"These are the stories the dogs tell, when the fire

burns high and the wind is from the north"

from City

by Clifford Simak  

A quick stop in Vancouver, which means the Sylvia Hotel on 

English Bay, and dogs on the seawall, 

and gulls on rocks 

and 

rocks without gulls,  

and sea

washed pebbles,

the mysteries of the deep, Cthulhu?  

the last flowers of summer 

Favorite eateries 



and funky boutiques.

"There is mystery here, but a soft, sure mystery that is 

understood and only remains a mystery because I want

it so. The mystery of the nighthawk against a darkening sky, 

the puzzle of the firefly along the lilac hedge."

from Time and Again

by Clifford Simak

"One dark and rainy night at the edge 

of a city on the edge of an ocean, 

a stray cat came walking down 

the beach. 

Across from an old hotel covered 

with vines, the cat stopped. As he 

looked at that place, he got a 

strange warm feeling inside him. I 

think, thought the cat, I am tired of 

being a stray cat."

from Mister Got To Go

Story by Lois Simmie

Illustrations by Cynthia Nugent

And so finally we will end our, in blog post time, fairly long

visit to the Sylvia Hotel which I want to mention is also the

setting for the two wonderful books pictured above.

So a quick look at some of characters and sights

we encountered on the trip.

                                                                                 

"These plants grew abundantly in the wet coastal 

weather and drooped out over the fronts

of the houses. If a person liked the fog and rain, 

he'd like Seaside. It seemed to Jonathan

to be the sort of place where a chap could 

write great poetry while peering down at the 

fog-shrouded streets from a fourth-floor attic study."

               The Elfin Ship

                             James Blaylock

" The wind is gusting, the dog runs full speed

towards nothing but happiness...,"

             From Waiting to Wave

                    Jonathan Carroll

Yes another seawall post. One thing Helen and I love is to

watch dogs. We did it when we visited New York City and

we always do it in Vancouver. Both cities figured prominently

in the documentary Dog Dazed about our love affair with dogs

in the city and the consequences of irresponsible owners who let

dogs  run off leash and chase wildlife and poop everywhere.

As much as I love dogs I do control my dogs and cleanup after them

and I am baffled that other people don't. However many of the things

people do baffle me which is why I often prefer animals and being at

the cabin.

So this entire post will go to the  DOGS!!!!!!

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.

Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” 

Groucho Marx

The difference is subtle but these are

different dogs one a bit younger. You will

also notice I rarely photograph people

hence the array of knees and ankles.

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die

I want to go where they went.” 

Will Rogers

“All his life he tried to be a good person.

Many times, however, he failed.

For after all, he was only human.

He wasn't a dog.” 

                

                                                    Charles M Schulz

I will also admit that while I like most dogs I do enjoy

little foo-foo dogs.

“If you don't own a dog, at least one,

there is not necessarily anything wrong with you,

but there may be something wrong with your life.” 

                                                 Roger Caras

“My little dogs ... heartbeats at my feet.” 

                          Edith Wharton

"I have a dog of Blenheim birth,

With fine long ears and full of mirth;

And sometimes, running o'er the plain,

He tumbles on his nose:

But quickly jumping up again,

Like lightning on he goes! "

John Rusking

And still missing our sweet girl Wendolene I am always

a sucker for Poms.

"Pray steal me not, I'm Mrs. Dingley's,
Whose heart in this four-footed thing lies."

Jonathan Swift (a lapdog's collar inscription)

http://thatsjustthewildwood.blogspot.ca/search/label/Wendolene

So as we can see there are many dogs off

leash and chasing things.

We are Shaun and Whateley and we endorsed this message.

 

What was it again?

"There came news of a word.
Crow saw it killing men. He ate well.
He saw it bulldozing
Whole cities to rubble. Again he ate well.
He saw its excreta poisoning seas.
He became watchful.
He saw its breath burning whole lands
To dusty char.
He flew clear and peered."

from A Disaster

Ted Hughes

book Crow

Yes more BC vacation photos. One of the first creatures that

welcomed us on our initial somewhat damp walk on the

seawall were the crows. They were everywhere in the surf, on

the beach, in the park, in the sky. After watching them mob

the Bald Eagles, quarrel with the gulls  and raid the trash cans.

I decided this will be my "totem" animal, go figure I have always

felt a certain affinity for crows whether they were acting as the

noisy heralds of spring or moving through our neighbourhood

in great silent flocks in the fall, they have exerted a strong pull on

my imagination.  Possibly if I lived by a winter roost I would

feel differentely but I don't so I won't.

A great book about Crows is Crow Planet by Lynda Lynn Haupt.

Her book about Darwin, Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent is

also very good.

And  like a good poem or painting the more closely

you look at a crow the more beauty you find.

And as with all good totems he can be scary looking,

magisterial,

and he also points the way.

"But Crow . . Crow
Crow nailed them together,
Nailing Heaven and earth together -

So man cried, but with God's voice.
And God bled, but with man's blood.

Then heaven and earth creaked at the joint
Which became gangrenous and stank -
A horror beyond redemption.

The agony did not diminish.

Man could not be man nor God God.

The agony

Grew.

Crow

Grinned

Crying: 'This is my Creation,'

Flying the black flag of himself. "

from Crow Blacker than ever

Ted Hughes

book Crow