051 TIME MARCHES ON

Time marches onward and today is no different as I turn 61.  Hard to believe everything that has gone on in that time, but even more so what has gone on in the last year or so.  A year ago today, I was dealing with a spirit crushing mortgage.  My back and knees were causing me so much trouble that I couldn’t even cut the grass in the back yard.

I mention that because yesterday I underwent my first session of Spinal Decompression Therapy.  I had heard about it before but didn’t think much about it.  I had seen ads in the paper but could not believe that it was a legitimate treatment.  Finally, after hurting my wrist and going into the Maple Ridge Physio-Therapy and Pain Clinic for treatment, I saw that they performed the therapy there.  Better yet, it is covered by my Extended Health program.  Well at least 80% of it is.

I read their pamphlet and some research papers.  I spoke to the physio-therapist, and I even spoke to a patient in the bed next to me who was in the process of having it done.  She told me that she limped into the clinic using a walker and after only 4 treatments she was able to walk without even a cane and was pain free.

During treatment t on my wrist, I grilled my physio-therapist on what the treatment was and its effectiveness.  I outlined my history of back injuries starting way back when I was 25.  I first hurt it when a young boy got stuck in the gravel hopper at Lafarge Cement.  Complicating matters were he was in a tight spot in the hopper.  His foot was stuck in the outlet valve when the auger turned slightly and pinned his foot.  He also needed an insulin injection.

In that hopper were the boy, two paramedics, a fireman, a mechanic, an engineer, a surgeon (in case he had to amputate) and myself.  I was bent at the waist and holding the boy under the arms.  I stood in that position for two hours while everyone else was doing their level best to free him.  They also had to figure out a way to stop the auger from turning even a fraction more or it would take his foot off.  They finally managed to take the auger itself apart and the boy was free.  My back didn’t fare quite so well and bothered me for weeks afterward.

The second major injury came a few years later.  We were responding to a noisy party call and while we were on the porch a teenage miscreant kicked out the tail-lights of our patrol car.  I gave chase on foot and as we ran across a guy’s front lawn, I felt the ground open up under me, just as I grabbed his shirt collar.  I didn’t know how far I was going to fall, but I was determined he was coming with me.

My left leg went straight down; my right was at 90-degree angle on the surface.  I was buried up to the waist and all my equipment was buried too.  Knowing I could not get out and was trapped, if I let this kid go, I was positive he would put the boots to me.  So I held on.  I stuck my finger in his ear and told him “If you move I will blow your head off”.  He laid there quietly.

Finally, after about 15 minutes we were found by a police woman.  She handcuffed the kid and then saw my predicament.  At the time I was 6’3” (still am) and weighed 225 pounds.  I figured it would take several people to pull me out of the hole.  Nope, she grabbed me and with little effort lifted me straight up out of the hole.  She was a former Olympic rower and for the life of me I cannot remember her name.  She is my hero though.

My back did not fare so well and I had ruptured the L4-L5 disk and would spend 9 days flat on my back in hospital awaiting surgery.  The day of surgery came and a final x-ray revealed that the disk issue had resolved itself and so instead of surgery I was discharged from hospital.  Over the years there were several more instances of back injury, but none quite so spectacular.

Anyway, with that history and with the most recent injury 3 years ago playing hockey, I didn’t think there was any hope for correcting my back without surgery.  But yesterday I had my first treatment.  This has been a long winded way of saying that I woke up this morning having just turned 61 and I feel a lot better today than I did last year at this time.

Some of my muscles are slightly stiff and sore but I am way more mobile than I was a couple of days ago.  I go for my second treatment tomorrow and two more next weeks.  The therapist figures it will take about 6 or 7 treatments and I should be a new man.  It would be nice to be more mobile again and better yet pain free.

I have always had a devastating slap shot in hockey which terrorized defensemen and goaltenders alike and allowed me to score goals in bunches.  Last year, I scored two.  That used to be a bad game for me.  It was all because the flexibility in my back was gone and I could not launch the shot.  I am hoping with the new found flexibility that my shot will come back next season and the results are looking positive so far.  Happy Birthday to me.

050 RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS

To quote Karen Carpenter, “Rainy Days and Mondays…”, the song goes on to mention Mondays always get her down, but since I have been retired, Mondays don’t mean anything anymore.  Come to think of it, with the shifts I worked, I didn’t very often have weekends off, so Mondays meant nothing then either.  My Mondays, could have been on Wednesday, or Saturday but rarely on a Monday.

I preface all this because I sit in the office here and stare out the window at a deluge of rain.  Rainy days rarely bother me, although the 4 consecutive months of rainy or cloudy days we endured this past winter, I’ll admit were starting to get to me.  Since the move though, I don’t feel like I’m locked away in a dungeon.  I have lots of windows and lots of things to watch out the window or do around the house.

Today we just about drowned taking Toby for his morning walk and when we got home and dried out a bit, Renee wanted to go to Maple Ridge pool and swim her 30 laps.  So off we went.  While she was in swimming, Toby and I waited in the truck and watched the people coming and going to the Saturday Farmer’s Market.  It was too damn wet though to consider getting out and wandering around.

The only depressing part about a rainy day, is that I always leave the camera behind.  I know they say that this pro model camera is weather sealed, I’m not risking something worth that much money to take photos in the rain.  Besides, rainy days are generally depressing and why would I want to take depressing photos.  I have tried, but my attempts at rainy day photos, look like a rainy day, if you know what I mean.

Instead on rainy days I get busy with other things.  We have had a string of about 7 straight days of less than pleasant weather, so I finally got busy.  After having my last physio appointment for my wrist and clearance to resume full duties, I came home and got busy.  My office desperately needed organizing and so I started on that.  In order to do it, I had to get the filing cabinet I bought from the garage, up two flights of stairs and into the office.  The thing weights about 150 pounds (who knew an empty file cabinet weighed that much) and I have had it for about 6 weeks, but couldn’t find anyone to help.

So, never being one for letting an injury get in the way, too much, I muscled it from the garage into the entryway and then tipped it back and started sliding it up the stairs, one step at a time.  This is the one time I am happy that I had to have carpeted stairs.  It didn’t make it a whole lot easier, but it was better than trying to slide it up wooden stairs.  Slowly, ever so slowly I inched it up, one step at a time and finally got it to the main floor.

But wait, there’s more.  Now I had to slide it along my laminate floor without scratching it and here’s where Toby’s blanket came into play.  I tilted the cabinet and kicked the blanket under and slid it along to the second set of stairs.  There I started the process all over again.  Eventually though, I got the cabinet up into the office and now I had to start emptying boxes and eliminating clutter.  All of my camera gear falls into that description.

I stacked all of the big equipment like backdrops, light stands, tripods and such into the closet.  Cameras, lenses, flashes and bags are off to one side of the room.  Eventually they will be proudly displayed and I have cameras dating back to the first camera I ever owned at age 6, to cameras that my Dad had.  I will display those as examples of how far photography has come and more importantly how far I have come with it.

Finally, I started clearing papers off of my desk and putting them in properly labeled file folders and put them into hanging folders in the top drawer.  I’ve kept receipts and warranties of everything to do with the move.  Once I find them in a box down in the garage I will add various financial and other documents to the cabinet.  I have no idea on how to properly file things and my daughter Caitlin has volunteered to show me how to do it.  The other documents I want to file are documents related to the genealogy research I have been doing for about 40 years.

Anyway, this is the final room in the living area of the house that needs to be cleaned up and organized and once that task is complete, I have to start cleaning out the Indiana Jones warehouse that is my garage.  I do have the boat in there, but the plan is to be able to get my truck in as well.  If I can get rid of all those boxes, the boat can easily slide back about 10 feet and then I can start parking my truck inside too.  A side benefit will be finding my tools.

049 GETTING OLD SUCKS

I don’t know if it is because I am getting old, but things seem to hurt far more than they ever did before.  My back constantly hurts and I have very little flexibility now.  It really showed itself in hockey this past season.  My once feared slap shot has completely disappeared because I have no flexibility in my back and cannot lean into it or torque my body to send it.  The wrist shot is still there, but it doesn’t terrorize defensemen and goaltenders, which is the fun part.

I bring this up because I have never really had wrist problems before.  On Halloween morning of 2014 I hurt my wrist torqueing a screw into my back door to repair the knob.  I held on until the evening but it was hurting so bad I went to hospital.  X-Rays were inconclusive but they suspected a hairline fracture and so they casted it.  Initially it felt so much better, but when I laid down to sleep my hand swelled up and the pain was beyond belief.  I held out all weekend and finally couldn’t stand it anymore and went back to the hospital.

They did a CAT scan of my wrist and then 2 hours of agony later cut the cast off my wrist and put it in a flexible brace.  Weeks of physio got the swelling under control and movement back in my wrist.  I got pneumonia in between and finally was able to play hockey again 8 weeks later.  Every so often, the wrist hurts, usually after a hard game of hockey or a weather change.  I put the brace on for a day or two and it goes away.

A few weeks ago, my wrist started hurting again, I put the brace on and this time my hand swelled up to about double it’s normal size and the pain was unreal.  Ice didn’t help, T3’s didn’t help, Anti-Inflammatory didn’t help and so I booked a physio appointment.  My regular physio at 8 Rinks couldn’t get me in for three weeks and so I tried the Maple Ridge Physiotherapy and Pain Clinic.  They got me in on a Tuesday, but unfortunately it meant 6 days of dealing with the pain on my own.

The first treatment involved dipping my hand in melted wax and then putting it in a magnetic therapy machine after which I got ultra-sound.  It took the edge off slightly but was sure sore later on.  The odd part of this whole thing is that I do not know how I hurt it.  I was tossing around bags of dirt to plant the roses, but don’t remember hurting it.  There were a few other things but again, I don’t specifically remember hurting it.

Anyway, after three weeks of physio, three times a week, the swelling is almost gone and my hand and wrist are still stiff and sore when I make certain movements.  I finally went for X-rays 3 weeks after the fact and they were again inconclusive.  There were two “shadows” that may have indicated healing hairline fractures, but nobody knows for sure.

We had friends over for a visit and she had identical symptoms to mine and she was diagnosed with “pseudo-gout”.  I mentioned this to the physio and he thinks it sounds like a possibility.  Whatever it is, I hope it doesn’t come back.  I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but this hurt way more than when I was recovering after knee surgery.

You don’t realize how difficult it is to do things one-handed, especially when it is your strong hand that is out of action.  Simple things like tying your shoes, pulling your pants up or putting socks on.  Typing was damn near impossible, except one handed with my left hand.  Plus, I had to learn how to use the mouse left handed.

I never once missed taking Toby for his morning walk and even for his shot stroll in the evening.  I did do a lot of pacing around the new place when I should have been sleeping.  In fact, other than passing out for 2 hours each night, that’s how I functioned for 2.5 weeks.  Finally, I got enough relief that I slept from 10:00 PM until 7:30 AM the next day, and it has been a long time since I slept that late.  I’m recovering slowly, but at least not in constant pain.  I still can’t do a few things, but at least managed to use the camera again a few days ago.

So, I am hoping that it wasn’t this pseudo-gout although I kind of fear it is.  I am desperately hoping it doesn’t come back.  It sucks to be getting older and in 9 days it increases by one more year to 61.  On another bright side, I mentioned to the physio about my back and he is confident that with a treatment they do called Spinal Decompression I will be able to get the flexibility back in my back and eliminate the constant pain.  I would cross my fingers, but that’s a movement my hand still will not permit me to do.

048 CULINARY ARTS

The culinary arts have always been a favourite activity for me.  Ever since I was little I used to help my Mom baking cookies, stirring fudge on the stove and many other things.  This has carried over into adulthood, and I have always loved cooking.  It can get a little overwhelming when making a large dinner such as the Christmas turkey, but I think I have always done pretty well.  My Mom even compiled a small black book of all her recipes.  She made two copies of it and gave one to me and one to my sister.

BAKING COOKIES

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

I have used it a lot over the years but only a few recipes.  The one recipe that was missing and nowhere to be found was one for a great liniment.  People at the lake would come and “borrow” some and Mom would give them the recipe.  They dubbed it “Auntie Edith’s Marvelous Liniment”.  For many years it remained a mystery, until Dad passed away and we were cleaning out the house when my sister found it hidden behind some stuff in the kitchen cupboard.

FIRST EVER WAFFLE

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

In my little basement suite (300 square feet) with no stove and just a hot plate, electric wok, a BBQ and later a portable roaster oven, I managed to put together some pretty good meals.  At the cabin I acquired a “taste” as it were for cooking with gas.  Granted it was a tiny propane stove, but it did the trick.

CHICKEN FAJITAS

Imagine my delight when I moved in here and saw the huge 5 burner gas range and the gas convection oven.  I figured I would be able to go crazy with cooking, and I have.  I have been able to indulge myself with some favourite cooking pastimes, but I have also been able to expand my repertoire with things I have never made before.  Having the right counter-top appliances has helped as well.

I have in no particular order baked milk chocolate chip cookies, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, peanut butter cookies, waffles with a recipe given to me by my son from his Mom, a scratch bake Angel Food cake, and now a New York Cheesecake and the toppings to go with it. I have made omelets, poached eggs, standard bacon and eggs, meatloaf, stir fried beef and broccoli, chicken fajitas and tacos.  I even discovered and regularly make the “real” Orange Julius drink.  Who knows which direction I will go next.

NEW YORK CHEESECAKE

I have not roasted a turkey yet, nor have I done roast beef, but they are coming.  I have made my rum and butter mushrooms, but not my special ribs, although they are on the agenda as well.  I even have a recipe for Greek Style ribs, which I must try, because I love those with the spicy lemon flavour.

So many recipes that I know by heart and others that are brand new and my huge kitchen makes it much easier than the tiny area I employed at the old house.  I had a two foot by 3-foot section of counter and then I employed the top of the washing machine for additional counter space.  Now I have counters all over the place and the extra room is so much better.  Having a dishwasher makes cleanup much easier as well.

I had an idea for this article to go one way, but in my excitement over successful cooking and baking projects, I have appeared to ramble all over the place.  I have so far only tested my recipes on Renee, although my Caitlin and Trevor loved the milk chocolate chip cookies and Perry loved my white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and the Orange Julius.  So far the reaction from Renee has been two thumbs up for it all.  What to do next, I wonder?  

047 WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE

As I mentioned in an earlier post I was thinking about adding some roses in a planter just outside my front door.  I was a little hesitant to do so, as I wasn’t sure what if any problems it would cause with strata.  The AGM gave me a chance to find out that it was ok, as long as I was clear that the responsibility for taking care of them was my own and not the strata.  I had already understood that would be the case and I had already gone ahead and done it anyway.  Coincidentally, that was the same day I hurt my wrist.  Is it karma because I did it before asking permission?

Anyway, we went to a place called Triple Tree Nurseries and I picked out a very nice red tea rose, because red roses are gorgeous.  I also bought a Peace Rose as a tribute to my grandfather.  In addition, of course, I had to buy two containers to hold them and I picked out a faux terracotta so it would somewhat blend in with the front of the building and not be so obvious.

ROSES IN PLACE

Like everyone who goes into a plant store though, I ended up buying a red begonia and a yellow begonia, and of course I needed container dirt and mushroom manure to fill the planters.  After getting all that together, as I was going through the cashier, there was an orchid called Tom’s Favourite.  Well of course, I had to get that as well.  But wait.  There’s more.

After getting home and putting the orchid on the dining room table and the begonias on the deck table, it was decided to transplant the roses in the evening.  There would be less witnesses and of course while I was doing it two neighbours came outside and we all started visiting.  Anyway, I got the roses transplanted and snugged up against the entranceway, and gave them lots of water.

YELLOW BEGONIA ON DECK

ORCHID IN DINING ROOM

ORCHID IN DINING ROOM 2

Of course, it’s never enough when it comes to flowers, so we ended up going to Art Knapp’s and bought some baskets and inserts to hang over the front railing.  I already had enough dirt left over, so that wasn’t an issue.  I walked through and picked out plants with lots of yellows and greens and Renee quietly walked behind me and replaced them with mostly pinks and purples.  Although I did find a strange looking purple plant that she approved of.  I have no idea what it is called, and neither did anyone I talked to at Art Knapp’s.  For all I know it’s a poisonous man-eater.

VISITOR ALREADY

SMELL NICE

POSSIBLE MAN EATER

We had also stopped at London Drugs and I saw a really neat blue ceramic pot that would be perfect for the begonias.  It was only $7.00 so I grabbed it.  I later saw the identical pot at Art Knapp’s for $25.00, it even had the identical sticker on it and identical markings in the bottom of the pot.

This was the day that my wrist became unmanageable, and so I talked Renee through the transplanting process.  The mix of dirt and manure and how to place the plants in the dirt.  She proved to be an able student and we will proclaim her a container gardener now.  It has really added some colour to my front entrance and deck.

By the time of this writing, the deck flowers are thriving.  So is the orchid and most importantly so are the roses.  The red rose has several buds and one that has burst through into full flower.  It is a much deeper red than I expected but it looks really classy.  I’m waiting for the Peace Rose to bloom to add a counterpoint to the deep red.

FULL BLOOM ROSE

ROSE AND BUD

CLOSE UP

 I’ve had a hard time photographing the flowers with my wrist, especially since I can’t even trigger the shutter release.  Once I was able to do that, I shot with the macro setup, which was mostly a disaster as noting worked out.  Then I shot it using the big lens and doing a bit of telephoto macro and got a few ok shots.

We have started a trend around here though.  I guess everyone was waiting for that one brave soul to step up to the plate and flout authority.  Since putting my roses out front and the hanging containers on the railing, I have noticed planters cropping up all over the complex.  My next door neighbour beat me to the containers on the rails, but mine were next day.  The neighbour across the street has put up two hanging baskets by her front door and I even noticed that someone has a container full of tomato plants out front.  So we are trendsetters I guess.

YET ANOTHER VIEW OF MY ROSE

The complex has some very nice landscaping, but it is always nice to add a personal touch to your own unit.  At the old house I was trying to avoid the yard work because it hurt too much with my back and knees.  It doesn’t mean I didn’t miss my flowers and things and container gardening provides the best of both worlds.  You can still get your hands in the dirt, but it is very minimal work involved.

046 AGM

…And, I’m back.  It’s still a little painful to type, but it’s a whole lot better than it was, even yesterday.  Just got in from my latest physio treatment and it has made a big difference.  Then again, I may pay for this later, when everything in my hand and wrist stiffens up again.  But, I digress from the point, I’m going to try and catch up from the 4 to 6 articles that have been buzzing around in my head for the last couple of weeks.

For every club, organization, or townhouse (this is my second) there is a wee little thing called the Annual General Meeting.  AGM for short.  They are to conduct the business aspects of running your organizations, and are usually lengthy, boring, drawn out affairs.  They can usually be made longer by the one disagreeable person who has an opinion about everything.

Sometimes the organizers are disorganized and things deteriorate from there.  The worst AGM I ever attended was a long winded affair that lasted 5 hours.  My god it was mind numbingly boring to the point that watching paint dry, soccer or a Canucks game would be more exciting.  Even the camera club meetings I attended lasted 2 hours.

You discuss new business, rehash old business, make rules, get rid of rules and elect council members.  It’s all necessary and in fact is required by law, so it’s not like you can just arbitrarily decide not to have one.  Some people choose not to attend and send voting proxies with other members.  It’s bad practice in that you don’t get a true input into the workings of your organization, nor do you get to hear all of the side nots that don’t get reported in the minutes of the meeting.

That being said, we got notice and an agenda of our first AGM since moving into the new complex.  It was only for phase 1 and phase 2 residents as we are the only ones complete and essentially filled to capacity.  When the whole complex is done there will be 8 phases and I believe 114 units.  I think that because it is the highest unit number I can find to date.  For some reason they started with the highest numbers and are counting down to Unit 1.

It’s been fun watching the new arrivals moving in, but even more fun watching and meeting the people who come and visit with their new houses to be.  A few months ago, I was one of those people, only there wasn’t a whole lot of residents around to chat with when I was doing it.  Now the soon to be owners find a bunch of us to talk to.  I bring this up, because it was while chatting with one, I discovered that they were not permitted to attend the AGM, because while they are soon to be owners, they haven’t signed final papers yet.

My first meeting although not the first ever AGM for the complex occurred about 2 weeks ago now and was scheduled for 6:30 PM in the library of a local elementary school.  It was quite warm, so I arrived early and scouted around to find a nice shady, cool spot to park and left all the windows almost halfway down.  There was a nice breeze and I knew it would be comfy and safe for Toby.  Plus, there was a baseball game going on for him to watch.

I headed into the meeting, prepared for the usual long winded affair and even brought my iPad for either taking notes or to amuse me during boring parts.  I grabbed the only adult size chair in the place, because if I sat in one of those tiny chairs, one of two things was going to happen.  First it was going to collapse, or second, I would get into it and never be able to stand up again.

There were 12 physical bodies present and one person holding 8 proxies, which was sufficient to give us a quorum and make the meeting official.  That’s 20 representatives out of about 40 units which at a 50% average is pretty amazing.   The meeting was called to order at exactly 6:30 PM and at 6:45 PM the meeting was closed and we were on our way home.  We reinstated the current 3 members of the executive and added a 4^th as they want to have 2 reps from each phase.  That will give us 16 council members when all is said and done.  I bet that’s when the meetings will become the long winded affairs I’m used to.

Everything that needed to get done, got done in those 15 minutes.  I am still amazed by this 2 weeks later.  I have never seen a meeting run so smoothly or finish so quickly in my lifetime.  Many congratulations to the organizers, the management company and the residents who participated.  I even got to meet a few people I haven’t met yet, and some that are becoming regular and friendly.  We are turning into such a nice and friendly community so far.

045 THE BEAR NECESSITIES

Moving out of the “Big Smoke” into a relatively small town and in an area that is still wilderness, one expects to deal with all sorts of wildlife and domestic animals.  For example, late at night we can hear the coyotes howling up a storm in a nearby field, or even in the gully of the small creek beside us.  We have seen people on horseback riding by and early in the morning I often hear a rooster crowing in the distance to welcome the new day.

There are lots of different birds and I have already seen and/or photographed several lifers.  This morning I had a Blue Steller’s Jay following us on our walk and I had only ever seen those up at the lake before.  One morning, Renee and Toby startled a bird in the long grass and I got some good shots of it.  I had no idea what it was until a friend identified it as a “Killdeer”.  What an unusual name for a small bird.

A couple of times while driving, and of course without the camera I have seen coyotes on the road.  Not unusual though as I have seen plenty of coyotes in Vancouver.  I have seen a couple of dogs that look like wolves but turned out to be huskies.  So the selection of animals in Maple Ridge is wide and varied.

We have been told that it is also bear country.  Not a far-fetched belief as my sister routinely gets them in her backyard and we are farther out than she is.  I thought I saw one disappearing into the bush at the side of the road one day, but was going too fast to be sure.  Also on the way to Pitt Lake we saw a car stopped at the side of the road, and the driver stuck a lens out the window that made mine look small.  A glance in the rearview mirror showed a dark shadow on the roadside and it may have been a bear.  Finally, we saw the bear warning sign when we did our hike at Cliff Falls.

Last night though, it all came together.  Renee got antsy, which is not at all unusual and wanted to go for a walk.  I was not feeling too energetic as my body was hurting all over from lugging heavy bags of soil and transplanting my two rose bushes.  It was hot and muggy too and so she went out with Toby.  Within 5 minutes they were back and she said he refused to go and so I dragged my sorry butt out of the recliner and headed out.

By this time the sun was going down and the light was fading, not to mention being tired and sore, so I looked at my camera and even picked it up and then decided that I would not take it for those reasons and we weren’t going very far.

We headed down the road and around the corner and then headed up the pathway behind the complex that we walk every day.  As I rounded the corner by the pond, some movement caught my eye and there standing in the middle of the path, was a black bear.  He was a good size, not big but not small and if I had to guess I say he was a 2-year-old and about 350-400 pounds.  He was quite slender from having just wakened up.

For some reason, Toby and Renee were behind me instead of way out from where they usually are.  I called out “BEAR” and started to back away.  The bear didn’t make any aggressive moves and in fact he sat down like a dog and just stayed there as we continued to back away.  It didn’t take long until we were around a curve in the path and out of sight.

When we got back to the entrance of the path we warned off a few other people who were heading there with their dogs.  We quickly made our way back to the house and I went in and grabbed my camera, heading out the patio door and over to the pond which is just behind us.  Of course as luck would have it, now that I have the camera the bear was long gone.

The security guy was inside the fenced area and saw him as well and when we talked to him, he said after we left the bear turned and walked up the path away from us and disappeared into the bush.  I am sure we will see more of him, but it won’t be during the day with all the people and machines still doing construction.

This is one of the great perks photographically in living outside Vancouver.  It is also one of the things that you have to be very aware of, that we are in wildlife country and it will be part of living here.  One needs to be wildlife and especially “Bear Aware” when walking in the neighbourhood.  I don’t want any conflicts but I still want my bear photos.  Rest assured I will not be taking any unnecessary risks to get the shot though.