Category Archives: Society

Nature, Photography, Society, Streamkeeping, Sustainability

Soggy Burnaby Rivers Day

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It was a very soggy BC/World Rivers Day at the Burnaby Village Museum today. Thanks to all the volunteers!


Our Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society booth


Byrne Creek Streamkeepers volunteers with Rivers Day founder Mark Angelo


Great chatting with Dannie, the Co-Existing with Coyotes Coordinator with the Stanley Park Ecology Society, who was in the booth next to ours.


Entertainment rain or shine!


Burnaby Councillor Joe Keithley on the left, Svend Robinson (former Canadian MP, running again in the upcoming election) to the right, and environmentalist, photographer, and First Nations educator John Preissl in the middle.


Sav Dhaliwal City of Burnaby councilor and chair of Metro Vancouver


Burnaby Mayor Michael Hurley


BC and World Rivers Day founder Mark Angelo

world rivers day burnaby bc


American Kestrel that cannot be released back into the wild due to effects of injuries


Barred Owl that cannot be released back into the wild due to effects of injuries

Business, Photography, Society

Lucille Johnstone Workboat Parade at RiverFest in New Westminster

Lucille Johnstone Workboat Parade at RiverFest on the New Westminster waterfront today. Always a blast.

I admit as an environmentalist I wonder at all the fuel burned for fun, but the Fraser is a working river, and all these folks from tugs to SAR earn a well-deserved day of fun.

Their skill and professionalism are astounding.

working boats parade new westminster BC riverfest

mark angelo rivers day founder
Rivers Day founder Mark Angelo

mayor cote new westminster bc
New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote

Business, Nature, Society, Streamkeeping, Sustainability

Poor BC Forestry Practices Damage Streams, Communities

These Google Earth images are of the approximate area in BC (near Logan Lake) that I saw in a recent presentation. When you think of the impacts of losing all that forest cover on watersheds and downstream communities. . .

Same area, one shot from 1984 the other 2016.

before and after logging air photos BC

The presenter was adamant that flooding in interior communities was not mostly due to climate change as some claim, but mostly due to poor forestry practices.

When you take all the trees, there’s no transpiration of precipitation, and nothing to slow down runoff.

Yes we need forestry jobs, but this does not appear to be a good way to save either the environment or the economy.

Nature, Photography, Society

Burnaby Mountain Sunset

There were a lot of people on Burnaby Mountain tonight. Long weekend? Hoping to see the Northern Lights? That didn’t pan out, but it was a lovely sunset.

Burnaby Mountain sunset

This is a series of shots taken of downtown Vancouver from the mountain, with deliberate variations in focus. . .


Playground of the Gods at night

Society, Sustainability

Wising Up on Not Needing Daily Shampoo

A friend of mine posted on FB that she was trying a no-shampoo routine to save on plastics and chemicals. She’s going days just rinsing her hair with warm water, and if necessary, a touch of bar soap.

So I thought I’d give it a try. Still showering using my summer water-saving routine — 20 second wet down, turn off water, soap pits ‘n bits ‘n feet, and 20-30 second rinse. No shampoo just quickly massaging hair with warm water during the wet and rinse.

I’m on day five or six now, and to my surprise, I feel fine. I thought my hair and scalp would be itchy and flaky by now, but aside from my (short) hair feeling heavier and oilier, no problem.

It certainly appears that shampooing once, or perhaps twice a week, would work for me, and I’d be reducing plastics use, reducing chemicals down the drain, and saving $$.

This from a guy who has been shampooing daily (except when camping or hiking) for 50 years. . .

UPDATE (minutes later): Just timed myself and the rinse cycle takes more like 40-45 seconds : – ).

UPDATE 2: Another friend says she shampoos twice a month.

Canoeing, Photography, Society

Maiden in North Vancouver

Oh my gosh, so cool! We ran across Maiden on our visit to Vancouver’s north shore today.

All woman-crewed around-the-world sailing race competitor in 1990. I had not been aware of this!

They faced so many doubters and obstacles, and prevailed. And now she continues as a beacon for educating disadvantaged girls around the world.

Inspiring.

Wonderful to see a flotilla of First Nations canoes welcoming, honoring, and visiting. I hope I’m not intruding when I say FNs in general, and FN women in particular, deserve such support and recognition.

Maiden north Vancouver

Pets, Photography, Society

Welcoming New Kitty Into Family

We picked up Binky, a fixed 10-month-old female from the Vancouver SPCA today. We fell in love with her on a visit yesterday.

She’s a lovely grey, and we’re still debating what to call her. One option was Goma-chan, goma being Japanese for sesame, since her fur has that grey-blue sheen of ground black sesame seeds.

Another possibility is Sora-chan, or Sky.

“Chan” in both cases is a diminutive used in Japanese for children and close family, usually by seniors to juniors.

We’re leaning toward Sora-chan as it sounds softer.

Anyway, poor Binky/Goma/Sora is still freaked out after about six hours at our place. We were warned she was very shy, and while she was friendly and accepting to us in the shelter yesterday, I guess the trip and new surroundings frightened her.

Sounds like she’s had a trying life, passing through several SPCA shelters across BC before we scooped her.

We’re letting her be, not trying to pursue her or pick her up, and just letting her get used to us, and our home.

To give her time and space to acclimatize, we initially left her in the downstairs bathroom where her litter is, and even in there she kept trying to hide whenever we’d gently check on her, even disappearing into the washing machine. Yikes!

Eventually she made it upstairs on her own, and poked her head into the living room, saw us, and slunk off into the kitchen where she squeezed in between a buffet and a corner wall for an hour or two.

Now she’s hiding under my computer desk in my office, and I’m quietly talking to her as I write this post.

We know she’ll come around, but are admittedly a bit taken aback at how frightened she got.

Take your time Sora-chan. We know you’ll warm up and become a welcome addition to the family.

NOTE: I’ve been careful to take these photos as non-threateningly as possible, and closeups are with a telephoto.

sora cat home from spca
Can’t see me!


Where are you? Oh!


Look at this beauty. . .


Made it up the stairs and into the kitchen on her own steam, but slunk off behind a buffet as soon as she saw that we saw her.


Didn’t want to come out, but enjoyed chin scratches back there, with no meowing, or hissing. There was even a bit of purring.

This is a big step for us, we mourned the passing of our dear Choco nearly six months ago for a long time. But we’re elated to have a new kitty in the house, and look forward to years of burgeoning love and affection.