Vancouver Town

The weather here reminds me of Blowing Rock, North Carolina. The weather report says one thing, but often another happens. Furthermore, the weather can switch from sunny to overcast to rain and back over an hour. It’s a curious way to live. People seem always prepared for rain, but nobody uses an umbrella. It’s always gray, until for brief moments it is not. Vancouver, despite its latitude, is actually quite balmy. Whistler, a few miles north and up (in altitude) is roughly ten degrees cooler. It has already snowed there, whereas Vancouver rarely sees snow and frigid temperatures. Rain throughout the region is common though. Warmer sea air hits the cooler mountain air and condenses. Water drips out. That’s been our experience. Moody weather, gray clouds, and dripping rain. You barely notice it after awhile, and just get used to things being cool and damp. October is the beginning of the rainy season, and some natives were happy to see it again after, in their estimation, a four month period without a drop.

All of this is a long way to say it was pretty amazing that I got some pics of the city in nice weather.

Our first day we toured Stanely Park, named after Lord Stanley, the 16th Earl of Derby. If you’ve ever heard of The Stanley Cup, then you’ve heard of Lord Stanley. It’s the same guy. He dedicated the park in a ceremony in 1888 while visiting Vancouver, and declared it was “To the use and enjoyment of people of all colours and creeds and customs for all time.” This is pretty radical given slavery in the U.S. South had ended a few years prior. That said, they did evict everyone living in the new park, mostly homeless minorities from Asia.

Boats, as far as the eye can see!

You know what would enhance the beauty of this bay? A gas station!

… with an oversized Chevron sign to boat … I mean boot!

I am amused at the juxtaposition of Vancouver, a very eco-conscious city, and a giant gas station that sits in the bay, acting as a proverbial lighthouse for fossil fuels. There’s a sign outside Starbucks admonishing people for not reusing their cups. Teslas are everywhere. Also, enjoy the centrally located fill up station for boats. Where? Can’t miss it. This neatly sums up our feelings about fossil fuels. They enable our really comfortable and awesome lives, but have some unfortunate downsides.

Boats, the RVs of the water. Putting the disposable in disposable income.

A marina full of boats and nobody was out on the water during a pleasant Fall day. Many were for sale. I’m not surprised. Owning a boat is fun, until you get over it. Most everyone does.

Houseboats that look like actual houses!

I have seen houseboats before, but never like actual mini-houses or mini-brownstones. They probably don’t actually go anywhere far, which means you’re just living in a very dense neighborhood and stuck in place like the rest of us. Maybe they travel just around the area, which is protected from serious ocean waves and currents. I have not seen any out on the water. Some boaters are squatters, who just hang out off shore and live rent free. They have a dingy to go ashore for supplies. The boats generally aren’t seaworthy and in poor repair. Often evidence of hoarding is abundantly clear.

These boats aren’t made for boating’.

The Gastown Steam Clock

Mom and I have been eating dinners in Gastown. It’s a fun, trendy place and the original settlement of Vancouver. This steam powered clock is a neighborhood attraction. It whistles every quarter hour, and you can see its inner workings. Mom plans to come back and rent an AirBnB in this area of town, escaping the South in August which is her least favorite month.

Canadian graffiti and back alleys.

On our way to Chinatown, we passed by a very large homeless encampment. Both sides of the street were filled with tents, and an unofficial open air market of found and stolen goods bustled between the rows of tents. It was a sad scene, and as per usual I didn’t take pictures of anyone in order to to not take more from these people. Nobody hassled us and I didn’t feel unsafe, but evidence of opioid addiction was everywhere and people can behave erratically when high or looking for ways to get high. Homelessness exists the world over, and I am reminded we, as a species, have no real answers to ameliorate their suffering. While it is easy to dismiss them as lazy or addicts, we are learning the mental issues which lead a person to this point are much more complex than simple employment can fix. COVID has made this situation explosively worse, pushing marginal folks over the edge. The cost of living here in Vancouver is very high, which doesn’t help.

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen held ties to Vancouver, and stayed here several times. He is considered the Father of Modern China, and became its President before the Communists took over, which occurred only a few decades later. The garden emphasizes balance and harmony, eschewing the chaos from the world. It was carefully constructed in the mid-80s, with most materials being shipped across the Pacific.

Here you can see the balance at work. Dark stones versus light stones. Rough texture left to right versus smooth texture top to bottom. There are countless choices made in the garden all to balance yin and yang. Each of these stones was shipped from China.

Stone versus plants, green versus brown, water versus earth, dense (far) versus sparse (near), curves versus lines. I appreciate the effort to control chaos and soothe the mind.

The architecture around Vancouver varies. A healthy mix of buildings from all different eras along with different styles all co-exist, which creates a very eclectic sky line. I am used to such rigidity and right angles living in New York. Many of the buildings here play with curves and your perception. Visually it is very interesting. I have included several examples below.