Totem Poles

There are two totem poles on Songhees point, one of which is pictured above. Oddly enough, whenever I see totem poles here lately I am reminded of South Korea, where I worked for a year some time ago. While moving around the country I several times saw collections of what at first glance appeared to be totem poles near the entrances to villages or small towns. The resemblance between these Korean poles and our local totem poles is striking though it is quite superficial. You can see many examples of the Korean poles HERE.

PAH-lut-suss

Songhees Point is not just a great place to get a view of the city. It's long been a place with special power. The spindle whorl marker on the right side of this photo explains the significance of this site:

PAH-lu-tsuss means "cradle-board." Traditionally, once infants had learned to walk, their cradles were placed at this sacred headland because of the spiritual power of the water here. More recently, there was a settlement here, and subsequently an Indian reserve, that traded with the fort on the opposite shore. This place is also known as Songhees Point.

Yesterday''s photo was taken looking east towards the city from Songhees Point or PAH-lut-suss. Today's photo is looking west towards West Bay Marina in Esquimalt.

Sign of Spring

March came in in wintry fashion with high winds and driving icy rain but some sunshine today took me down to Songhees Point where I saw some of these little Harbour Ferries chugging around - a sure sign of spring.

Herbalist

Another of the facets of Chinatown that I experienced when Fern and I took the Chinatown Tour was Chinese traditional medicine - we went into a Chinese herbalist shop and looked around. Above are the bins of Ginseng - this stuff is expensive! Below is what I hope would be prescribed for me. I am fond of fungi though this one is not one I've seen before.

Jaywalker!

Here's another interesting Chinatown fact I learned on the Chinatown walking tour I mentioned yesterday. This young man crossing the street in the middle of the block is NOT going to get busted for jaywalking. In Chinatown, by virtue of a special city bylaw, jaywalking is legal. It's a nice little recognition that our Chinatown is a special place with its own culture.