Making the most of things

I have another new toy to bring me a smile…and a very empty road in Stanley Park in which to play with it.

The day started grey and wet so it seemed like perfect day to get out and enjoy what we assumed would be a very empty Stanley Park. We are West Coasters…we are used to rain…even if I whine about it. We have rain gear, and many umbrellas, and it occurred to me that an umbrella is a perfect space guarding device…so off to the park it was.

We had an ulterior motive…pine cones.

Why pine cones?

Because Gizmo often likes to destroy them and the supply was running out. And if I can find something to distract him from the self destructive feather mutilation he has been engaging in for the past two months, or at least reduce it somewhat, that’d be great. I have no idea why he has kicked most of his neck feathers out, or why he has taken up attacking his under-wing feathers, but he looks like hell. The vet couldn’t find any obvious reason and all I can come up with is that us being home 24/7 for the past three months has disrupted things and is stressing him. He’s always been a handsome fellow, never a feather plucker in the 28/29 years he’s lived with us….until now.

On the flip side, he is old, way older than most Senegals ever get, and this was the worst moult he’s ever endured. Maybe it’s just an age thing.

Getting old sucks.

When we were walking the seawall a week or so ago we’d come across a patch of fallen cones and filled out pockets with them, but you can’t put a lot of pine cones in you pockets when each is about twice the size of a chicken egg. So, on this seemingly dismal day when we figured most people would stay home, we went for another walk in the park, this time with a bag.

After we picked our fill of pine cones we wandered down to the totem poles and I have to say, it was a strange experience. Normally, at pretty much any time of year, there is a crowd around the totem poles.

On a Sunday at the end of May? Usually it’s chaos, largely because of the cruise ship crowd.

But the cruise ships have been canned for the year. No cruise ships, the Canada/US border closed for nonessential travel, and the place was a ghost town.

Not. One. Other. Person. At least not when we arrived of for the 15-20 minutes that we sat on a bench and listened to the blackbirds, the crows, the gulls, a float plane…..and no buzz of cars or human voices.

It was odd, and serene.

Eventually another couple wandered by, but it was so quiet. I’d said to Kirk this morning that it might be the only time one could enjoy the various spots in the park without the annoyance of crowds of tourists.

I didn’t know how right I’d be.

I also didn’t expect it to not rain. As the afternoon wore on, the sky brightened and it got warm. And the people came out of their caves. There was a sudden increase in cyclists and it started to feel a little more “normal”, whatever that is these days.

We decided to wander towards the Aquarium and were again struck by the quiet and the emptiness. It’s not often one can stand in the middle of the far parking area by the aquarium and sit yourself down in the absolute middle of the road to take some silly photos of a new toy.

On our way back out of the park, we passed through the Rose Garden. In a normal year, the squirrels are everywhere and the Canada geese are busy seeking food and hissing at humans. Today the squirrels seemed suspicious and the geese couldn’t care less. But the roses (although I’m not really a lover of roses) were lovely.

The yellow rose, in particular, stood out to me. Yellow roses are said to be the rose of friendship, something that it seems we need to be freer with. In these crazy days, even more so right now, we need to be less about us vs them, and more about all of us together. Friendship is something we should cultivate widely, not selectively….