Beacon Hill Spring Bouquet

It's said that when Hudson Bay Factor (and later Governor) James Douglas was sailing past this place in 1843, he saw these meadows of Camas Lilies on the slopes of Beacon Hill and decided to found Fort Victoria nearby. What he thought was a natural phenomenon we now know was a human artifact. These glorious meadows are the result of selective cultivation by the local Lekwammen native people, who harvested the edible roots of the Blue Camas Lily as food. They called Victoria "Camosun", which means something like "place of Camas." While the Camas here are no longer harvested, they still form a fabulous carpet of blue on Beacon Hill at this time of year. The intermixed white flowers are Fawn Lilies and the yellow are Buttercups.

Raptors on the Causeway

Yesterday's photo of the high-style canine reminded me of other animals on the Inner Harbour Causeway. Above is a man having his photo taken with a falcon. A photographer on the causeway offers this service and will print photos of you with this magnificent raptor and an Inner Harbour scene in the background. Well worth the $5 it costs. To the left is another raptor I spied recently on the Causeway. This is one of a number of Bald Eagle statues that have been painted by local artists and distributed around the city. This particular eagle, entitled "Free Fall", was painted by Wendy "Sage River" Rogers. The eagles will remain in place until the spring of 2010, when they will be auctioned to raise money for the BC Lions' Easter Seals Campaign that raises money for children with disabilities. To find out more about this campaign, visit Eagles in the City.

Self Portrait

As the summer season begins, sunny days provide a good excuse for bringing out those designer sunglasses. This pooch on a stroll with his valet was recently sighted catching some rays on the Inner Harbor Causeway.

Times Colonist 10k Run

The youngster checking his time above must be one of the youngest competitors in this year's Times Colonist 10k run but there were runners of every age and ability in this mini-marathon on Sunday morning. The Times Colonist, our local newspaper, in publication since the 1850's, has been sponsoring this race for the last 20 years to raise money for charities. This year they raised money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation and for children's literacy programs through their "Raise-a-Reader" program. While the child above may not be the youngest, the gentleman crossing the finish line on the right, at 80 years old, is almost certainly the oldest runner, but everyone who particpated can be proud to have done so.

Adding a Little Color to the Causeway

One of the more interesting aspects of the Inner Harbour Causeway is that not only can you buy the works of artists, you can often see them creating their artworks while you watch. Prints and often originals of art produced here are usually for sale. The artist above is Martin Machacek. His vibrant colors and unique style are very attractive. Not surprisingly, most of his original paintings are in galleries or in the hands of private collectors. However, if you're lucky you might snap one up on the Causeway. In any case he's got some excellent reproductions of his work you can enjoy inexpensively. To find out more about this artist and his work, visit his website: martycultural.com.

The Causeway's live musicians generally have CDs also. When you like the music you hear, ask the performer for one of his or her CDs - they usually have some for sale.