Justine and I with the Whitecaps flags before the game!
I've been lagging (once again) on posts for the blog, but while I keep using this excuse, it continues to be true - things are insane right now, with no end in sight. It's been lots of long days at work, and tough getting time to even get out and take some pictures.
So this post collects a bunch of things that have been going on over the last few weeks, along with some photos from the same period. Nothing amazing, but some fun things.
Where to start? A couple of weekends ago, we had tickets to the Whitecaps game against Portland. Being a local rivalry, it's always a good time, and as Justine and I are going to Portland for my birthday weekend to see the return match, it all ties in together nicely. Justine managed to put our names in for some extra fun, and we were selected to carry the Whitecaps banners out onto the pitch at the start of the game. We were on the field for the singing of the anthems, and the payer warm up. It was pretty cool!
Pitchside, before walking the flags out.
The Whitecaps keeper, David Ousted heading out for the start of the game.
Back in our seats for the game.
It ended up being a pretty great game. We controlled the first half, but were down 1-0. Then we kept on pressing, and scored two in the second half to win the game. It was exciting, and hopefully we can have the same sort of performance in Portland.
A shipwreck in False Creek?
So this is one of the odder things I've seen. A couple weeks back we had a pretty windy night. I didn't think much of it until a couple of days later when we were walking the seawall, not a 10 minute walk from our house. One of the sail boats that must have been poorly anchored in False Creek seemed to have been blow up onto the rock retaining wall. And then the tide went out, left it stranded and subsequent comings and goings of the tides swamped it.
Its been there for a couple of weeks now, and at high tide it's totally submerged. So I think it's a write-off at this point, but I'm still surprised someone hasn't come to remove it. Crazy.
One of the first views we had of the stranded boat.
It looked like someone was going out to salvage the contents of the sailboat.
Nice light even helps a shipwreck.
With the start of spring, there's lots of amazing blooms and a few small fuzzy critters...
There are a crazy number of small, fuzzy goslings about right now.
We're pretty much at the end of the rhododendron blooms, but the ones that are around are spectacular.
As always, the gardens along the seawall near Granville Island are spectacular.
Iris
Over the winter, our bike room got broken into. My mountain bike was stolen, and Justine's was badly vandalized. Insurance came through, and I bought a "new" (to me) bike over the winter. Last weekend, we went shopping and got Justine a new bike as well. And so on Sunday, we headed out to Delta and took our new bikes for a spin.
Ready to hit the trails!
A new Guy Kay novel!
Earlier this month, my favourite author, Guy Gavriel Kay released a new book. This is exciting as it only happens about every five years. I'm about 25% of the way through it, and loving it so far. What was even better was that he did a reading and book signing here in Vancouver tonight. So my friend Risa and I went over and listened. He's a very engaging speaker, and it was fun to hear him read from the book. I've been to pretty much every signing since I moved to Vancouver (I think I missed one, while I was living in London) , and I look forward to these events. I got my booked signed, and had time to exchange a few words. Fun night.
Guy Gavriel Kay.
Doing a reading from Children of Earth and Sky.