Strolling between the raindrops

I did plan to go to the gym yesterday, but when I looked around the house, I realized that the dust bunnies had been breeding like rabbits (what else?), and accordingly, I got my exercise by pushing a vacuum cleaner and a mop for a couple of hours.

As you will recall, yesterday was Theme Thursday. Once I had found the table tops and the carpets again, I sat down and read all the Theme Thursday posts - at least I think I did. Next week,I'll cross off the numbers on a bit of paper as I go along, just to be sure.

Meanwhile, the sun had got high in the sky, I hadn't been outside yet, except to sweep the deck (which really doesn't count), and it was high time for a walk.

I drove (heh) dowtown, parked the car, and wandered down to the harbour, where I shot a few (well, lots of) photos to give you an idea what Nanaimo looks like. This first photo shows one of the stairways leading down to the docks where the fishing fleet lives when it's not out fishing. As you look to the right from that stairway, you see a set of terraces and, below them, the walkway.

This is the sea wall below the wharfinger's office.


The boat basin is full of fishing boats right now, but during the summer there are yachts - lots of yachts - tied there. We love to go walking along the harbour, reading the boats' registrations. It's amazing how far some of them have come.

Right across the street from the boat basin is the Port Theatre, the most upscale of our theatrical venues. The outside of the building looks very high-tech, but on the inside it has a rather rustic feel -lots of wood.
Just up the road from here, to the north(ish) is the downtown library; in the opposite direction is our museum. All of this, except for the museum, has been built during the time I've lived in Nanaimo (getting on for twenty years). When I first got here, the downtown core was crumbling. All the development was happening in the north end. Major retailers that had once been downtown moved farther and farther north, so that now they are virtually in Lantzville, the next town north. There has been a major campaign to revitalize downtown Nanaimo, and it is working. It is once again a treat to go for a walk downtown.

By the way, the building just visible on the hill in the far right corner of this next photo is the museum.

Along the walkway, I found this piece by Patricia Banks.







I believe it's part of a competition, and when the competition is over, it will be auctioned off.

Here are a couple of details.







When I had finished photographing the eagles, I walked to the edge of the walkway to look down on the little cul de sac where people store their canoes, kayaks and such. As I lifted my camera, the sky opened, and suddenly I was photographing rain on the water.


I packed up and took off at a trot, trying to stay reasonably dry on my way back to the car. At
least I got some exercise that way.









So there's a little bit of Nanaimo, doing what Nanaimo does best - gleam like a jewel in the sunshine, then turn grey and sodden in the blink of an eye. The other side of that is that, by the time I drove home, the sun was out again.

Update: I set this entry to go off at 4:00 a.m. so that I could sleep in until 5:15. When I woke up and came to check it, I found a note from John Hayes. He had given me an award - my very first blog award. It's over in the sidebar, shining. Thank you, John. I shall happily pass it along when I get home tonight. Hee. Strut, strut, strut. See Sandra strut. (That's a literary allusion.)