A healthy start to Spring

Usually, my journeys outside of the house take me to one of two places .. the grocery store or .. hmm .. the other grocery store.  The pounding, driving winter rains make me all too happy to hibernate for a few months or until the torrent of water gushing down the street somewhat dries up.

As I drove to Bev's to go for our morning walk, the glory of Spring's promise is evident everywhere, and I've got a few pictures to show you.  It surprised me, I guess because my view of Spring had been limited to a very small area of the city and somehow, the flora in the north end of Nanaimo hasn't quite caught up to the excessive showiness of the inner city.

We walked over along the streets by her home, a wee house tucked up in Sherwood Forest just above Departure Bay.  I've got some street signs to show you in a separate post .. first, I thought I'd bring you along on our walk this morning.

The first shot juxtaposes both Winter and Spring .. winter holly and spring cherry blossoms.  Cherry blossoms are to BC what lilacs are to Alberta ... an elaborate display of exuberance ... a greeting of the season.

We found the cherry blossoms on the way down to the Departure Bay Beach area where we clambered over the rocky shoreline .. and where Bev promised to show me Rathtrevor Beach in order to belie my commentary about beaches being made out entirely out of rock here on Vancouver Island.  This next picture of the gulls only justifies my claim.  The dark, bumpy rock segues into the light and grey bumpy shoreline of gulls.

At the risk of turning an ankle while she had Keith strapped to her back, we ventured back up to the streets and carried on, chatting about everything from what to do with spaghetti squash to relationships .. girl chat.  A couple hundred strides down the road, I took this picture of a little island out in Departure Bay.  It is home to a Department of Fisheries aquaculture station.  Way in the background, you can see the BC Ferries Terminal where the Coastal Renaissance is docked.  The bluish island in the background is Newcastle.

Bev is part of Bruce's Huligans outrigger team .. twice a week, they travel all over these waters .. it looks quite impressive when you see the extended view of their usual paddling path.

As we rambled homeward after passing on the steeper incline portion of Departure Bay Road, I snapped a few of the Spring flowers that delighted me with their appearance.  Enjoy!

Yesterday, our walk took us up Rutherford Hill .. the backs of my legs are still protesting, but hey, if it doesn't kill ya, it's good.  Right?  Right?  I've always been fascinated with fences, gates, windows, lanes .. where they go and what opportunities await if you only travel down the road or through the portal.  

Bev .. these are for you ... I know you can't see how adorable he looks back there behind you, so here ya go.  I love that quizzical look in the bottom picture where he's trying to figure out just what I'm up to.