Retired and busier than ever: Steveston

I spent Saturday catching up with my childhood friend Larissa. We had grown up together – our parents socialized and during high school we even lived in the same house. Larissa moved out west right after nursing school and although we’ve stayed in touch over the years, our lives have taken us in different directions. But we’ve always had a bond, kind of like sisters, so whenever we do reconnect, it’s like we saw each other yesterday – well maybe last weekend, but I’m sure you know the feeling. Anyhow, we talked and talked and talked some more. I stayed for dinner – linguine with prawns in a cream sauce and caesar’s salad. So delicious – so garlicky, but then I wasn’t planning to kiss anybody so I wasn’t complaining.

Sunday morning I headed to the airport, not to work, but to pick up the car and head back to Margaret’s to begin house and dog sitting duties while she flew off to Hawaii. It proved to be another perfect Vancouver day – sunny, clear, blue skies and warm – 12 degrees according to the weather man – but I think it went much higher.

My energy level rose and I decided to go for a run. Well, half walk, half run – I hadn’t been out for a while so I had to ease my way back into this. Grabbing the camera, I started out on my way – warming up with a brisk 5 minute walk, and immediately got distracted – by the ducks along the waterway, and the people walking their dogs, and the masts of the many fishing boats. The run could wait until so I wanted to enjoy some scenery first, and started snapping pictures. So in this post I will share some of the pleasures of the eastern arm of this fabulous sleepy little fishing village.

Heading out along Dyke Road in the opposite direction of town, the path led to the London Farm Houses. Built between 1879 and 1890, the house sits on 200 acres of land purchased by Charles London for $2000. Loyalists from the American Revolution, Charles London came from Ontario and eventually the Londons became one of Richmond’s most prominent families. The house is part of the local heritage society and has been restored and preserved to reflect several generations of the family’s history up to 1940. It is reminiscent of many of the heritage homes in Ontario’s conservation areas – like Ball’s Falls near Jordan. London Farm is a cute little spot that I actually showed in one of my first photo’s – although I was focused on the mountains at the time, the little red barn is a distinctive feature of the property.

Across the road begin the series of wooden spikes that that make up the dyke threshold which had been placed in the water by the original fishermen in the late early 1900s. Merely stumps now, they lend an eerie yet soothing sense of what came before and how challenging life might have been in those early days.

I absolutely fell in love with the driftwood – what an artistic collection these banks along the water had preserved. I began to let my imagination run free like a child gazing up at the clouds, seeing all kinds of things – a gorilla resting on his front paws in a gentle repose; a flower bursting forth toward the sun in bloom; a sculpture.

Then the path led past a couple of large sunny beach houses – one old wonderfully presented, one new California style duplex. One half is for sale – I wonder what the price is in this crazy real estate city. And blooming heather in so many of the gardens along the water – a beautiful groundcover of purple haze.

Of course this is a fishing village, so we have boats, and more boats of all shapes and sizes. In the water, docked, they are really the owners of this town. All revolves around the marinas, the cannery and other historic spots. The new homes are California-like beach houses, townhouses and detached. Clean, fresh, airy just like the town itself.

I spy a boat named "Acadia" and think of my friend Lucille from the French part of Cape Breton! Close enough. I find a little rock for my friend Lily, who has a collection in her backyard from all of our hikes together. It’s small, won’t add weight to my luggage and she will be delighted more than any tacky souvenir I could bring back.

In the end I did run and then I went back to the apartment, had a bite to eat and took the doggies for a long walk – so long, they got very tired along the way and we decided to just park on a bench for awhile and watch the world go by. Eventually we got back up and slowly sauntered home - all three of us. They were so tired they flaked out on the floor and were crying to get into bed at 8:30!