Blogging

Shortly after I came out to British Columbia in early 2006 I had a case of severely high blood pressure. It wouldn't have been fair to an employer for me to work for them until I got my health situation sorted out. I was on medications to lower the blood pressure and it took until early 2007 to find the cause. I finally went to a naturopath who found that a microscopic parasite was the cause for all this.

While getting my health in order, I took up blogging to share my photography. This way I wasn't wasting time and others got to enjoy the photos, not just me and those close to me.

In May of this year I had a mini-stroke cause again by severely high blood pressure. I may end up gong to the naturopath again since the specialist and other MDs can't seem to find the cause. This has only been a problem out here. Before that in Ontario, the blood pressure was only marginally high, not severely high like in BC.

Knowledge is good because being forewarned is forearmed!

All that said, enjoy this blog and all the photos I share with you.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Saturday's walk to Burnaby Lake

This past weekend the weather was so lovely after weeks of dull, overcast skies that I had to get out for a long walk. The walk Saturday took me to Burnaby Lake nestled in central Burnaby between the Trans-Canada Highway to the south and the Lougheed Highway to the north. Further to the north is Burnaby Mountain. Not to be missed are the Coast Mountains seen from various locations. On the way over a bridge over the Trans-Canada Highway, I spotted a red-tailed hawk soaring high above the traffic below. The photo above is of that highway and the image below of the raptor soaring gracefully above everyone.

The image above is of a map of Burnaby Lake. Below is a view looking east-southeast toward the lake. Here Still Creek is flowing slowly toward Burnaby lake. Shades of blue and green predominate the scene.


That is white fluff floating in the air and water from tree sheading their seed. The bridge over the creek is a great place to view the nature's activity on the water.


Yellow flag in flower along the water's edge. You'll see some yellows in the landscape as well as the blues and greens.

Here is a view of the trail found along the west end of the lake. There is a sports complex behind the trees (populars) on the right. Then below you'll see a peaceful view of the lake looking toward the east-southeast. It was an awesome day for a hike in nature. There were swallows flitting above the water and the odd mallard duck could also be seen.





Ferns, moss and other plants are growing on this log pictured above and then there is a photo of a skunk cabbage soon to go into flower below.

Signs along the south trail above and buttercups in bloom near the lake are shown in the image below.


Here is another view of the south trail above and then I happened to see a pair of cedar waxwings (birds) and captured one of them in the photo below. I hadn't seen them in years and when they are seen, they are usually in flocks.

A trail on the eastern end of the lake allows horses as can been seen by the manure left behind in the photo below. Here hoof marks were seen everywhere along that trail. The trails are built on to of a bog, so here and there the ground is a bit springy. Hope you enjoy the photos! Comment if you wish. - Volker

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Spring at Queen's Park

Saturday I did a short walk through Queen's Park in New Westminster, and I do mean short, since the park isn't all that big when compared with Stanley Park and other area parks. As you can see from the top photo the hills are alive with "buttercups" everywhere but there are other wildflowers such as the English daisy in the photo below. In German this flower is called "Gaenseblumen" or literally "goose flowers."

I have no idea what the name of the above tree is called but the flowers are beautiful. The tree though appears to be in the legume family. Then the blooms on the tree below are wonderful in their own right as well. My books for identifying these trees, shrubs and wildflowers are stored away as yet. Any ideas what they might be? - Volker