Working Man

My Maple Ridge working man!

Woodchips

Piles of woodchips on a local farm, look more like mounds of gold. If only!!!

Frozen Flooded Fields

We had a lot of rain recently. Yesterday we even had a dusting of snow. It came down quite heavy for a while. Today there are only traces of snow in some places. The sky is clear and blue. These puddles, between rows of blueberry bushes were frozen over. We walked for about 5 miles along a quiet section of dike. Yesterdays snow still present on the low hills, making it seem like a fairy land. I will post more pictures from our morning walk on my other blog.

zoom, zoom, zoom

The view of the Golden Ears Mountains from my kitchen window. A black sky that broke open long enough for a glimpse of fresh snow on the peaks. This is the actual view that we see.

Our neighbourhood is lucky to have many well established trees. They give privacy and shade, but as they grow taller, they obscure the view of the mountains.

This is the same view with the zoom lens.

Look Both Ways.

FOR A BETTER LOOK, CLICK TO ENLARGE ANY PHOTO

Sometimes when we see a beautiful sunset, we tend to focus on the magnificence of the dipping orb. But often, when you turn and look the opposite direction, the golden beams of the setting sun, cast a glorious hue on everything.

This was taken from the same spot, same time as yesterdays post. However it is taken looking east, the opposite of yesterdays picture.

Harris Road Sky

Looking west from the "Silver Bridge" on Harris Road.

Water as smooth as a looking glass.

Shoot

Tiger lily shoots.

Time to clear the mulch, prunes the roses and power-wash the winter grunge away!

Now who would like to volunteer?

Aura

Bridge crossing over turbulent waters.

Current swollen from previous heavy rain.

Rushing over boulders, hurrying towards the sea.



Clear today,

A sunbeam morning.



Shaggy moss, alluding to distant days.

When full summer foliage blocks all sun from low boughs.



Natures gleaming aura diffused.

Presently admitting sun,

where soon it will be refused.

Allouette

Tucked up in the Golden Ears Mountains is this well loved location. Allouette Lake, crowded with swimmwers and picnicers in the summer, but so quiet and peaceful in the winter. In February you can hear birdcall from across the lake. This was once a steep valley. In the early 1900s it was forested and flooded to create this artificial lake. A small dam at one end controls the water level. This photo was taken two years ago. Currently the lake is closed due to the damage from January storms.

Cool and Cloudy

A dismal way to start the day. So gray and overcast. A few sunny breaks late in the afternoon, made for some nice pictures at a beach a few miles from here. See my web site if you would like to see those.

Masonic Hall

The Masonic Hall in Maple Ridge. Taken last summer. This old building was moved to this site over 30 years ago to make way for a mall at its previous location, which was right in the center of town. It remains in a nice central location, but on a quieter street.

This is were my family spends alot of time.

Tonight we where at a spaghetti dinner that our oldest son organized. He had invited two adult organizations to join his youth group for dinner. He asked that attendees make donations for cancer research and he raised over $100. That may not seem like alot but for a handful of boys, i think it is great. To see teenage boys mingling with some quite elderly guests was very nice. One of the boys stood up and recited a talk about how loved and admired their Dad's are. He almost brought his own dad to tears. And a few Moms were dabbing their eyes too!

If your son age 11-19, is looking for a meaningful group of boys to be a part of, Look up DEMOLAY.

Beams & Bolts

The old part of town is called Haney, named for one of the founding families that first called this place home.

This is the relatively new - built to look old - structure on Haney Wharf. I love the red plates and bolts against the unadorned timbers. Makes a fabulous photo subject. See this from another angle, shot the same day, for a totally different look. Follow this link to my archives and scroll down to December 3rd.

Nests.

These are herons nests up in the trees. It seems strange that such large birds would nest up there. I should have thought they would prefer to nest in the reeds like the geese and swans. It is alot safer up high though. The herons arent there just now but the nests are seen easiest when the trees are bare. Some of them must have been blown down by the high winds last month.

Midas Sky

Sunset over the blueberry farms, reflected in the irrigation trench. Taken on another night. One less cloudy that this evening.

Moonset

On friday morning I was driving home from a night shift and followed the moon home. I watched as it set, just moments before the sun rose.

Goodnight Moon!

Free Advertising

How is this for a little bit of shameless self promotion? Sure beats 'WASH ME". But then again, maybe its time for a bit of a car wash. Weeks of snow and salt on the roads make for a very mucky car . I havent wanted to wash it while it was so cold or it would freeze shut. Today it is warmer, so maybe ill see about cleaning up the sexy red hot rod.

Still Standing

One of the older barns in the Kanaka Park area of East Maple Ridge. These, aging edifices must have been extremely well built to have stood for so many years and to withstand the brutal forces of nature as we experienced this winter.

What Annoys Me About My City

The first of the month theme for the daily photos is "What annoys me about my city?"

It was difficult to pick something. Because no matter what bad there is to complain about here...there is so much more good, which counterbalances things.

One of my peeves with the city is that they continue to take land out of the Agricultural Land Reserve, every year. Prime land is being turned into housing tracts and there is talk of Mega big box shops going in near where this photo was taken. Already land has been appropriated for widening of roads and bridge building. I know it is all in the name of progress, but it seems such a waste of good farm land. In the end, will we have to import eveything we eat?