the thousands of timeless, wordless rocks also in the area. These strong silent types laze around all day without having a single thing to say.

As an afterthought, inspired by a comment from Jen of Muddy Boot Dreams, I include a picture of another one of the 33 stones that speaks for itself at Crescent Beach. It says, “ … years of summer children running barefoot free in the dusty roads ‘til dusk and the horn of the night train calls them home.”

I suspect an inward search can unearth similar wonder at any age ... even when trains are less melodic, and too frequent, and dusty roads are paved and cracked. In early childhood each new moment becomes a piece of forever inscribed into memories that shape future perspectives.

This stone, capped by a pair of lost gloves, speaks for a girl who in 1929 was excited about her stay at a local camp. “Oh boy,” she said, “we get two plates of all if we want. My little brother got three helpings and we are in the water all day and there’s bonfires on the beach at night and I like this better than Christmas.”

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

To see more sights from around the globe visit Our World at the sidebar.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Round & Round We Go Cycling Through Life

THE CYCLE of life sometimes includes letting go of long held attachments.

I called this drawing by my daughter Penelope Puddle Grows Up because the character looks older. And although her playful spirit remains, she has set aside her much-loved umbrella and is learning why balance is bliss on a bike.

Things we cling to naturally drop off as the years go by but sometimes they grow. The drawing brought to mind society's dependency on gasoline powered vehicles and the need to stabilize an attachment that has grown out of proportion. Highways and country roads overflow with cars and trucks spouting harmful emissions. To minimize the effects and to promote health, my neighbouring city of Vancouver is peddling the idea of being one of the most bicycle-friendly places on the planet. My blogging friend, Carol, is ahead of the curve and has been city cycling for years. You can view her fantastic photographic journey in and around Vancouver at bikesbirdsnbeasts.

When I dust off my bike (it is not quite as unused as the one pictured below) and go for a spin, I feel like a free spirit venturing into places automobiles dare not go. I am more in touch with the terrain and my environment.

I still get in the car and drive to Crescent Beach for my walks unlike the cyclists taking on the steep hills surrounding the town. Big city or small, up hill or down, it is clear bicycles have taken off as a mode of transportation. They are parked on lawns and in racks wherever I go and I see people of all ages relying on their personal energy to move the rubber down the road.

Competing with cars for our affections and space on the road, bicycling has been quietly growing since the early 1800s. In the latter part of that century, science fiction writer H.G. Wells became a passionate cyclist.

Romanticizing his experience he wrote, “After your first day of cycling, one dream is inevitable. A memory of motion lingers in the muscles of your legs, and round and round they seem to go. You ride through Dreamland on wonderful dream bicycles that change and grow.”

Wells is also sometimes credited for saying, "Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I have hope for the human race."

Song writer and musician, John Lennon, actually slept with his new bicycle. He said, "As a kid I had a dream - I wanted to own my own bicycle. When I got the bike I must have been the happiest boy in Liverpool, maybe the world. I lived for that bike. Most kids left their bike in the backyard at night. Not me. I insisted on taking mine indoors and the first night I even kept it in my bed."

It seems bicycles and cars developed at close to the same time frame. In fact, the first automobiles looked like tricycles and side-by-side bicycles. But as unlikely as it sounds perhaps bicycles will one day win the race to become a top form of travel. Bill Nye (known as the Science Guy) made an interesting point when he said, "Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There's something wrong with a society that drives a car to workout in a gym.”

It will not be easy to give up the keys to a craze that started so innocently. Read about the vintage cars that charmed us HERE.

To see more sights from around the globe visit Our World at the sidebar.

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

A Lindylicious Dog-Meet-Dog Day

MY FRIEND Kay, and popular blogger at An Unfittie's Guide To Adventurous Travel, visited the West Coast from Alberta recently. She was with her husband and their much-loved pet Lindy who was setting paws on BC soil for the first time during this trip.

The weather was sunny and there were lots of bright spots and noontime shadows flitting about the patio of a restaurant in Ocean Park, Surrey, where we had lunch.

Kay wisely brought her large brimmed Penelopesque hat that deserved a seat of its own.

While Kay had a hat, Lindy escaped the heat by settling under a chair from where she received a yummy snack or two from empathetic patrons.

There were also friendly dogs to greet at the outdoor cafe.

Although this big fellow had a nice scent, Lindy eventually moved on to visit her adopted doggy cousin in the neighborhood that she had yet to meet.

Here is Lindy wagging her tail and giving her cousin a really good sniff. I was glad to have captured this historic pet version of "Stanley meets Livingstone" and their "getting-to-know-you" rituals with my camera.

They were a bit shy at first and did not look each other in the eye. Nonetheless, Lindy's cousin's glance seemed to say, "Nice to see you and glad you brought my aunt and uncle along for the ride."

It was easy to tell this was a special meeting not just for these mellow creatures but for the people who care for them as well.

When pets become part of a family their presence can be inspiring. The late Gilda Radner once said, "I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive."

To view more sights from around the globe visit Our World at the sidebar.

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more BC scenes.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Rainbows In A Storm

HEALTH IS A CORNERSTONE of contentment that we take for granted until it wanes on our journey through life. When pieces of us seem broken and simple tasks are a chore it is not easy to keep up spirits and it is natural to be sad, angry and fearful. Yet it is when we feel the most defeated that trust in bright outcomes and even miracles can occur.

Through my blogging friend Carol’s site, I became aware of a special woman struggling with cancer and a concept called Leaves For Leontien. This creative way of sending a goodwill message with a photograph inspired me to think about Leontien and her blog as well as the friends and loved ones who are near and also yearn for their health to be restored.

In some circles the umbrella represents protection and life. The umbrella pictured with fallen leaves is my wish and a prayer that those in need find refuge and like rainbows in a storm an arch of healing and care.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

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