where flowers litter the streets

I miss Guelph, believe it or not. I miss my friends out there, the familiar streets, hitting the Albion with Kate, the niceness of it all. And not for nothing-- the affordable food and housing, at least by BC standards. I think I will not stay in Vancouver too many years, despite streets lined with flowering trees everywhere you walk. Perhaps as I get to know BC more, I'll choose to head out to the island, to Victoria or Nanaimo, or head a little North, out Squamish way, or even North North. Somewhere where housing squalor doesn't start at a million bucks and go up from there. I'm not sure yet, but there is a lot of natural beauty for me to get acquainted with this spring and summmer, and I am on the job.

For those alarmed at my last post- The Telus phone bill dream was just that- a dream. I still don't have my bill, but hey- it's on the list. In other administrative news- a parking ticket I got a month ago ("they never ticket here...") was paid in the nick of time. Had I waited another day, the bill would have doubled from $40 to $80. Eeek.

I have docked/berthed my kayak at Jericho beach club, which means that I can drive 4 minutes, drop my boat in the water, and head for a nice paddle any night of the week on English Bay. Right beside the yacht club, right down to Kitsilano and the pretty downtown, or West to UBC and the beaches. I went out on Saturday, despite grey skies and rain, and spent hours bobbing on rollers, happily paddling around Kits Point, the yacht club, and among the many sailboats and even tankers in English Bay. It feels so gorgeous to be on the water...

I expected my shoulders/back/abs to hurt later, but I was fine. If the nice day holds up here, I will go tonight. But that will only happen if I get off this couch and walk my hopping princess right now. I found a large park some blocks South, and it's perfect for ball-throwing. At almost 11, Dallas still cannot resist bolting for any thrown object, although the pace- the pace of retrieval has slowed down a little, and bringing the ball directly back to me is now an option, rather than a single-minded purpose.