Magnolia Spring
Victoria, British Columbia
2016

When we were in Victoria last month, the magnolia blossoms were just beginning to open and the leaves were only budding. By now I imagine the blooms are all gone and the trees in full leaf.

Shaving Brush
Victoria, British Columbia
2016

My marine biology knowledge being about that of a 5th grader, I have no idea what this creature is, so I dubbed it the Shaving Brush, the scientific term being shavisium brushivia.

Faux Real #4
Victoria, British Columbia
2016

Faux Real #3
Victoria, British Columbia
2016

Behave?
Helena, Montana
2016

Here’s another sign in Helena that got me kind of in a quandary. Why would  someone create graffiti that says “behave”? I mean, assuming it really is graffiti (meaning it was illicitly placed on this post) then to have it say “behave” is hypocritical or at least oxymoronic I would think.

Putting Myself on Display
Helena, Montana
2016

When I saw this sign, I took advantage of it. Later I though perhaps I’d taken it a bit too literally. (I’m a long way from the Bard on this one!)

The Secret of the Rooky Wood
Bozeman, Montana
2012

Today is the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Here in Bozeman there are to be organized pop-up or flash Shakespeare readings all day. Individuals are also encouraged to publicly recite something from the Bard whenever and wherever they feel so inspired. Not having the personality for such public spontaneity, I chose to mark the occasion with a rerun this post from four years ago.

I must confess I’m not a huge reader of Shakespeare’s works; I soon get lost in the unfamiliar prose. But taken in smaller bits and pieces, I find it can be incredibly poignant  and his influence on literature and day-to-day speech is undeniable.

Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day,
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale! Light thickens, and the crow
Makes wing to the rooky wood;
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse,
While night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.

–William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Faux Real #2
Victoria, British Columbia
2016

Faux Real #1
Victoria, British Columbia
2016

The Royal British Columbia Museum has some of the most impressive and realistic life-size diorama displays I think I’ve ever seen. They are especially effective because they are quite wide and deep and are not behind glass. They made me wonder what the heck we were doing spending all our time in the city instead of being out it the woods somewhere on Vancouver Island seeing this stuff for real. (Although if I was in the woods, I would not want this close an encounter with a grizzly bear; so the display had a nice safety factor going for it.) The displays motivated us to take a bus to the edge of town the next day for a hike in a woodland park, sans bears.

In theory, I don’t like the idea of wild animals being killed just to create displays in museums (or captured for a life in a zoo), even if there is a strong educational purpose behind it. In practice though, I must confess I enjoy fine displays like this–even though some guilt due to the dissonant feelings always seems to creep in.

Escalator Abstract
Victoria, British Columbia
2016

This image was taken in the Hudson’s Bay Company store in Victoria. Whenever I hear the name Hudson’s Bay Company, I think of the early company and it’s role in the exploration and settlement of much of the North American continent. I see fur trappers, explorers, trading posts, and of course the famous Hudson’s Bay point blankets. So, even though I know better, I’m surprised to see a Hudson’s Bay store these days is to a large degree indistinguishable from Macy’s, J.C. Pennies, The Bon, or the like. And I’m sure none of those old trading posts based on the fur trade never had an escalator.