Westbay Marina Houseboats

I love the colors and shapes of these houseboats moored at the Westbay Marina in Esquimalt. Many of these houseboats are manufactured locally, on land. Someday I will post some photos of them under construction because I keep visiting the place where they are made in the hope of seeing one being transported into the water (since I cannot imagine how they manage to get them there.)

Helicopter

I've posted a lot of pictures of boats and ships in the Inner Harbour but I've neglected the busy air traffic. There are several seaplane landing lanes and there is almost always one or more seaplanes taking off or landing. There is also a regular helicopter service between Victoria and Vancouver. This is NOT that service but is (I think) a Coast Guard Helicopter landing on the point the Coast Guard occupies at the mouth of the harbour, spotlighted in the photo below. The passenger helicopter landing pad is out of sight just beyond this point.

Photographer's Brain

Snowdrops - Rebirth

I took this photo the day before yesterday and was originally going to post it as a companion to yesterday's "Into the Mist...." photo. However, my daughter's photo is so good I decided not to post anything with it. However, for me, this is logical next photo in the sequence. These sprouts will develop into the flowers called Snowdrops.

Into the mist....

This photo makes me think of death - it's like a visual metaphor of the unknown we all must face sooner or later. The photo was taken by my daughter, Fern Long, on the Ogden Point Breakwater earlier this year. I think it's a good one to end the old year on and to usher in the New Year.

Christmas Lights

Before I say goodbye to 2008 I wanted to doff my hat to the season, so here's a shot of the Inner Harbour with the Legislative Assembly Buildings in their Christmas colors. Please excuse the fuzziness - this is a hand-held time exposure. My fingers just get too numb if I try to mess with a tripod in this cold weather. As for the strange red lights in the sky, I think they must be reflections of tail-lights of cars passing (off camera below on the roadway).

Happy New Year!

Our snow is pretty much gone now but we are still having gray days and lots of rain and sleet. I like this photo because of the way the snow defines the mountains on the Olympic Peninsula (across the Strait of Juan de Fuca).