037 COYOTE UGLY?

As I sit in my office, both late in the evening and now early this morning I realize how much closer to nature we are in the new place.  This is not an unusual experience for me with trips to the lake every summer, but this is now where I live full time.  It starts with the tentative call of a coyote off in the distance and suddenly becomes a very loud and very close answering reply from another coyote.  He’s either down in the gully next to the stream, or he is standing right under my window.  He is quickly joined in the chorus by the sound of many more coyote voices.

It was not unusual to see coyotes in the city, in fact there was one that used to come and visit Toby at the back gate.  There was another that would sit across the street at the park and occasionally let out a yelp late at night, but it was not at the volume nor the numbers that we are hearing here.

We have also been advised that we live in bear country and that we need to be “bear aware”.  I have not seen one yet, although it is still early in the springtime.  There is a touch of wilderness right outside my back door, and there are certainly numerous areas of wilderness within a 5-minute drive of here.  We are slowly exploring our new area and it is amazing.

WESTCOAST EXPRESS ARRIVES

RENEE DISEMBARKS

Some of these areas I explored as a kid on both family camping trips and outings with my Scout Troop.  Alouette, Rolley, Pitt, Stave and many other lakes and parks are all within a 5 or 10-minute drive from here.  From Vancouver it was more like 45 minutes to an hour and so I tended not to just jump in the vehicle and drive out.  It took planning.  Since we have been out here, a whole month now, we have just grabbed the cameras and gone.  No planning, no expectations.

LEADS TO ALOUETTE LAKE

ON THE SHORES OF ALOUETTE

Yesterday we took a drive and a lengthy walk out to Pitt Lake.  On one side of the gravel service road is Pitt Lake proper, on the other side are the marshlands.  There are a plethora of birds and other wildlife to admire and photograph.  I even got a shot of a white swan in flight.  I am going to have to call this a “lifer” as I have never seen a swan in the wild before and certainly have never seen one flying.  My only previous experience with swans was the tame ones in Stanley Park.

WALKING PITT LAKE

SWAN ON FINAL APPROACH

There were Red Winged Blackbirds, again a first for me, Ospreys and Eagles which I get to see at the lake every year.  Heck, the Eagles I got to see in my back yard in the city.  But this is different and more special.  I can’t even quantify what is so different or special, it just is.

ON THE SHORES OF PITT LAKE

RED WING BLACKBIRD

Also late at night or early in the morning I can hear the distant sound of the train horn as a freight train goes by.  In some cases, it is the Westcoast Express commuter train.  On Friday evenings it means Renee will be arriving and on Monday mornings it means the adventure is over for another weekend and she is heading off to work.  I can very vaguely, almost remember what going to work is like, but then I have been retired over ten years now, so it is a very faint memory.

It was funny on this past Friday, as I waited for Renee to arrive on the train.  I had my camera with me as usual but decided to get a shot of the Westcoast Express coming into the station.  I was approached by three separate people asking me if there was a celebrity coming in on the train.  I guess because of the pro model camera and long lens, they assumed I must be part of the paparazzi.  I just told them it was my girlfriend arriving, and at least one lady figured that Renee must be a celebrity.  In a way she’s right, Renee is a celebrity to us.

Speaking of memories, I went to The Olde Spaghetti Factory in Langley the other day.  It was to attend a First Responders Luncheon hosted by an old friend and Sergeant, Brian Honeyborn.  It is for all first responders in the Lower Mainland, but it tends to be primarily retired members.  There were a lot of familiar faces of old work colleagues from VPD.  There were the police members and just as importantly some of our radio operators and call takers.  They are a very important part of our first responder family.  They take the calls before they ever get to us and more importantly our radio operators were our life lines.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS BUT I GOT IT

I swear Renee is trying to kill me.  Yesterday after our normal one hour walk with Toby, we had to go to Pitt Lake where we engaged in a leg numbing, back breaking two hour walk along a flat access road, lugging the big camera.  Today was a body destroying, two-hour mountainous hike in Golden Ears Park, next to Gold Creek and leading up to Alouette Lake.  It’s a good thing she’s going to work tomorrow as I don’t think my body can take a third day of hiking in a row.

Karl is now the proud owner of a high end Broil King BBQ.  He has come and gotten my old propane BBQ which I bought in 2011 when Dad was in hospital.  It’s been replaced by the new Natural Gas Broil King BBQ.  I’ll tell you something though, this older BBQ felt heavier and definitely more awkward carrying it to his vehicle than it was bringing the new one up on the deck.  Granted I was just back from our mountain trek and was certainly feeling it.

I have now taken this article from the wonder of wilderness and wildlife in my new surroundings back to the memories of my previous working life.  They all play a part in where my life is at this moment and the past makes the present more special and makes one appreciate everything just a little bit more.  Stay tuned for more adventures to come.