The True Heart Holds The Key

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller

Pictured left is the soon to be erased door-latch of the First United Church building in White Rock that is scheduled to be demolished.

I am grateful that a simple photograph can preserve the disappearing past.

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Second Generation Trudeaumania

RAIN POURED down relentlessly as people who came to see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gordon Hogg at a high school stood patiently under their umbrellas. A stream of people had been forming since early morning. When the doors opened, I, as well as hundreds of others, squeezed inside the building to find security checks and a place to put our soggy umbrellas. I imagine it was a bit hard to let go of some cuter umbrellas but those were the rules.

The event in the South-Surrey-White Rock riding was billed as a meet and greet and discussion about good middle class jobs and how to create them. In reality, it was a chance to make everyone aware of an important by-election on December 11th and a rare chance to turn the traditionally conservative area liberal. This was thanks to a trusted local candidate, Hogg, who for years was Member of the Legislative Assembly for the conservative leaning BC Liberal Party. Now he was throwing his hat in the ring for Justin.

Honestly, no one cared about labels just then. Emotions were building with the size of the crowd. People from all racial backgrounds, walks of life, physical abilities and challenges, beliefs, ages, big, small, short and tall figuratively stood shoulder-to-shoulder, cameras ready and hopeful Justin would walk by. Someone brought an old poster of Justin's father, Pierre Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. He also drew a crowd.

When the speeches were over and Justin walked past, I felt suddenly crushed by the people around me. The air was sucked out of the room for a few seconds and my camera rendered useless.

If only I were taller. All I got was a peek. People seemed overwhelmed as Justin got closer and I wondered how a man, who once hoped someone/anyone would show up at his political events, became such a crowd magnet.

Somewhere along the way, Justin became a star.

I think it’s the disheartening times we live in that has drawn people to this attractive man who speaks of unity, elevating all cultures and working together to create a better county, indeed world, for all. People are desperate for a leader with this rare mix of charisma and kindness. But not everyone was impressed.

I smiled at a single sign of displeasure upon leaving the event. Not everyone was enamored with Justin or his Liberal Party policies. But you’ve got to love the freedom this man represented and his right to express his discontent.

At this writing, I’m curious to see what this election will bring. Will the community turn liberal after being a conservative strong hold? They used to say a raccoon running for the conservative party would win in this riding … but now … time will tell.

Postscript Updated Dec. 14, 2017: For the first time in several decades, the Liberal Party of Canada won the South-Surrey-White Rock riding with help from a popular local candidate, Gordon Hogg, who was a mere 1,617 votes ahead of Kerry-Lynne Findlay who led the Conservative Party that until now had been entrenched in the community.

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July Starts Off With A Bang In White Rock

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When Life Gives You Mud, Make Movie Magic

WE PERCHED over the White Rock pier railing like seagulls, enchanted by the strange sights at the muddy beach floor. Along the boardwalk and below, thickly curled cables and other equipment were being expertly shuffled about by people playing a sometimes tedious but significant role in making a movie.

The box had to be positioned just right for the shoeless cameraman who set his sights on actors waiting to perform by a blue umbrella.

I learned the scene was a pilot project for a comedy television series called Better Things. Have you watched the very long list of credits scrolling down at the end of most film endeavors? I long ago realized that it takes a village to make a good show, hard work and perseverance and a desire to play and build imagination "sandcastles" in whatever awkward spaces needed for the plot.

Like life, a good movie makes us laugh, cry, feel awestruck and inspired. Getting bogged down in the small details that make the story "reel" can be less than exciting. But once all the technical, mundane and creative challenges are met, the big picture often seems surprisingly meaningful and grand.

Creative tools have become so portable now that anyone can get in the act of making a movie of their own lives from start to finish. After all is said and done, or not done, as Jim Henson of Muppet fame once wrote: "Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending."

Emblazoned on a red painted rock by White Rock City Hall during the 2010 Winter Olympics, I dusted believe from my archives because this is the pinch of magic that adds clarity to life's muddy brew to help get things started.

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The Way We Were

MY HUSBAND and I stood on the church steps some thirty-five years ago not thinking that the lovely historic First United Church in White Rock with its big steeple would one day be demolished. The building has more wrinkles and cracks nowadays ... my husband and I do too.

Unlike in Europe where buildings exist for hundreds of years our relatively young country of Canada has a habit of ripping up "the old" for something new, especially in BC where buildings are mostly constructed of wood.

Although not a regular church goer, I nonetheless felt sentimental about its demise slated for next year. I took pictures of it over Christmas to preserve its memory and to show how impressive it still looks now. The evolution of the church began in 1910 and is documented HERE. The property is worth millions today and I believe, at this writing, the plan is to construct a smaller church and provide senior housing on the remaining portion of the land.

Over the years, ministers and dedicated volunteers within the church walls inspired folks in need and strove to make the community better. Christmas day dinners were served in the church basement for some thirty-five years.

This year would be the last and it was high time I helped set up the tables as well as enjoy a meal there. There were buckets of vegetables being peeled in one corner of the room and cooks expecting 250 guests bustled behind the scenes in the back kitchen on Christmas eve. Once all the volunteers arrived and we got past the initial confusion of where to begin everything fell into place beautifully. Wherever something needed attention someone got to it. Amazingly, the entire large room was decorated and the tables put up and set in little over an hour.

I don't think there would be a single starving person on the planet if people pulled together the way these volunteers did. Many who came to help were strangers to one another.

They say competition and/or religion make you strong and good but I think it's basic human kindness and pure cooperation that builds a better world.

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Pieces Of White Rock In South Surrey

I STEPPED onto a ceramic mosaic depicting the historic Marine Drive portion of White Rock while visiting the Semiahmoo Mall in neighbouring Surrey. The tiles mingled with the bricks on the sidewalk.

This could, in fact, be the only way Surrey gets a piece of White Rock which has resisted merging with the larger city surrounding it on three sides.

It was difficult to capture the mosaic at my feet in its entirety because of the shadows and washed out effect of the noon day sun.

The design, by an unnamed artist, looked about five feet across. I took its picture bit by bit.

It has been ages since a steam locomotive came through town to pick up passengers. Nowadays, trains going by are largely freight and the Amtrak, neither of which stop at the former train station that is currently a museum.

I don't recall hearing about elephants (right upper corner in picture above) coming to town. I suspect this was a moment of whimsy by the artist.

Many more cars cruise along Marine Drive nowadays.

The increase in traffic inspired recent talk about closing off a portion of Marine Drive from cars to make it fully pedestrian. Although unlikely to happen any time soon, this could be a possibility in the distant future.

What never changes is the love of sand, sea and sun. This part of the mosaic shows people at the beach decades ago.

The ocean shore has changed very little over time. However, the once laid back City of White Rock has had a huge increase in train and car traffic. Small cottages have been replaced by palatial homes, towering apartments and bulky condos. The one thing that has gotten a bit skimpier is the bathing suit attire.

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Whales Stemming The Tide In White Rock

WE SHARE this planet with all sorts of creatures ... some we rarely see other than in zoos. Although there is no greater excitement than to spot whales in the wild in BC, seeing them hover on a wall over passersby is also a treat.

The mural in White Rock titled Gray Whale Family was completed in 1984 by Robert Wyland. It is one of one-hundred whale murals the artist has done throughout the world. It is impossible to know how many more years the painting will escape the jaws of big development.

Wyland also did a mural in Vancouver, BC, called Orcas. Its fairly recent demise to make room for a high-rise is covered in Vancouver Street Blog.

All these works are subject to changing times that some call progress and others call a shame. More importantly, real-life whales are also in jeopardy. With recurring oil spills and global warming impacting ocean homes, environmentalists seem to be in over their heads sometimes when trying to turn the tide against public opinion that refuses to see a problem.

Wyland is trying to bring awareness in his own unique way as an artist. He says at his Foundation site: “We know now that water connects all the countries of the world. Our goal with these projects over the last three decades has been to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public. The health of our ocean and waterways are in jeopardy, not to mention the thousands of marine animals and plants that face extinction if we do nothing.”

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Stationary Train Passenger In White Rock

A TRAVELER in a motionless relaxed pose, with a suitcase by his side, is ready to board a train he can never catch.

The bronze statue is a new feature that stands outside a former train station, and now White Rock Museum, that no longer sells tickets to ride. Reportedly commissioned for $80,000, the work by Denis Kleine is called The Passenger.

The dapper mustached man that seems on the cusp of coming to life enhances the seaside scenery with his realism. He provides an exquisite glimpse into an era when trains were bold without being intimidating and had an aura of practicality as well as romance.

It is ironic that the stationary "passenger" appears at a time when the City is contemplating options it may or may not have to remove and relocate the track run by Great Northern Railway (GN) in the early years. The railway evolved from being the lifeblood of a small Canadian town to being viewed more as a hazard that at this point in history is owned and operated by Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) in the US.

Trains that pass by now are the swift and silent Amtrak, (that carries passengers from Seattle to Vancouver in Canada), and mile-long frequent freight trains transporting such goods as lumber, hazardous chemicals and dusty coal destined for ports in faraway places.

People have accidentally been injured and killed on these tracks. And since the derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, there has been renewed unease about train routes cutting through heavily populated areas like the border town of White Rock and also nearby Crescent Beach where extraordinarily long strings of boxcars can block access to emergency vehicles for many critical minutes.

The attractive gent with a glint in his eye was unconcerned, however, as perhaps I should have been since everything was perfectly fine for the both of us at that moment and place in time.

While photographing the sculpture, I had a chance encounter with a woman who was polishing one of many train-shaped plaques embedded into the walkway designed to commemorate special occasions or to celebrate a life. I learned she was a mother who tragically lost her daughter, Heather, to cancer. Heather's plaque shone the brightest, thanks to her loving and dedicated mom.

I took my umbrella off the immovable suitcase and wished the world were a safer place. We are all passengers to unknown destinations. Disease, natural disasters, random accidents and man’s stunning inhumanity to man (recent beheadings and burning of a person alive come to mind) make me want to hide under my umbrella. But I keep moving because, unlike the statue, I am lucky that I can ... and I can jump on board whenever anything good arrives.

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