Views of where we live--Shannon speaks again....

Here are Abram and Aurora after we all biked down to the beach for dinner.

This is on the rocky western edge of Jericho Beach. You can barely make out downtown Vancouver in the background between the two gigantic ships.

This is a (craning) view from our upstairs bedroom window of our shared backyard. There are just two buildings making a V which is filled in with the grass and trees and one tiny jungle gym. Our main view from this room is of three red (well, they used to be, now they're bare) trees backdropped by a towering row of dark green cedars. Behind the cedars is the path to our community centre where I work.
Our patio doesn't have any nice furniture, just Aurora's jogger and my kayak hanging under the eaves.

Our darling in her megasuit.

Enjoying a walk in the forest along Whatcom Creek while we were back visiting Bellingham. I love the moss and ferns. I love how much of the green stays through the winter (admittedly, however, I would trade it for snowy winters)

We're enjoying where we are while we're here. We feel blessed to live in such a beautiful place.

It is amazing.

Where we live

Wayfinding at UBC

Click on the link above and then scroll down to see the map.

I just wanted to post a map of University of British Columbia's campus. We're always trying to explain to everyone how amazing the location is: ocean, acres of forest, and campus and our home smashed in between. We live in "Acadia Park," if you want to try out your map skills. What the map doesn't show, is that the forest behind us extends for miles east, north and south of us. We've really been enjoying running in there, submerged in the green of coastal forest.

The University is out on a peninsula, Point Grey. Following the coastline from the northern most point of this map, you would go along a long section of ocean access, Jericho Beach, and would see downtown Vancouver in the distance. I'll add a photo of Abe with Aurora from the wooded part of Jericho Beach.
It really is a phenomenal city as far as layout and natural beauty go. You can be all alone walking along the beach and you're about 6 miles from downtown.

Speaking of beaches.... As if you didn't already have reason enough to come and visit us, Wreck Beach (find it on the map) which is accessed pretty much from campus, is a nude beach. They have annual "Buns on the Run" to raise funds and awareness.... Need I say more?

Halloween (shannon's debut blogging post)

Aurora didn't know what was coming.

She didn't know that her tights said "troublemaker" on the back, for instance.
And since she's still far from fluent in any languge, no one could have told her.
Such is the travesty of being an infant on Halloween.


Or, any day I suppose.

Another case of infant ignorance: she still doesn't realize that her main nickname "Bug"
(as derived from the Latin root, Snugglebug)
might signify to others like she is an instect.



So, taking full advantage of the fact that she had absolutely no say
on what she wanted to be for Halloween this year,
I turned her Baby Bjorn (carrier) into a caterpiller suit.

And Abe made these fabulous butterfly wings for us parental types. My only complaint was that they were so small.

If you're still reading now that the pictures are over, we had a good time as family bug types.
The leadership and volunteering group that I run with our teens living on-campus was getting together to go "Trick or Eating" for canned goods. After a ridiculous amount of emails back and forth with these kids ("Do we have to wear costumes?" "Should I bring a bag?"), I realized that this was probably the first trick or treating for quite a few of the youth as they are internationals. I think a grand total of 4 out of the eleven that showed up were in some way dressed up, and then they wouldn't take the candy I was offering them! Things are usually hit and miss with teens I suppose, but this population is quite different from the kids we've been working and living with for the last few years (seriously, who turns down free chocolate!)
So, I made Bloody Finger cookies while they were out collecting goods....(they look gruesome, but it's just PB and powdered sugar with almond sliver fingernails). Those made some waves, but eventually most of the kids at least tried one.
It definitely was fun to see how this crazy holiday of ours is received for the first time by newcomers. Our little Canadian neighbor girls (7 and 9) thought the bloody fingers were "coooool" while our 10 year old Korean neighbor boy told his mom they were too creepy to eat, but he did want to take a picture of them.

Burrard St Bridge Vancouver

I have never considered myself to be much of a "big city" person, generally associating such places as hectic, crowded, expensive, and overwhelming.  For sure I have never really considered a city the kind of place I'd be all that interested in living.  I think though I am finding that not all cities are equal, and Vancouver is a lot more than what I typically associate with big city.  

We have the best of both worlds, the view from the Burrard St. bridge is not the view from our living room window.  For us home is a relatively secluded apartment surrounded by trees and great neighbors, but a 15 minute bus ride and 5 min walk we are standing where you see us in the photo.  

 

There is definitely more to this city than the skyline.  It is a confluence of rivers, mountains, oceans, cultures, art, ideas, and interesting people.  For example, I am doing some work for the visual art department in a wood shop that is run by the university theatre department.  The shop is close to downtown, and few hundred yards from where my painting studio is.  The other day I was in the shop for orientation and from the the ceiling of the warehouse 2 women were doing arial dance/acrobatics wound up in 60' lengths of "silk".  It was a mix of ballet, climbing, and acrobatics.   Their bodies moved as dancers but they seamlessly incorporated the friction of the cloth as their only protection suspended literally up to 60' off the ground.  As they moved the silk swayed in motion with their bodies, it was pretty incredible.  

This city seems to be full of opportunities for similar experiences. Community gardens in downtown amongst hundreds of stories of apartment complexes.  Duwali, an east indian religious festival with food and fireworks. Restaurants, art galleries, festivals, lectures, community events, films and culture; so much goes on that we miss most of it and manage to bump into just a small part of it.  While we never consider or envision ourselves settling in this or any other city, we are pretty psyched to be going to school here.