Grand Boulevard Residents Association

Hi Neighbour,

Well, what did you do on the May long weekend? Did you plan a special event? I sure did: to spend from dawn to dusk in my garden. I’m sorry I grumbled so much, but I had been waiting to get things growing in my garden—actually, in my four raised gardens.

My first raised garden (RG1) was made of 2′ x 2′ patio slabs on their sides (as walls) with 2′ x 4’s underneath and on top. The concrete slabs were held in place by metal supports screwed into the 2′ x 4’s. I bought my first raised garden kit from Lee Valley in 2013, and, with the help of friendly neighbours, built a raised garden shaped like three sides of a square (⊏). The outside ‘spine’ measured 16′ long and the two ends, north and south, were 12′ long. All the ‘arms’ were 4′ wide. It was quite unique. And the best feature was that I didn’t have to go down on my knees to garden. I was no spring chicken, so I planned for Continue reading →

DANDY DANDELIONS

Gardeners say: when the dandelions are out, put out your Mason Bee cocoons. Well, I let my dandelions flourish for weeks in my backyard—to keep my bees happy. In years past, I’ve dug up the dandelions before they could flower, but I stopped that when I learned about their role in the life cycle of Mason bees.

I have to admit, seeing all the bright yellow flowers, added so much wonder to an otherwise painfully drab month. But there was a limit to how much I would put up with, and that was reached when the beautiful flowers were ‘going down for the count’, their stems turning deep red, trying to hide among the leaves, preparing to rise again and display their attractive seed heads for a passing breeze. If the bees didn’t need them anymore, then I didn’t need them either. It was time to ‘nip them in the bud’, so to speak, or next year I wouldn’t be able to see the grass for all the dandelions that would take over my yard.

So, in the last month, I’ve made my daily rounds, usually in the morning, to find and pick the Continue reading →

COLD SPRING

After my decision to turn off my furnace on May 1^st—a nice, sunny day—I had doubts about that decision. I wondered: is it just me or my part of the world that’s feeling the cold? What can explain this ‘winter weather’ in May? A meteorologist says it’s cold air coming down from the Artic. Fine, but I really want to know how long it’s going to continue? How much more can I endure? I don’t want to turn my furnace on again, if it’s going to warm up soon. It’s a challenge, for sure. I’m testing my resilience. I have heavy sweaters to wear around the house, and I don’t sit for long, or else I’ll feel the cold. When I go outside to walk, cycle or work in the garden, I actually warm up nicely. That is, when it’s not raining cats and dogs…

Looking at the temperatures and rainfall that are making news these days, I’m relieved to learn that it’s not just me. Normally in May, at this time, daytime highs are 17–18℃ and overnights are usually around 8–9℃. When I googled Vancouver’s temperature and rainfall, I found out that Continue reading →

Hi Neighbour,

I have deliberately delayed writing my TGIF blog this week for what I consider a good reason. On May 1st, every year, I come to a decision about my comfort in my house. More than 10 years ago, maybe 15 years ago, when I was working, I decided that I shouldn’t leave the heat on all day in my house, when I was out. And in 2009, when I started cycling, I was already in the habit of turning the thermostat down before I left home, for whatever reason, for however long I might be gone. That habit was in place all year long. Just a small habit that meant saving money and gas. It was my way of being environmentally-friendly—a feel-good act.

On another level, years ago when an installer came to my house, I asked him what I needed to do to Continue reading →

FOREST BATHING

This is a new term for me. It means more than ‘earthing’ or ‘grounding’. And, in case all of those terms mean nothing to you, let me explain. ‘Grounding’ is a word that used to mean ‘having a basic training or instruction in a subject or a skill’. That’s still one of the meanings, along with ‘grounding electrical wires’, ‘laying groundwork’, ‘designing an embroidery background’ or even ‘not allowing airplanes to take off’. But ‘grounding’, these days, can also mean ‘getting in physical contact with Mother Earth’ as in ‘walking or standing barefoot on grass, sand or mud’ or ‘gardening with bare hands’, which can create a sense of balance within your body and mind.

The practice of grounding or earthing is a therapeutic technique of getting in touch with your inner or spiritual self, going to a safe place where you are in control, where you can heal from the Continue reading →

COMPUTER LANGUAGE, Part 2

During COVID, I planned my first Zoom call for my siblings. One of them had attended Zoom calls or webinars, so they knew how to click on the link that was sent to them, by the organizer in an email. All of them had email addresses, so that was one aspect that they could handle fairly easily. But I needed to understand the different-looking ‘desktops’ that they would be using for the Zoom call. As well, setting up the time, in each city, required consultation and an email to finalize the times of the call.

Plan #1: Send an email to each of them, with instructions of how to click on the blue lettered link to the Zoom call, and then, in the next ‘window’, ‘Open link’ and then ‘Join with Video’.

Lesson #1: Verify if those instructions worked for the more savvy sibling. Then phone or send a follow-up email to the others to see if they had any problems with my instructions or the times. Ask leading questions, to verify that they really DID understand.

Plan # 2: Have a Zoom call with each hesitant person, individually, and teach them how to Continue reading →

COMPUTER LANGUAGE, Part 1

For generations in the Western world, and maybe in other parts of the developed world, teenagers have found that their parents “don’t get it!” What that really means is that their parents are not living in the young people’s world, where the language and the customs are changing. To many young people, their parents are ‘behind the times’, by maintaining the traditional language and customs of the family or their ethnic group. Well, something’s gotta give. Who blinks first?

If parents aren’t aware of the changes, it can be painful to have their children criticize them. In the good ol’ days, children were seen and not heard; they did what their parents told them to do; they lived with and respected their parents until they got married or moved out of home. I’m not saying that that doesn’t happen these days, but the changes in young people’s language and customs are SO DRAMATIC, since the Internet and social media, that parents haven’t got Continue reading →

Hi Neighbour,

Well, I’m back on the subject of bicycles and cycling. Last week, I posted a blog on my past experiences with bicycles, but I never got to the best part: the life-changing event, after my summer in China, near Shanghai. Coming from Metro Vancouver, I felt right at home in China—we have such a large Chinese community and many of us embrace their culture. However, in Metro Vancouver, there aren’t many Chinese riding bikes. Yet in China, I saw amazing uses of different forms of bicycles and tricycles.

In fact, when I started to ride a bike, it was the year that the City of Vancouver created the Continue reading →

Hi Neighbour,

In the last few weeks, I’ve been writing about the benefits of walking and I’m really glad I got to read In Praise of Walking by Shane O’Mara. It was such an eye-opener. But, as I look back on that experience, I want to write in praise of cycling. I’m a cyclist, but I wasn’t always.

As the youngest child of six kids, living in a rural town, I had a large hand-me-down tricycle, but not my own bike. I remember, when I was older, riding a sister’s bike, which was too big for me to sit on the saddle, so I had to put one leg through the frame, under the top tube to ride it. I got good mileage out of that bike, when she was away at UBC. I had such freedom riding all over the town. In those days, there was no such thing as a helmet. But there was very little Continue reading →