Thursday, November 19, 2009

Day 19, AND Friday Photo Shootout - The Double Whammy

By a stroke of good fortune, this week's theme at the Shootout is "My Town's Premier Attraction" - The theme was assigned by Kent. (Thank you, Kent. You are a lifesaver.) As it happens, I do have some photos of Nanaimo's premier attraction, which is our beautiful harbour. Thus, without actually taking - or having - the time to go out and shoot a photograph, I can contribute one (several, actually)  to the shootout, thus retaining my membership in the gang. At least, I hope so.


This is a photo of the harbour as seen from the dock where our float planes load and unload. There are two airlines operating out of downtown Nanaimo, so watching the planes come and go is a popular pastime. 





There are usually some people standing along the railings, watching the planes, but the day that the Snowbirds, the Canadian Forces Demonstration Team, came to town, our gangly, overgrown adolescent of a city turned into a small town again, just for the day, as hundreds of people lined the docks, oohing and aahing and shooting pictures. I had a great time, and it looked as if everyone else did, too.


I did take pictures of the Snowbirds, but I kept being distracted by the play of light on the water, so my camera ended up filled with shots like this one.  In fact, even when there is no special occasion, I find it impossible to walk along the waterfront without stopping to take photos. I always seem to find something interesting to look at. Sometimes it is something new, but not always. I love it when something familiar, seen in a different light, becomes newly fascinating.

******************************************************************************************




I have been playing hooky from Friday Photo Shootout and from Theme Thursday, as well, devoting my time to NaNoWriMo and neglecting some of my favourite theme posts - neglecting, as well, my visits to bloggy friends. As NaNoWriMo winds down, I look forward to returning to my familiar haunts.

Not that the project is finished.  I still have over 12,000 words to write, but the task does not seem nearly so daunting now as it did at the beginning of the month. I hope to finish my 50,000 words by next week at this time.

Now, my next confession - and my last for the evening, I promise. Remember that I said I was going to be very brave and read my poem at WordStorm tonight?  Well, this is what happened. I was held over at work, so I didn't even get home until 6:10 p.m., and WordStorm starts at 6:30.  I threw a Weight Watchers dinner into the microwave, printed a copy of my poem (the original, by the way), ate my dinner, brushed my teeth, and rushed back out into the storm - the rainstorm, I mean. It was ugly out there.  I drove to the theatre where WordStorm is held, parked the car - which was easier than I expected. I was able to park only a few feet from the door - locked it, and walked over to the theatre door, which was locked. Oh, dear. I rang the bell. Nobody answered. I walked down the street a bit, to make sure I hadn't gone to the wrong door. No, it was the right place. I knocked on the door. Nobody answered.

This is what I thought:  Hey, I'm only five minutes late. Surely they haven't locked the door on purpose. The readings don't actually start until seven, and people are always wandering in, even after they start. This must be a mistake. Someone must have locked the door by mistake, and nobody has figured it out yet.  Phew. I'm glad I figured it out. I'll go home and find a phone number to call, and I'll explain what has happened, and then I'll come back and somebody will let me in.

So I came home. I turned my computer on and found the website where WordStorm events are announced.  Look!  See? WordStorm is now held on the fourth Thursday of the month - the WHAT? The fourth Thursday of the month. That's next Thursday. A few hours ago, I would have sworn that WordStorm was held on the third Thursday of the month. Obviously, I would have been wrong. I was wrong. I was all dressed up, with no place to go.

(This is the end of the confession.)

If my time were my own, and not given over to the whim of my muses, I would take advantage of my dressed-uppedness by heading straight to TFE's poteen party, but I have some writing to do, so I've changed into my official Writing Pajamas, and I am even now thinking of donning my Hat for Conjuring Stories and my sandara goddess of the written word wig. Yes, that's what I'll do. Good night, bloggy friends.

p.s.  Oops! I forgot to say - If you click on the big black camera over there on the sidebar, you will be magically transported to the Friday Photo Shootout site, from which you can reach all the other Shootout blogs.

p.p.s. It's 12:41 a.m. now. I started to write, and I sort of got carried away. 2,626 words tonight, 40,001 to date. 9,999 to go. Hot damn!

12 comments:

Jama said...

In our harbor, all we see are the ships, ships and more ships....no seaplane at all!

Sandra Leigh said...

Jama - no seaplanes, maybe - but you've got one awesome merlion!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Those poles under the dock, some are "wongy", I hope it wn't collapse.

I think of Anne Murray's snow bird.

Bagman and Butler said...

Beautiful shoot and hilarious confession...been there, done that.

Kat Mortensen said...

I have "writing pajamas" too. Unfortunately, they usually carry over well into the next day!
Don't worry about absenteeism Sandra, the writing project is top priority.

RLM Cooper said...

Say it ain't so! Now you have a whole 'nother week to agonize over reading your poem. I may have to come up there after all. ;o)

Unknown said...

The snowbirds are crowd pleasers for sure. Are you sure it's the docks and not the nanaimo bars? I would have gone for a plate of those. Your picks are wonderful! I love the wavy water under the dock. Great Shoot out, Sandra! Hope you get the writing worked out. Your confessions were funny. Been there too!

Have a wonderful week! Barry and Linda

Pauline said...

Loved your photo under the dock!

Sandra Leigh said...

Ann, those poles aren't quite as wonky as the watery distortion makes them look, but yes, it appears that a couple of giants were playing pick-up sticks, and they decided to put a restaurant, pub, and small airline office on top of the pile of sticks. The building has been there for quite a while, so I guess it's sturdy.

B&B, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Poetikat, I'm convinced that pajamas are the only appropriate writing uniform. Comfort is the new sexy, I hear.

AM, what can I say?

Linda, the docks are much less fattening than the Nanaimo bars; hence my choice. It was really a toss-up between the docks and naked bungy jumping, and since I didn't have a photo of that, I went with the docks!

Pauline, thank you.

RedLan said...

tanks for sharing your photos of premier attraction in Canada which is the beautiful harbour of Nanaimo. And goodluck to your project!

Sandra Leigh said...

Thank you, Redlan -

Unknown said...

Lovely photos of the harbor--I'll be thinking of you this Thursday when the actual WordStorm occurs!

Blog Archive