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, November 24, 2008

A view from Burnaby Mountain

Saturday afternoon took me to Burnaby Mountain and I was there early enough to get in a few photos before the sun set. As you can tell, the cherry trees behind the Horizon Restaurant have been completely stripped of leaves. Of course, that's the case with other deciduous trees in the region. There is a close-up shot of one of the cherry trees below. Once winter sets in I'll likely have more photos of the trees surrounded with a blanket of snow. This elevation does get snow in the winter months!

The rosegarden looks like its gone to sleep for the winter and below you can see the view from the edge of the mountain looking north across Burrard Inlet.

Tankers are seen in Burrard Inlet with refineries nearby (photo above). Then there is the view looking west-northwest toward Vancouver. Capital Hill is in the foreground with downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park behind that.

Then I've long found cloud patterns of interest, such as the one above as an example. It resembles a fledgling needing to be fed by its mother, or it could be a terrible monster sucking in the energy from the area above Vancouver and its environs. You decide for yourself. There is a larger pic below.

Here is a view west from the art sculptures on the western end of Burnaby Mountain with yet another view below looking toward the northwest (Stanley Park, the Lions Gate Bridge, Bowen Island and the northshore to be seen in the distance).


The last two photos feature the sunset on Saturday. Here we are looking toward the southwest with the sun setting behind Vancouver Island. The Pacific Ocean is on the other side of Vancouver Island. The body of water in front of the island is Georgia Strait with the city of Richmond between us and the strait. I hope you've enjoyed these photos. Expect more to come, weather permitting! - Volker

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Christmas 2008 coming

With Christmas a little over a month away I thought I would make an early Christmas purchase before the good plants are sold out. I took this photo after giving the new plant a good soaking. Keep watching for some new posts to come very soon! - Volker