April Showers

April has started with lots of showers (fingers crossed about May flowers and all that) but it didn't stop these two walkers from enjoying the Galloping Goose Trail. This is the view from outside Caffe Fantastico on Harbour Road.

Brian DeBunce Music

Exactly two years ago I posted the above photo of the Dockside Green totem pole. Now this photo appears as the cover of an album of fine new age music entitled, appropriately, "Totem." The music is written and performed by Brian DeBunce and you can hear and/or buy some of it using the player below. I always liked this photo and am happy to see it in use with such fine music.
Click here to visit Brian's website and find out more about this musician.

Dockside Green Totem Pole

Though we had more snow last night, today was another bright and sunny day so I went down and had a look at the nearby Dockside Green condominiums. I've written a little about this project here and here and it continues to be an interesting subject. In May of this year they erected the totem pole pictured above. It was carved by Charles Elliot, master carver of the Tsartlip Nation. In the photo below, newly erected Dockside Green buildings are in the background. The Galloping Goose Cycling Trail passes directly in front of this pole.

"Ya see anybody?"

"Naw, ain't nobody over here. Hey Red, anybody over there?"
"Nope. Nobody here...."
"Well, let's just keep a lookout until dark, and then...."

Point Hope Shipyard

In yesterday's post I mentioned the Point Hope Shipyard. I like it because it has a dry dock where they haul big boats up out of the water to repair and repaint the parts that are usually under the water. There are often two or three propped up like this one. The road I ride home has this shipyard on one side and the Dockside Green development on the other.

Dockside Green Arbutus

Further to my post of Wednesday, here's a little more Dockside Green. I noticed some time ago that the construction crews are very carefully preserving the only large tree that was growing on the site before construction started. It is the large Arbutus tree in the center of the photo, behind the blue and white cement truck. I think the preservation of this tree is another good sign that this project is serious about their commitment to the environment.

This will make an interesting historical photo since the buildings are going up all around this tree and in six months I expect this scene to have changed totally except, I hope, for the tree.

Biomass Thermochemical Gasification Plant

Constructed in 1862, this fine old brick building in the Second Empire Style...HOLD ON THERE, PODNER! Whut in tarnation...?

Many of us City Daily Photo Bloggers tend to be a little conservative, reveling in the old/settled/heritage/historical/retro aspects of our cities, with lots of good reasons. Often what's left over from the past has been left over because it was well-built and beautiful. Also there is a bit of nostalgia for the days when species weren't threatened, nobody knew there was an ozone layer and gasoline was cheap and harmless. However, those "good ole days" got us to where we are now and today's problems with energy and the environment stem directly from our own giddy carelessness in years gone by.

Anyway, while some of Victoria's waterfronts are being condomized (condominated?) in an environmentally thoughtless and exploitative fashion, there is a currently abuilding a large condominiac development with some differences. It's called Dockside Green. It promises well and the Biomass Gasification Plant above is only one of its environmentally sustainable features. The plant will process wood waste to meet the heating and hot water needs of its several thousand residents and, "...is expected to be greenhouse gas positive from a building energy perspective."

If you're interested in the technical aspects you can read more about it on their website by clicking here or the links above. They also have a closed water system with their own sewage treatment plant and the waste water being re-used. Since the developers are conveniently erecting Dockside Green along the route I regularly cycle to get downtown, I will be posting more photos and information as the construction continues.

Lights

One of the nicer features of the sky over Victoria at night is the bright light pictured above. It's made from natural stone and operates by reflected light (solar powered!) so is environmentally sustainable. It's also quite attractive and I suspect other cities will try to obtain their own once it becomes more widely known. Below is another environmentally sound light that I noticed tonight while cycling past one of the new condo development projects nearby, Dockside Green, which has an admirable number of other green initiatives. Yes, that is a solar array above the light.