Taoist Tai Chi Demonstration

The Taoist Tai Chi Society recently held a national workshop here in Victoria and one of the events was a demonstration of Taoist Tai Chi on the West Song Walkway. I've recently begun to learn Tai Chi through the activities of this volunteer organization and am enjoying it very much. Our weather on this Saturday morning was cold and windy and this group has my admiration for their wonderfully coordinated performance under these difficult conditions.

Dubble Bubble

This flower in the Abkhazi Garden reminds me of candy - particularly some kind of juicy pink confection like those lovely slabs of Dubble Bubble I used to enjoy when I was at the bubble gum chewing age. Dubble Bubble was the best (at two cents a chunk) and it was a multimedia experience since one could read the adventures of Pud, a micro-comic that was wrapped around each piece of gum, while enjoying that juicy sugary chew.

Otter Family

While I occasionally catch a glimpse of a Northern River Otter here and there as I walk along the West Song or West Bay Walkways I have not before seen an entire family. This group of five was busily catching something in the seaweed along the shoreline. I particularly like that about 30 seconds into the video you can see they all take notice of me and while they don't panic, they nevertheless disappear fairly quickly shortly after. To see such abundant wildlife here in the city always seems like a privilege to me and something we should treasure carefully. Below is a brief video of this group of five.

Dog

Tonight at dusk we went out for a beautiful walk through the park and along the water. I took 74 pictures it was so nice out and yet all the time, some little warning bell was going off. Yet I ignored it, so lovely was the dusk light. Now though, looking through the pictures I realize the ISO was set at 1600 and the pictures are all a little bit grainy...however this one of our new puppy is a nice portrait and now I have an excuse to go out and try again! - Fern

James Bay

Friends from out of town are staying at the lovely Oswego Hotel on the seventh floor and have this beautiful view looking out toward the Olympic Mountains. -fern

Canada Day Fireworks

Canada Day would not be complete without fireworks! And like old barns and sunsets, if you have your camera in hand you can't help but try and take a few shots. I like this one with the totem pole silhouetted by the fireworks, it's a nice juxtaposition. -Fern

Canada Day

Today's photo is where our local Canada Day celebrations will center, Victoria's Inner Harbour. If you can imagine this scene with about 40,000 additional people you will have a pretty good idea of what it will be like later today. Happy Canada Day!