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Skytrain Station

Skytrain Station
Skytrain Station in Vancouver                                  Obtain a print

I took this at a Skytrain station in Vancouver. It’s called the Skytrain because most of it is above ground. I’m not from around here so I still call it a subway, but when I do I get glances. The kind of glance that says you’re not from around here are you? Maybe one day I’ll get it right, but its kind of low on the priority list.

That aside it’s the best run transit system I’ve seen outside of Disney World. There are no drivers and everything is automated, a little like Tomorrowland. However as a programmer it gives me just a slight amount of concern, like that glance I get when I say the word subway. It’s subtle but there is a difference. I know what happens when there’s a bug in the code and if my program controls a train, well that opens up all kinds of scenarios. Even so I ignore the thought because the train seems to have been running very well for years, so perhaps the code is bug free. I wipe the consideration from my mind, just as quickly as it enters. I’m getting a little off track.

Skytrain just added something new called a Compass pass. Long story short it’s a convenient way to buy a fare, transfer to a bus or ferry and possibly save money at the same time. Without going into all the details it seems to work pretty well, just as well as the trains run without drivers. Did I mention that? One thing seems certain to me; someone is writing a lot of  good code and as a result the whole system seems to run quite well. Now if I could just reprogram my brain to not call it a subway.

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Coast of British Columbia

Coast of British Columbia
Coast of British Columbia from the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver                              Purchase a fine art print

The coast of British Columbia is made up of islands, one after another, as far as the eye can see. I imagine this scene must have remained the same for the nine thousand years that the first nations inhabited this area. These were solely inhabited by indigenous tribes up until a couple centuries ago. I know this because when I took this picture I was standing on the grounds of the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. The MoA is largely dedicated to preserving remnants from those people.

The MoA contains artifacts, writings and art from these cultures and I left there with a new sense respect. A good museum does that, takes us outside of ourselves and provides different perspectives we can use to understand the world. I think that whether I descend from these people or not, we inhabit the same space and share the same planet and based on that we are more alike than different. I know that’s a little bit cliche, but it helps me understand their story just a little bit, starting from what we have in common. It’s a stretch, but it’s a start. Regardless, I left feeling a little bit conflicted about the current state of things. A problem for another day perhaps.

The next day I was walking through a crowded park in the city. Along a trail by a pond was a young lady holding her right hand out. I thought that was a little odd so I continued looking as I approached. In fact she was holding out bird seed and feeding some small finches as they landed on her hand. She did not look at me as she remained perfectly still, hand outstretched. I smiled and walked on, not wanting to disturb her communion, but I did think that was an odd sight, not something I see everyday. Is it possible that centuries ago this might not have appeared so unusual, that it might have been as common as, say, sending a text message? I have no way of knowing, but it made me think that we moderns and those ancients are probably closer at the things that matter than we might know.

There is my thought for the day.

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Koerner Library

Koerner Library
The Koerner Library at the University of British Columbia                       Buy a mounted print

This is the Koerner Library building at the University of British Columbia. I walked through UBC on my way back from taking pictures along the shoreline. I was amazed at how big the UBC campus is. To me, coming from a small town, it seemed enormous and I suppose this is just one of many libraries scattered throughout. The sun was setting behind the building so it added a dramatic flare, at least to my eyes which never saw this building before.

I think that faculty and students don’t even bat an eye, and the thought of taking a picture of this might seem trite. That’s the value of having fresh eyes. This happens to me all the time back in Florida. I can walk somewhere and not see a thing I’d consider remarkable, but someone from out of town would. We all become blind to things we consider commonplace. In fact, I almost didn’t stop to take this picture because I noticed it was a library, what could be interesting about a library? I’m glad I did.

After taking the shot I continued back to the bus stop to catch a ride back to town. It was Saturday night and sure enough it was full of students heading into town to hang out. It was still pretty early so the bus wasn’t that full, but I’m sure had I left a couple hours later this library would have been empty and all therein lined up at the bus stop for a night away from the library. Not that I know that to be a fact, I’m just sayin.

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Urbex Rain Day

Urbex Rain Day
Urbex Rain Day in Vancouver on a Saturday Morning                                     Purchase a unique print

Saturday was an urbex rain day. Meaning that it was raining and I did a little urban exploration. I would say that pretty much every day is a rain day in Vancouver, but it’s that’s just how it is. For me it’s a perfect excuse to get out and shoot rainy scenes, totally awesome.

I live on the East Coast and I try to stay in that time zone when I travel west. The advantage is I wake up super early and that helps me get a good start on the day. When I come to Vancouver that means photography in the morning. So by the time the sun rises, which by the way it never does, I’ve already been out for a couple of hours. Bonus. The downside of course is I turn into a pumpkin at about seven in the evening. So as long as I do fun stuff in the morning or day, I’m good.

In this case the morning was rainy and as I said, totally awesome. Something about people with umbrellas makes for an interesting picture. I don’t really know what it is but I find it cool. We have umbrellas where I live, but people don’t walk where I live. They walk from the parking lot to the store, that’s most of it. So there are no busy streets with people dressed up carrying umbrellas. So anyway, I got a tonne of umbrella shots, maybe too many but I’ll worry about that later. For now, this is the first of my urbex umbrella shots.

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Vancouver Cityscape

Vancouver Cityscape
Vancouver cityscape from Cypress Point                                        Purchase a fine art mounted print

This is the Vancouver cityscape as seen from Cypress Point. Its probably one of the best locations to get a panoramic view of the city at night, a must see if you are there. I was thinking about Vancouver because I’ll be heading back there soon and was wondering what has changed since I was last there. Last time there was a lot of construction underway and the joke was that the local bird is the crane.

I find that even when I’m away from home for a week or two, I always see little differences when I return. It might be something simple like a new store at the mall or a section of re-paved road, but something new that makes an impression on me because it wasn’t there when I left. When we see same things everyday, we don’t always notice the changes. I ignore a lot because it seems so commonplace, kind of like watching a clock move, we don’t really notice the hands moving but come back in an hour or so and they’re in a different place. So it is with my small town of Palmetto.

Now multiply that by a thousand times and that would be Vancouver. I’m curious to see what new buildings have been constructed, what might have changed at the airport, and maybe even what new shops are at the mall. I’m sure if I ask a Vancouverite they’d say not much has changed and I’d get a chuckle out of that. 

Having said all that, some things will never change; the beauty of Lions Gate Bridge (pictured here), Stanley Park and the amazing mountain peaks that surround the city.

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Cathedral Grove: A Quiet Path

Cathedral Grove Path
Quiet Path Through Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada Obtain a fine art print

Last year I stopped here at Cathedral Grove just outside of Nanaimo British Columbia. These are towering Douglas Firs, the oldest at about eight hundred years old though most are around three hundred years. Even with visitors, the lush vegetation dampens the sounds to provide a quite walk through the old forest. There are a lot of must see places on Vancouver Island, this is at the top of the list. I was here in summer when it was hot, even so the cover the canopy creates its own micro-climate and the whole place is about ten dregs cooler. The grove is reached by a highway leading over the mountains to the pacific coast. I was on my way there to Ucluelet, but even so when I came back I stopped here again. I took a ton of pictures both times.

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Seaplane in Vancouver Harbour

I took this early on a Sunday morning before these seaplanes loaded up with passengers for remote places in inside British Columbia. These are a familiar sight in downtown Vancouver and fun to watch land and takeoff. I have stood here watching the pilots carefully inspect and maintain these aircraft before loading up and heading off into the wild blue yonder.
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I took this early on a Sunday morning before these seaplanes loaded up with passengers for remote places in inside British Columbia. These are a familiar sight in downtown Vancouver and fun to watch land and takeoff. I have stood here watching the pilots carefully inspect and maintain these aircraft before loading up and heading off into the wild blue yonder.

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Driftwood on the Shore

Drive up the coast of British Columbia and driftwood is everywhere. It accumulates on the shore when storms toss it like little sticks. I admit I'm a little intimidated by that kind of power in nature. Imagine living along these shores a hundred years ago without modern convenience. In any case, on this present day afternoon some campers sat nearby taking in the tranquility of the this scene. A little snapshot of the rugged beauty I found just north of Vancouver.

Drive up the coast of British Columbia and driftwood is everywhere. It accumulates on the shore when storms toss it like little sticks. I admit I’m a little intimidated by that kind of power in nature. Imagine living along these shores a hundred years ago without modern convenience. In any case, on this present day afternoon some campers sat nearby taking in the tranquility of the this scene. A little snapshot of the rugged beauty I found just north of Vancouver.

Click on photo to enlarge

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Stanley Park Path

This is a path through Stanley Park in Vancouver. This is one of world's great urban parks, easily on par with Central Park, some would say it exceeds. The air is cleansed by the abundance of trees and walking on this path you could easily forget you are in a major city. If I was king of the world my first decree would be that every city must have a big beautiful park like this. But in the meantime, Vancouver will do.

This is a path through Stanley Park in Vancouver. This is one of world’s great urban parks, easily on par with Central Park, some would say it exceeds. The air is cleansed by the abundance of trees and walking on this path you could easily forget you are in a major city. If I was king of the world my first decree would be that every city must have a big beautiful park like this. But in the meantime, Vancouver will do.

Click on photo to enlarge or obtain a beautiful wall hanging