Where masts and streets collide

Blue Girl was the name emblazoned upon the back of the boat belonging to our much beloved and many times elected city mayor, Frank Ney.  You can read more about Frank by clicking my signposts link in the left column .. I've written about him before.  What in particular about this boat that caught his fancy forever, I cannot seem to dig out of Google.  I've tried.  I got lost surfing.  I don't know if that happens to you too ... you go looking for some particular tidbit of information on the interwebz and find yourself miles from where you wanted to be learning about native life of Australia.  Happens to me allll the time.

Annnnnnd getting back on track ... Blue Girl Way overlooks the Newscastle Island Channel and the Nanaimo Yacht Club.  It's a pretty spot ... a small street of stone pavers that houses one condo complex with "west coast" windows.  Meaning they are large and impossible to clean without a climbing harness and safety rig.  Window cleaning may actually be a bigger business here than car washes in Calgary.  Particularly since Nanaimoites also like huge balconies .. a predilection I can fully appreciate ... most often hung out over a chunk of property that falls away to the water or blackberry bushes far below.

Blackberries are a wonderful fruit in my opinion, but I have come to discover that unlike, their red Alberta counterparts, blackberries put their roots down into the very soul of the island.  Getting rid of raspberries does require a bit of tenacity, but it's doable. Blackberry removal may well a career choice - if the patch in the back between us and the neighbors' fence is a reliable indication.  Unlike more placid Alberta cousins who can be dealt with by wearing a sturdy long-sleeved denim shirt and leather gloves, the blackberry patches here require teflon and a flame-thrower.

While looking for Blue Girl Way, I happened upon this random patch of berry bushes (see, there was a connection between berries and Blue Girl Way) and thought I'd show you the wicked little stickers that make life as a city groundsperson one that requires danger pay.