Mall Christmas

If you want color during these gray winter days the best place to find it is in the mall. This one is on Douglas Street downtown and is a nice bright warm place to spend an afternoon (as well as all of your disposable income.)

Merry Christmas!

Aftermath

Merry Christmas!

Here's what our place looks like this Christmas Eve. Fern and I take this opportunity to thank you for your many visits here throughout the year and your hundreds of kind comments and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

21

Yes, 21 - that's how many shopping days remain until Christmas. I suspect your local retailers are keeping you well informed of this. Here's a photo of one of our local malls, the Bay Centre, all dolled up for the season.

Butchart Gardens Christmas

One of the more famous tourist attractions in the Greater Victoria area is the Butchart Garden, a large complex of several gardens that have been developed over the last 100 years by the Butchart family and their descendants. At this time of year the gardens are lit with an immense number of lights and a series of tableaux depicting scenes from the popular carol 12 Days of Christmas - 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, etc. In the video below you can see the "seven swans a swimming" and get some idea of the spectacular light show. Music is part of the package as well and the brass quartet entertained the hundreds of patrons who were strolling in the gardens despite the rain (you can see umbrellas in the photo).

Aftermath

Ho Ho Ho!

Causeway Christmas

Here's Victoria's Inner Harbour Causeway with the Legislature's special Christmas lights. The rain spots on the lens in the upper left corner appeared almost immediately since it began to rain, and then sleet, as soon as I opened my camera bag and I fled for home after a few quick clicks of the shutter. (Compare with THIS.)

Santa Was Here

Regular visitor Dean Lewis sent me this splendid video. Thanks Dean. Enjoy!

Coal in THEIR Stockings For Sure

Above, busy with a cell phone and an i-Pod, passersby fail to notice Mr. and Mrs. Santa strolling by on Victoria's Government Street.

Below, what looks like a normally busy day in downtown Victoria is a bit unusual because this was taken on a Sunday. Usually on a Sunday here there is very little traffic and few pedestrians. It's because of Christmas shopping, of course. How's yours coming?

Memories

I'm getting to be old enough so that I often hear myself saying, "When I was a boy...." because so many things have changed since then. Seeing these Christmas trees stacked up for sale outside a local supermarket triggered one of these long-forgotten memories. I remember going out into the bush with my father to get our Christmas tree. At the time (around 1946/47), we lived on the prairies and it must have been a bit of a drive to find some pine forest. Around where we lived it was pretty much just grassland. I suspect that was the way that most people in Canada got their Christmas trees in those days, tramping around in the snow with an ax in hand. Another feature of Christmas was after the tree was brought home. Then last year's lights had to be repaired. These were small screw-in incandescent bulbs, not like the modern leds, and the strings were often wired in series. Finding and replacing the burnt out bulbs and getting the strings working was an evening's work. My older brother, a much more logical and methodical child than I, was very good at this. While I'm waxing nostalgic I'll include this school class photo taken a few years later (maybe 1949) around Christmas - there's a decorated tree in the background. This photo, particularly the way I'm dressed (felt boots for the snow season and the knee stockings and breeches that were always worn with them), brings back a lot of memories also. I'm the leftmost little guy in the front row.

Portrait of the Artist with Kiwi Fruit Candy Cane

Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas Spirits

Christmas Eve

Well, here it is Christmas Eve again. Season's Greetings to all my visitors, friends and family.

Carollers

Recorded Christmas carols relentlessly fill one's ear during this season so it was nice to hear some live voices providing the music. This group of young carollers singing on Government Street were provided by the Downtown Victoria Business Association.

Merry Christmas!

I hope on this day you are all with your loved ones and are at peace with yourself and the world. I have tried to get out and greet most of my regular visitors in the comments areas of their blogs but for those I have missed, you have my best wishes for a very Merry Christmas!

Anyone who knows anything about birds will please inform me what kind of ducks are in the photo. I'm guessing they are Common Mergansers....