W is for White Rock on "my" West coast

© Photos above by Kay Davies

Photo from Official White Rock Page, on the See Vancouver BC website,

by Maurice Jassak, showing "the white rock" on the right, and an Amtrak train passing

through White Rock on its way from Seattle, Washington, to Vancouver, BC.

On my recent trip "home" to White Rock, BC, where I lived and worked for many years, I had lunch with two friends from college days in a tea shop near the pier. Many things have changed but, because the town is separated from the ocean by the train tracks and the beach, some things never change.

It was a dull wintry afternoon and the tide was all the way in. Semiahmoo Bay (pronounced semi-a-moo) lay peaceful and pewter-colored to match the sky, and the only trains passing were freights.

However, passenger service was restored to the Burlington Northern tracks in time for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and this photo from the White Rock page of the seevancouverbc.com website shows an Amtrak train on its way from Seattle to Vancouver.

White Rock legend has it that a First Nations chief once stood on Vancouver Island, wanting to relocate his people to the mainland. He picked up a large white rock and threw it. It landed on the shore where it now stands. The Semiahmoo people followed it in their canoes and have lived nearby ever since.

Posted for the letter W

in  ABC Wednesday

To see how the letter W inspired other bloggers, please click  HERE!

U is for Union Station, Toronto

© Not for use without permission.

My friend Paulette took this photo of me in Toronto's Union Station, May, 2010, as I embarked on the second leg of my solo cross-Canada train trip. Don't I look like an adventurer in my Tilley hat and my Tilley clothes?
In 1967, when I lived with my family in White Rock, BC, my brother Clint joined the Royal Canadian Navy along with two of his friends. They were put on a train in Vancouver and sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, while boys from the east coast were sent to Victoria, BC.
Mother and I thought the idea of a train trip across the country sounded great, so, off and on for the next 40 or 45 years we talked about it, always saying, "We must do that some day."
Of course, "some day" never came. What did come was a time when Mom no longer felt up to doing it, and then, in 2007, she died. Dad died in 2009. They had done pretty much everything they ever wanted to do, and, as a family, we had no regrets. I still had one dream, though: I wanted to make the trip Mom and I never got around to making.
By then, I had already travelled by train from Vancouver to the Rockies, and I was living here in southeastern Alberta, so instead of going back home to Vancouver to start my journey, I went up to Edmonton to take the train from there to Toronto, from Toronto to Montreal, from Montreal to the Gaspé Peninsula and back, then from Montreal to Moncton, New Brunswick.
First, I spent a few days visiting my friend Paulette at her home near Toronto, before she accompanied me to Union Station to wave me off and to mark the occasion with the above photo. (It was the profile picture on my blog for the next year.)
I highly recommend a trans-Canada train trip with Via Rail. It isn't cheap, and it isn't fast, but it is wonderful. This is old-time train travel, folks. The journey is part of the destination. I had a lower berth (very roomy and comfy) so my fare included three delicious meals a day in the beautiful dining car, where I could meet with, and eat with, my fellow travellers.
It was a veritable trans-Canada cruise!
If I needed help getting on and off the train, there was always a Via staff member to help me with my luggage or with my three-legged cane (I don't leave home without it). The phrase "give me a hand" doesn't need to be spoken, it just happens. The service is great.

Between Toronto and Montreal.

Traveling alone, I had no fear of scrambling unaided on and off Via trains, as I often had to do this year when dealing with European trains, especially if my husband was busy with our luggage.
Yes, European trains are faster (some are a great deal faster), and quieter (because they're electric) but I so enjoy the clickety-clack of the train cars in Canada, the 360-degree beauty from the scenic Park cars, the conviviality of the lounge areas, the luxury of the elegant dining cars, and the gracious help of Via personnel.
Most of all, I love the soulful sound of the train whistle, which, rather than waking me up, lulls me to sleep instead. I'm glad there isn't a sign like this one (right) for the CP Rail freight trains coming through our town. If I'm not asleep yet, the whistle of the midnight train is like a lullaby.

Posted for ABC Wednesday, the meme started by Mrs. Nesbitt in the UK

and carried on by her talented team of photobloggers. Thanks, Mrs. N., and thanks, team!

To see how other bloggers made Use of the letter U, please click HERE!

Staying out of the shade, but casting shadows

Crows might not be everyone's favorite bird, but they sure can be entertaining. These four, and a few others, were picking up bread my friend Ruth threw onto her front lawn near White Rock, BC, earlier this month. Their antics were fun to watch, and we laughed at their squabbles.

                                                                                                                                                                           Photo by Kay Davies

Posted for Shadow Shot Sunday, hosted each week by Tracy at Hey Harriet!

To see other shadows from around the world, please click

HERE!

Ocean to prairie & vice versa, that's my world

This is what White Rock natives call "when the tide is a little way out." When it is a long way out, it leaves lots of tide pools where summer toddlers sit, splash, play and discover sea creatures. I was one of them once, and I remember.

When the tide was all the way in, brave swimmers liked diving from the far end of the White Rock pier, even in mid-winter for the New Year's Day polar bear swim. I wonder if they still do that.

Ocean Park, in South Surrey, where I like to walk with friends, relatives, and dogs.

The unfittie with her highly-recommended big beige golf umbrella to protect herself from the sun, even though she wears her Tilley hat. Here I'm sitting on a log at Crescent Beach, my favorite beach in South Surrey, BC.

My good friend Penelope Puddle, she of the magic umbrella and adventurous spirit, showed photos of the South Surrey beaches in her contribution to My World Tuesday today, making this third-generation British Columbian homesick for the smell of the ocean, the seaweed, the rocks warmed by the sun, the sand exposed by the tide...

Homesick, even though I'm in my home right now, at my own computer. My world encompasses the west coast of BC, the dry interior of BC, and now the prairie of southeastern Alberta.

So I knew I had to post some pictures of the coast as well. I love the outgoing tide, the incoming tide, the pier in White Rock in spite of the parking meters, the long views from the point at Ocean Park, the up-close feel of the beach at Crescent, and the sound of seagulls.

Because I have an allergic reaction to sun exposure (red bumps and red welts, ugh) I try to remember to carry a sunshade, or to wear a hat, or both, as you can see here. I've mentioned in some chapters of this blog how grateful I have been for the huge beige umbrella I bought online from Umbrellastand in Astoria, Oregon, and other pictures have appeared of me in the Tilley hat I've had for nearly 30 years. I also like breezy long-sleeved shirts and slacks in lightweight cotton or crinkle cotton for keeping out the sun.

But sometimes I forget all of the above, and luxuriate in the sounds and smells and sights of the sea. I love it so much I don't even think the train running right through the area is a nuisance. It is all part of the west coast of my world.

You can see parts of other people's worlds at My World Tuesday at

http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/