Battle of the Bay 2010

Tumultuous in the west, summer blues in the east .. these were the skies as I head down to Swy-A-Lana Lagoon for Bruce's second outrigger race of the season.

To the east

 from the west

I arrived just as the Huliguns were headed off for their second race of the day and managed to catch a couple of shots of the race.

Full steam ahead!  We're cheering for the team on the right.

Just crossed the finish line

Marcus, Bruce, Chris
Toni, Cecile, Bev
Battle of the Bay 2010 - Best Hair Under Duress Award

Since I was already there and wanted to share some more of my city with you, I pointed my camera in other directions as well.

Left to right, Protection and Galliano Islands and Jack Point viewed from Nanaimo Harbour

Swy-A-Lana Lagoon

This is the brickwork on the stairs leading down to the water from the Lighthouse Pub where, every Sunday at noon, you can find the Huliguns after practice -- drying off, wetting their whistle over brunch and telling tales of glory on the water. Or wondering if Bruce remembers the time he had difficulty finding the correct turn buoy. *cough*

Updates

I have to admit to feeling a bit listless lately ... can't seem to settle down into one thing and am needing to nap at the drop of a pin.  I've started a post here a dozen times and just had to abandon it .. lack of interesting things to say -- not that that usually stops me, but feeling it more consciously, I guess.  I have to remember that this is my way to stay in touch with family and friends and that just getting started writing will spark the creativity again.  Who knows, I may even get better at this!

I know that energy goes down in the fall when the grey starts to settle into Nanaimo days on a frequent basis, so I've got to fight it.  I'm taking up a boot camp exercise class starting tomorrow, so I imagine I'll be in quite a bit of pain on Saturday.  Hey, if it doesn't kill me, it will make me stronger, right? 

Blizzard is on the cusp of releasing a bright new game module and I'm preparing for it with my guild.  And getting my own characters ready as well.  It's too bad I can't use game guild management on a resumé.  There are about 130 active accounts in my guild ... 400 total characters ... and I oversee their day to day gaming experiences like any manager.

Here are some articles on precisely that subject that are interesting to read.

Wired
Tankspot
Blacksend's End

Bruce in Blue

He was trying to tell me a story and didn't want to sit still for my camera .. but the story got the better of him.  This shot is one of my very favorites of him .. all that denim blue is just soooo Bruce.

Autumn Fog

A shrill and insisting blaring shot me bolt upright at 9:00 am this morning ... turns out that Mr. Neuman needs to retake the Toast 10 class and do remedial work on basic browning techniques.  So I drifted back to sleep and woke up to something other than my normal fog - which can be quite extensive until the morning cup of tea is on the way and my eyes start functioning again.  Tell me, Larry, does that get any better as you get older?  *grin* (gonna pay for that one, I'm sure)

Anyway .. I love fog.  Always have.  Maybe because fog is so rare in Alberta.  I remember walking up the hill to the fields with Laddie on the occasional heavily fog saturated autumn afternoon to bring in the cows for the evening milking - the wet smulch of leaves underfoot, the crisp smell of brightly colored wet woods all around, the hush of the world, like it was holding its breath waiting for that first blazing spear of sunlight to pierce the bubble and return to reality.  The stalwart friendliness of my sable and white collie was important to this scene as he provided safety against the damp boogey men lingering twixt the trees.  He was so brave, he'd take on anything ... and man, he loved bringing in the cows - it was his chance to really shine. 

From my back deck taken around noon

During our first October here, we had five solid days of heavy, heavy fog .. the locals were dismayed, but I loved it.

A close up of the same shot ... I may have to use this for a website header one month. 

Same vantage point, different direction.  Note all the wires.  Took me a bit to get used to seeing them here
... in Alberta, wires are all buried.  Here, it often takes blasting to dig out a construction site.
I'll try to grab a picture of that for you construction readers.

I'll have to admit the Autumn colors here are magnificent. There's a view or two of Rutherford Road I want to share with you ... I'm waiting for the right day to take pictures.  Both of these areas have year round interest and color and I'm simply amazed at how well the developers did their jobs 'back in the day.'

These next couple of shots are the back of The Longwood Brew Pub ... its what we see everytime we go for mail or groceries.