Knox United, altar cross

While the custodian was on duty, I returned for more shooting in Knox United this afternoon.  When photographing the altar cross against the wooden ceiling, I eventually ended up behind the altar.  When crouching down to explore the best angles, I noticed how beautifully the enormous stained glass window behind the altar reflected off the brushed metal cross. Underexposing brought out the deep colours in a way church members most likely have not experienced, for this was taken from the perspective of a small child.

Knox United Church, Vancouver

Our chamber choir has been practicing in Knox United for years, giving Vespers there several times a year.  I have enjoyed watching the evening light come through the various windows, changing the appearance of the sanctuary as darkness gathers.

In Memoriam

At 3.35 this morning, a lovely neighbour passed away peacefully in her sleep.  Several friends on our block have referred to her today as being saintly.

She lived in her Dunbar-area home for some 50 years.  For as long as I can remember, we would see her walking to daily morning Mass, without fail.  

These flowers remind me of her, and of her love of all the beautiful things she so firmly believed came from God. 

Cherry Trees at University Golf Course, Vancouver

I get to golf at UGC two or three times a week throughout the year, unless the course is covered with snow (which did not happen this year) or the greens have standing water after days of rain (true last week).  Now that it is a few days before spring, golfers are greeting by the course's flowering cherry trees.  On one of my non-golfing days, I returned to take pictures of Hole 13 and the tee box for No. 10, which is where we begin in the winter.

Vancouver's Cherry Blossoms in March

The City of Vancouver has been known for its thousands upon thousands of Japanese flowering cherry and plum trees.  Over the decades, these mono-growths have been increasingly challenged by disease and old age.  The city is now slowly replacing them with more hardy, non-flowering trees, but we can still find many residential blocks in glorious bloom throughout our languorous spring.  By March 6th of this year, the first trees were covered with blossoms.  These earliest trees tend to have smaller flowers which are white, tinged with delicate shades of light pink.  A few weeks from now, trees with larger darker blossoms will predominate.

Vancouver's Mole Hill (downtown)

The downtown area of Vancouver has many small neighbourhoods.  Mole Hill is near Thurlow and Robson, just west of St Paul's Hospital.  A few decades ago, this area and others like it, featured fine houses made of wood with gingerbread and details now so lacking in modern architectural designs.  Somehow, the Mole Hill Community Housing Society was formed and managed to preserve one or two blocks of these grand old houses as affordable housing, bring the old structures up to code, and turn them into a vibrant and colourful neighbourhood. 

 

 One lane (alley) is devoid of garages, so people have turned that area into allotments for vegetables and artists.  All houses have fine back porches from which residents can survey the land.