A little light relief, with a message from one of our newest essential workers. Wishing everyone a peaceful weekend as we thank all those who will be working for us while we stay at home, and thinking about all those whom we have so sadly lost.
Commemorating in the studio today all the members of the Canadian Corps who were killed or injured during the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Northern France from April 9th to 12th, 1917 but also thinking about all those heroes giving their lives in the battle taking place on our frontlines today.🇨🇦
Yesterday Kitsilano Beach was deserted as we are all staying home except for short walks. It is such a special place so I thought I would re-post “backdrop to a life” which was in response to a Discover Challenge from the Daily Post in December 2016. It will show you why it is so special. Re-reading the dedication in the last paragraph seems particularly poignant today as you will read, and it is why I would like to dedicate today’s post to the memory of all those who have lost their lives, and continue to lose their lives every day to the corona virus the world over. May they all rest in peace.
Backdrop to a Life, December 14, 2016
Yesterday was one of those perfect days in Vancouver that needs to be shared.
The North Shore mountains, the West End skyline and the shadowed sands of Kitsilano Beach.
Looking out above the logs to English Bay and the snow-covered peaks beyond.
A perfect afternoon for bicycling through the park.
Who wouldn’t want to stroll in the afternoon sunshine on such a day?
No surprise to those of you who follow The Changing Palette that I would choose this special place to write about in response to this week’s Discover Challenge from the Daily Post: Finding Your Place, in which we are asked by Cheri to bring a place alive that means something to us. But more than that, Cheri writes, “the heart of this challenge is to go further and show how or why this place is particularly special”.
I have shared so many photos from Kitsilano Beach and English Bay over my nearly four years of blogging that the “how” is really self evident. But what about the “why”? Well, here is my answer. In 1975, on our first wedding anniversary, my wife and I came to Vancouver from England. We moved into a one bedroom apartment in Kitsilano just a few hundred yards from Kitsilano Beach Park. The following March, on one of our regular walks along the path you see in all of the photos, my wife went into labor and a few hours later our beautiful daughter was born. The beach was the perfect place to walk with the pram or stroller whatever the time of year, and soon a little brother joined our daughter on those same walks. It soon became a place to stomp in puddles, to take training wheels off bicycles, to bury dad in the sand, to laugh on the swings and slides, to walk with my wonderful late parents whenever they visited, to enjoy the four seasons with the changing colours of autumn, the few days of frost and snow in winter to be followed by the warmth of spring and the heat of summer filled with magnificent skies and those unforgettable sunsets creating silhouettes of lovers sitting on logs or people playing beach volley ball in the dying light. I could go on and on but I’m beginning to sound like Dylan Thomas. I think you can understand why this place is so special, so meaningful to me, as it has been and continues to be, the beautiful backdrop to our lives over these past forty years. Yesterday’s walk, as it always does, lifted my spirits at a time when they are being crushed by the daily news and pictures of new atrocities a world away to the people of Aleppo, particularly to the children; and also as we remember the tragedy of the murdered children of Sandy Hook Elementary School four years ago today. I know you feel as I do that these moments must never be forgotten and so it is with a heavy heart that I pause and dedicate today’s post to the memory of all of these precious lost souls.
Kitsilano Beach 17.3.20
Kitsilano Beach 27.3.20
Those of you who have followed thechangingpalette know that Kitsilano Beach, just a few blocks from our home, has been my artistic muse for many years. The willow that you see changes throughout the year and I love to pause and enjoy its beauty whenever we take our daily walks. Here it is mantled in snow from a painting in early 2017.
Tomorrow I will re-post my celebration of Kitsilano Beach that will show you why this place is so very special, even now more than ever during these difficult days.
Today I am honouring all our residents, medical students and indeed all of our health care trainees, with my tulip field “army.” As we face each uncertain day it is so reassuring to know that the future could not be in better and caring hands. Thank you from one grateful generation to the next.
Today’s bouquet is to thank and celebrate all of our wonderful nurses here in British Columbia and around the world. I was so moved to hear the nurses from Massachusetts General Hospital on this morning’s news speak of being scared.
The nurses from Massachusett’s Hospital
Throughout my career my nursing colleagues were always the angels by my side who were always there for me and for our patients, so that together we could make a difference. Even though I am now retired and isolating here at home they are all always in my thoughts as I cheer them on from the sidelines. I am forever grateful to them for their support and friendship over so many years. Heroes and heroines all. Be well and stay safe. ❤️
This painting from a few years ago seems now quite unintentionally to capture the times we are living through with hope and light expressed in the colours battling the surrounding swirling darkness, as petals fall. Tell me I’m wrong and it’s just another lovely bouquet.
Yesterday was World Theatre Day.
All the world has now indeed become a stage. I know we all look forward to the day when theatres, galleries, concert halls, sports stadiums will all come to life again. In the meantime we must thank our dedicated health professionals, first responders, hospital employees; essential service providers of every kind be they in food, pharmacy, truck drivers, flight attendants, and so many countless others.
The time is out of joint; how fortunate we are that they were born to set it right!
I posted this photograph six years ago today in response to The Weekly Photo Challenge that so many of us used to be part of. Given how we are all supporting each other in the blogosphere, the world’s safest place to practice social distancing during these challenging times, my thanks today are for all the heroes and heroines working so hard to save us all.
The photo was taken early one summer’s evening from the Youth Hostel in Cortona, Italy and shows the bells of the Chiesa del Torreone reflected in our bedroom window with Lake Trasimeno seen shimmering in the distance; a moment of pure magic.
My little watercolour shows reflections in the window of another Italian youth hostel in Finale Ligure, the magnificent Castello Vuillerman, recorded in my Journal on July 2, 1999. We’ll never forget climbing the more than three hundred steps, with packs on our backs, to the Castello where the view of the city, seen in this window reflection, was well worth the climb.
I hope this raises your spirits just a little. Be well and stay safe.
Painting and collage of Olga Korbut from 1997 and posted previously in December 2014
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