Vancouver in Winter

Here it is...Mid-January.


Vancouver weather is more its usual gray and rainy than last winter's freeze-up and wild wind and snow storms. Occasionally a bit of blue opens up in the cloud cover, then vanishes with the next breath to be replaced with a mix of fine mist, drizzle, heavy rain, then another bit of sunny blue. Living close to the water, our weather tends to be more moderate than inland areas. We can be walking along the seawall in sunshine and in Chilliwack the wind and snow will be blasting across Highway 1, pushing cars and semis into the median ditches. In the meantime skiers atop sunny Grouse Mountain are oblivious to all but the cloud cover spread below like a a great soft blanket. The pic above was taken at noon on a recent Sunday, and yes; that's the sun poking through, not the moon.


This is also a shot from my balcony. Bare branches on the plane trees, but still providing bits of sustenance for our local finches, chickadees, the occasional woodpecker and of course, the large murders of crows that leave their rookeries early in the day and head to their alloted city neighbourhoods. At dusk they return, raucous and happy or silently, depending on the pickings. That's them in the background. It's really sad to note that many of the rookeries are vanishing under the onslaught of machines clearing space for condos and new housing developments. I wonder if the new residents will ever even think about the Goddess's evicted little garbage men and the job they do for her, cleaning up after us, getting rid of road kill, dropped fries and burgers, and worse. As long as they keep going to and fro each day, then our small piece of the planet is still somewhat healthy. If they disappear then it's time to move to the Interior!

This is a shot from Granville Island. Taken last year at the end of January. We were waiting for the water taxi to take us back to the landing just on the other side of Burrard Bridge after an hour or so of wandering aimlessly, picking up a few veggies and the obligatory landjaeger sausage from the year-round market. Cold, crisp and not a cloud in the sky.