Month: December 2018

I’m home for the holidays, so that means a bunch of things:

• spending my second day wimping out and taking a picture of our front yard from inside. Well, just standing outside the front door.
• Seeing some nerdy movie with the fam. Nothing Star Wars this year, so we picked Into the Spider-Verse, which is amazing. Seriously, the music, the visuals, the story, the characters, the humour, the action, everything is on point. It is magical. It is as damn near perfection as you can get in this world of Platonic shadows.
• Going out for Japanese food.
• And presents, naturellement. Mostly for the nephew now, really. This year we even got out the old red sack from waaaay back when we believed in Santa. Which the nephew still does at age 5, although he’s apparently been asking awkward questions about how Santa can get to so many households in one night, the aerodynamics of reindeer, whether they need to eat and poop high up in the air, that sort of thing. He’s a smart kid, I’m sure he’ll figure it out by next year.
• Enjoying traditions. We don’t really have a lot of those anymore. Used to be, we went to Midnight Mass and then opened presents. But only the parents go to church now, and even then I hear it’s more like 8PM Mass. Wouldn’t have quite the same magic, I feel. There’s still the tree and the creche. That creche has been in our family since forever, and it feels… nice, y’know? No matter how threadbare it looks these days.
• Finally getting off my ass and taking a walk in the hood. It hasn’t changed much since I was around—a few new houses, but that’s it. Maybe a few new stores on Wellington Street? I don’t even remember what used to be there. Regardless, big chunks of the neighbourhood feel… alien? Different from what we get in Vancouver. It’s the style of the houses, I think: small, set quite a distance apart from each other, usually dark red brick, little walk-up stairs, optionally a patio. Even houses that have been converted to stores. And now I’m a bit curious about how old they are, how common this design is… According to this site most houses were built between 1900 and 1950, and most of those after 1935. Since we’re close to Little Italy and Chinatown, I’m guessing this whole area has been working-class-maybe-lower-middle-class residential since its beginning, when houses were way smaller. Interesting.
• Taking a walk along Carling Avenue. I first tried to go on that pedestrian overpass at the end of Kenilworth St (which is apparently called the Harmer Footbridge), to get a nice shot of the Queensway and the setting sun… but that’s been closed for a while and nobody told me! Bah. I got some nice sunset views, but I feel this is familiar territory, y’know? Oh well, it’s the holidays. I’ll push the envelope when I get back.
• Going downtown. I’ve blogged a few times about how I feel like a tourist in my hometown, and how it’s not a bad thing. I went to have dinner with some friends and got there early, and then figured, hey, let’s make this a photo outing too! From a foggy, snowy Sparks Street to Parliament Hill itself, right next door, I got to make with the camera like some rube from the provinces. And I am from the provinces, too: BC is my home, has been for a long time.
• Going to Montreal to spend New Year’s Eve with my brother.

It’s December 21st and I’m writing this in my parents’ house in Ottawa, having spent most of the day flying in from YVR via YUL. The day shouldn’t be over, but it’s three hours later here and I’m tired. But it’s also a whole month since I last blogged, and the solstice seems like a good time to write something. Only ten days to go this year!

I did not expect to have a window seat, but Yes Gawd there it was on my boarding pass, and on the port side too, which meant I wouldn’t face the sun. Absolutely awesome. I haven’t taken real photos from a plane in ages!

A shot of Richmond as we swung around. Then a couple shots of the Fraser River. Then it got super overcast and I didn’t get a good view of anything until we crossed into Ontario… but what a view! I was greeted by Big Island, a place I knew quite well. Way back in 2009, the last time I flew back east in the summer, I snapped and snapped lakes and islands and tiny towns all over this fair country of mine but Big Island was the one that stood out.

Not as green now, and the water’s not as blue. But I’d recognise that weird scraggly east half and curiously round bays anywhere. Gorgeous.

After that the clouds came back and the sun went down; still, it was good. On the connecting flight from YUL to YOW, we were right above the clouds. I saw the fluffy peaks and valleys and I would have liked to capture them… but you know what? At that time I was happy just enjoying the view. It was relaxing, almost meditative, to imagine myself flying without a plane or propellers in this deep blue fluffy twilight.

And what else have I been up to in the last month? Pulling in long hours at work, but also enjoying the holidays. With VGVA, with the Vancouver Men’s Chorus, with my nerd friends at the Storm Crow, and with the UBC Thunderbirds for another of their Pride Nights. And enjoying holiday lights around town, like some fancy new tree at Robson Square, the Lights of Hope by St. Paul’s, and a bunch of West End apartments spreading holiday cheer.

That last one… it started out as a sadly all-too-typical photoless Sunday night, but the moment I saw this building down the lane, my spirits picked up and I knew I had my picture. Thanks, Christmassy strangers!

Now days will get longer. That’s good. And on a more metaphorical level, I’ll get to relax and regroup here, finish my last blog post of the year, and start 2019 with fresh new energy!