Last year I met an Italian man on the stairs of Rue Maurice Utrillo in Montmartre, his eyes lit up when I told him I lived in Vancouver, “Ahh Vancouver…” he said smiling “very beautiful city.”
He told me he’d visited Vancouver a few times for business, and listed off some of his favourite things about the city, and then he said; “But it’s too bad about the rain, I cannot stand so much rain all the time”
That stopped me on my tracks for a moment; I got a little defensive – “Rain? What rain”?
All those times I railed against the rain, who would have thought I’d get so defensive when someone else complained. I should be commiserating with him,
Instead, I fed him the same tired and annoying platitudes I’d been hearing for years, “oh, but it’s the rain that makes it so beautiful, you should see the city on a sunny day after the rain, It’s so invigorating, everything comes alive… so bright and glorious, you’d agree the rain is worth it.”>

I went for a walk one late afternoon just after the rain had stopped, I couldn’t help but think… the city is most beautiful right after the rain.

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I’ve always loved those photos, you know… of people straddling two countries in the middle of nowhere on a lone road with a weathered sign post or tiny demarcation.

When I was a kid, I read a book about a girl from Maine who crossed the border every weekend to visit her grandmother in a New Brunswick town, where she practiced her French and learned to sew.
It seemed like a lot of fun to be able to spend weekends in another country, and I wished I could do that.

I couldn’t believe my luck when I first moved out here; I’m so close to the border I could practically spend my lunch time in another country, I thought.
I cross the border a lot – once a month at least, and at some point it stopped feeling adventurous.

I go mainly for Trader Joe’s, to stock up on pantry staples, and also to pick up multivitamins.
Occasionally, I’ll go farther south… beyond Everett, but it’s always mostly short afternoon trips.
I usually go with @adjoa, she prefers the Aldergrove crossing; it’s smaller and a little further away but I don’t mind it – it’s a scenic drive with relatively shorter wait times.

We’re regulars; over the years… it’s amazing how much personal details we’ve had to share to be let through, it’s an odd relationship but it gets us moving.

We got stuck in a slow lane one afternoon last November, where they were running one of those ‘trial exercises’, where you had to park your car and go inside.
Inside, we were greeted by a border agent in a cowboy hat who shook our hands and gave us a ‘Welcome to the US’ pamphlet – it felt special, I’d never been officially welcomed to the US.

More pictures from the Aldergrove/Lynden border…

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I love bridges, especially walking across them; the views from bridges are always spectacular.
Vancouver has some wonderful bridges with amazing views.
I’ve walked across the Cambie Street Bridge about a hundred times, these photos are from the west sidewalk of the bridge.

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I first saw Lighthouse Park from a boat on my way to Bowen Island
I couldn’t believe that I’d lived here that long and had never been to this amazing rocky park with ancient tall trees and enchanting lighthouse.
It would take me another whole year to make that forty-minute trip to the park.
This lovely park is in West Vancouver; it has meandering trails, giant mossy trees, secluded areas and the ocean!
The views are just magnificent!
The hikes are easy and pleasant…
And of course there’s the Point Atkinson Lighthouse

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Is where I want to be…

~Vancouver~

~Paris~

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I don’t think we really had any Christmas traditions growing up.
There were those Christmases at my grandma’s when I was little; joyous and precious moments that has forever shaped what Christmas means to me. I do consider those tradition.

Last weekend when we were putting up the Christmas decorations, I realized that it’s become somewhat of a tradition – somewhere along the way I’d picked up some traditions of my own.
The tree usually goes up on the first weekend in December; we brought the boxes of decorations up from storage over the weekend.

The fun is in getting everyone to corporate, deciding what goes where, and the memories that comes with a few special ornaments.
And I, I’m always on hand with snacks; I made Italian wedding cookies, the unofficial cookie of Christmas – I’m not sure why they’re called wedding cookies.
I’m in charge of music too, I love Christmas songs, especially the hymns I used to sing when I was a child.
I had Enya’s ‘And Winter Came’ album playing and every time ‘O Come O Come Emmanuel’ came on, we sang along reminiscently.
It’s one of my very favourite Christmas songs
And as the wonderful smell of cookies filled our tiny space, with soothing music playing in the background as we hung ornaments on the old tree I knew that this was a tradition I hoped to keep.

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These fireworks pictures are from the summer, the second day of the Celebration of Light.
It was Spain’s turn and the theme was ‘odyssey’
I took these from a 10th floor south facing balcony – I was too lazy to walk to the beach.

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I love Christmas! This is my favourite time of the year.
I used to send out Christmas cards every year, and then two years ago I stopped.
I miss sending out cards, my dad used to order cards from UNICEF and we’d stay up all night addressing them.
This year I’ve decided to bring the tradition back; I’m sending out a card to anyone who wants one.
I’ve seen a few people do this on their blogs, and thought it was a brilliant idea.
Just fill out the form below with your mailing address (I promise to guard it with my life!) and just sit back, wait a few days, check your mailbox… and viola… a Christmas card with a special note!
It’s okay if you don’t celebrate Christmas; just tell me what holiday you celebrate.

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Today was one of those days… freezing rain in the morning, and pissing windy rain all day.
It just dawned on me that we have just a month left of autumn – it’s been a cold yet wonderful autumn

A month more of these wonderful colourful days of autumn…

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It rained all day today; it all looked grey and gloomy.
But the rain also makes the neighbourhood grow beautifully.

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