Saturday, August 1, 2009

A "Bill" post

I've mentioned this a few times, but it bears repeating.  Bill comes over every day that I'm at work, to feed and walk Black Jack.  He does this out of the kindness of his heart, and because I truly believe he loves Black Jack.  I know for sure that she adores him.  They have some great adventures together, and the icing on the cake is that Bill often sends e-mails with pictures and descriptions of their walks.  I love getting the e-mails - his commentary for the photos is always fun, adding tiny clues to the workings of his quirky and fascinating mind.  Here are a few of the latest pictures.
Guess what it is and you get a free bully stick
I wasn't able to guess, so no free bully stick.  Does anyone know what that thing is?

Some days, Bill places Black Jack in higher up places, and then takes her picture.  She seems fine with the improved view.

♫ Hey you, get offa mah tractor... ♫ 
♫ A'hm gonna mow that lawn down at the Folkfest, yah, yah, yah ♫

Some days, he records his distance with a site called gmap-pedometer.  Here is one example of a walk in blistering heat. In his words:

My strategy was to walk on nice leafy streets with shade, so that is what we did. See http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3044312

On other days, he finds the dates of sidewalks interesting.  Here, again, in his words:

For some reason I have been noticing the ages of the sidewalks around here so now I am on a mission to find the oldest one
My first sidewalk find was 1928 at Carnarvon at 11th
Then I found 1926 at Trutch and 6th. For some reason finding an even older sidewalk filled me with childlike pleasure.

Ok, I am obsessed with sidewalks. This one is very near to you at Highbury and Broadway.

Sometimes, he meets dogs and talks with their humans.  Here is one of them, with Bill's commentary:

This is from last week when we met "Pepper" in the Army camp. He is an Australian wire-haired terrier and his person says they are trained to help sheep dogs by nudging the sheep along. Pepper likes to bunt gently on your leg when something is desired.

These last pictures are ones Bill took when we were together.  This one is from last weekend.  I was taking pictures of the osprey in North Vancouver, and Bill was keeping Black Jack amused.  

Black Jack doing a dance, thinking there is a live thing in the water.
Close-up of thing in water (piece of rusted metal with shimmering seaweed on it).
I have never been one to enjoy pictures of myself, but Bill is one of the few people who seems to take ones I'm okay with.  I think it's because we laugh a lot when he takes them, and the picture brings back the moment.  This one was at Finnie's Garden at Riverview Hospital.  If you are interested, you can learn about Finnie's story, and the beautiful space at the hospital by checking out this site
Chilling out under a grape bower.
That's my Bill post for today. It's the first day of a month long holiday for me, so I look forward to lots of time ahead to share more adventures with him.  Thank you, Bill, from the bottom of my heart!

6 comments:

  1. The unidentified object is a target for frisbee golf. You hit the thing and the frisbee theoretically falls in the cage underneath. They are numbered and played much like mini golf. Strangely enough they are often found in off-leash parks...

    Bill sounds like a gem Carol. You and Jack are lucky to have such an amazing friend in your life.

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  2. That "thing" looks like it's for disc golf:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_golf

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  3. Hi Carol,

    I thought have any idea what that thing is in your first photo. Could that be a clothes hanger?

    I looks like you have a good time snapping at sidewalks sometimes there are some odd things that got interested with, you captured it artistically. Hmm BJ looks very curious about that thing peeping out of the water. Well I'm looking forward to more photos of your adventure. Thanks for sharing them.

    AL

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  4. Have a wonderful holiday! I love the comments about brother Bill! Phyllis

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  5. Date stamps on sidewalks and old buildings always fascinate me - they show how long things CAN last if we build them right and preserve them. I often feel disgusted when I see a young building being torn down in the name of "progress" or for want of a bigger, more contemporary design.
    Bill might find this site interesting: http://www.johnatkin.com/

    If he checks the sidebar, he'll see John is collecting info on sidewalk dates to be added to VanMap, and would like pictures and locations.

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  6. Thanks for the comments, everyone.

    Cristina and littledevils, you were right on!

    Al, that was one of my guesses too:)

    Thanks, Phyllis. I am looking forward to the holiday, and you do indeed have an amazing brother. As Cristina notes, Black Jack and I are fortunate beyond all measure.

    Jean, that is fascinating information. I have spent some time exploring John's site, and will go back to it again and again. Thank you so much!

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