The Light Returns

Over a year ago, my last post of 2024 signed off with the hope that 2025 be a year of light -- for my readers, and for the planet. Well... I think we can all agree that sometimes the light has seemed very far away. We are indeed living in challenging times.

A dark, fog-shrouded December solstice day, Victoria Inner Harbour. 

In the twenty days since the solstice we have gained 20 minutes of daylight in Victoria. And now as the Earth's orbit around the sun changes its angle, the rate will increase as the light returns to the northern hemisphere.

This is not a political blog, so I am not diving into the rabbit hole of politics. However, there is awareness, and there is resistance. I recently read the following quote, attributed variously to the anthropologist Margaret Mead, or to the evangelical pastor Charles Swindoll.

We are continually faced with great opportunities which are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems.

This perspective is one of possibility, which I like. It frames our current multiple crises as opportunities, rather than sources of despair. 

Now, it is time for some photos, to illuminate the world of beauty around us. I will start with a story about Iran, which is in the news today because of massive protests, crackdowns by security forces, internet blackouts, and horrendous loss of life on a scale that we can only guess at.

On December 21 I went to a celebration of Yalda, hosted by members of Victoria's Iranian community. Yalda is the night of the winter solstice.

Here are a few images.

Yalda night is celebrated with food, and colours associated with the sun. The red pomegranate symbolizes the return of the sun.

Intricate detail from the tapestry on the table at Yalda night.

One of the platters on the table. What astounding artistry!

Another platter, detail.

The Persian culture is millennia old. I've learned a little about it from an Iranian friend. A couple of years ago I was so taken by the contrast between our north American celebration of the time around the solstice, and the Persian celebration of Yalda, that I wrote a poem, "Two Mid-Winter Nights".  I was surprised and pleased that the poem won second prize in the Victoria Writers' Society annual writing contest.

Moving from the Persian celebration of the solstice, to how we in North American celebrate the dark nights around the winter solstice, and invite the light to return. One of the obvious ones is with our seasonal light displays.

An orca outside the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority.

And an octopus, also at the Harbour Authority.

The short days, and the amount of rain, sometimes makes it hard to get much walking in. I just read that the month of December had over 150% of normal rainfall in Victoria! Despite that, I've been able to squeeze some walks in between downpours.

The light might be dull, but the grasses and mosses in the Garry Oak meadows are vibrantly green at this time of year.

Despite the rain, there has been light.

An early January shaft of sunlight illuminating the red bark of an arbutus tree in Beacon Hill Park.

On the same day the sun shone on the arbutus, I caught it illuminating a pine cone.

Pattern in nature....

Our flat grey skies provide little light for interesting photography.

The light was drab, but I was intrigued by the silhouette of Garry oak trees against the pallid sky.

Even on dull days, the light picks up pastels, as the funky image below shows. 

The Clarence Street teacup tree, with the white teacups catching light. The tree has spawned offspring. In the distance are more trees, most of them decorated with seasonal balls which hang permanently.

With the short days, of course, we spend more time indoors -- including restaurants.

James Bay Inn restaurant, and some of its art deco themes. This mirrored post reflects a lot of light!

One more image of some of the art deco fixtures in the James Bay Inn restaurant.

I stepped into the BC Legislature a few weeks ago, and was captivated by the stained glass, which is all about using light to paint images. Here's one photo of a stained glass window:

I liked the theme of this window, on the Arts.

The vast expanse of the ocean is a giant mirror reflecting light. I feel very fortunate to be able to walk beside it; even on the gloomiest days, the ocean shines.

The sky is different each day. On this day the ocean was calm.

The ocean on a blustery day, with magnificent waves and sky.

I will finish this post with one final homage to light -- a distant rainbow shining near Ogden Point.

A light-filled sky, with the rainbow splitting it into colour.

May we all emerge from darkness with creative positive energy.

In Praise of Diversity - Part 1

One of the things I value and enjoy about James Bay is its diversity, and the stimulating environment which results. The community is a rich potpourri of sights, sounds, smells and taste -- even touch, every time I visit an ocean beach. 

There are always people walking on the street in James Bay, and I think one of the reasons is its diversity. Its walkability means that it's a great example of sustainability.

Demographically, there are people in all stages of their lives -- many seniors, but also enough children for two elementary schools. And there are people of all incomes, from those wealthy enough to own and maintain a home in the community, to those with few possessions and who live on the streets, in their vehicles, or rough on the beaches. Nothing about James Bay feels sterile or sanitized. Being part of this diversity connects me to my human-ness.

James Bay is definitely not like the monotonous housing-only suburbs that were popular when I cut my teeth as a city planner in the 1970s. It has a range of housing types, from high rise apartments to single family houses. But it also has a mix of other land uses -- including industry, a great variety of small retail and service businesses, a library, churches and parks, as well as services catering to tourists such as hotels. 

Industry

I'll start this brief overview of diversity with James Bay's industrial roots. Industry bumps up against commercial and residential, all in a small area at the northwest tip of James Bay -- Fisherman's Wharf. 

As its name implies, Fisherman's Wharf was built to accommodate fishing vessels -- up to 60 large fish-packing vessels -- when it was opened after World War II. At the time, Victoria's waterfront was largely industrial.

Fisherman's Wharf combines industrial, commercial, and residential use in one corner of James Bay. In this photo you can see both tourist commercial operations, and floating homes. And, given its historical roots, Fisherman's Wharf is still a place of fishing industry activity.

The next photo gives an example of industry and residential development side by side on a quiet street, just a block from Fisherman's Wharf. Many planners might say this isn't a desirable way to build a community, but it seems to work in James Bay.

A posh residential development in the background, with a seafood processor and distributor in the foreground.

While the scale of Fisherman's Wharf might have been dramatic in the heyday of fishing, Ogden Point, south of Fisherman's Wharf, is the most significant part of Victoria's industrial waterfront. 

From 1883 to 1914 the area to the north (where DFO and the Coast Guard now have extensive facilities) was known as Rithet's Piers, and established Victoria as Canada's largest seaport on the Pacific. After World War I, and with the opening of the Panama Canal, a new breakwater and wharf facility was built at Ogden Point. The breakwater was necessary to protect the wharves from winter storms. Constructing the Ogden Point facility was BC's first "mega project", according to the Victoria Harbour History website.

Ogden Point Wharves after the construction of the breakwater in 1916. Source: https://www.victoriaharbourhistory.com/locations/outer-harbour/ogden-point/

The breakwater is one of those engineering projects which has stood the test of time, withstanding nature's forces for over a hundred years. I wonder how it will fare with the extreme weather of climate change. The photo below gives some detail showing how the outside edge, facing the waves, was constructed. (Note -- just after writing about how impressed I was that the pier has stood for over a hundred years, I talked with someone who is studying the engineering marvels of the pyramids... over 3,000 years old.)

The curvature of the construction allows the breakwater to protect from winds from both the east (the dominant winter wind) and the south-west (the more dominant summer wind). The water looks innocuous enough now, but I've seen waves breaking right over the surface.

Fast forward to 2019, and the Ogden Point docks were again refurbished, this time to accommodate large cruise ships. Now, with the terminal which can take up to three cruise ships at a time, Ogden Point is less industrial, and more tourism oriented. It's even rebranded itself as "The Breakwater District". But its industrial roots remain, with ships being serviced in dock. 

The relationship between the surrounding neighbourhood and Ogden Point is an uneasy one, with concerns about noise and pollution from ship exhaust, and from the busses and trucks which service the ships. Nonetheless, the development at Ogden Point is part of the character of James Bay.

 

This cargo ship was moored at Ogden Point for about three weeks while its propellors were repaired. The view is through a "photo frame" used by cruise ship passengers to prove that they were in Victoria.

A different type of boat from cargo vessels... two of the hundreds of cruise ships that stop at Victoria, many for just a few hours.  

Servicing the cruise ships is an industry in itself. In the photo below a cruise ship is offloading garbage and recyclables.

A Tymac vehicle picking up garbage from a cruise ship; from here it will be hauled from Ogden Point to Victoria's landfill 20 km away.  In 2019, waste from cruise ships accounted for 1.3% of all waste landfilled in the Regional District (Source: https://www.vicnews.com/news/as-cruise-ships-return-to-greater-victoria-so-does-their-garbage-100481)

Some of the cruise ship passengers go for tours in the shuttle busses, pedicabs and rickshaws which line up to greet the ships.

Tour busses at Ogden Point. The residential neighbourhood can be seen across the street.

Waiting for passengers

Popular with tourists, horse-drawn carriages share the streets of James Bay

Surrounded by water on three sides, James Bay is at the "end of the road". This means no through traffic, making for relatively quiet streets -- despite the density and mix of activities.

The presence of water is a core element of life in James Bay -- from the offshore wind which makes the neighbourhood cooler than other parts of Victoria in summer, to the salt spray which affects vegetation near the ocean. Water also accounts for two other semi-industrial essential services provided at Ogden Point: operations involving pilot boats, and search and rescue operations.

Pilot boats head out at any time of day or night to pick up pilots from cargo ships. I watched with binoculars the precise manoevering of the pilot boat as it comes alongside the much larger freighter and drops its speed to parallel the big boat. Then the pilot being picked up climbs down a ladder, and drops into the pilot boat. It's a risky operation, but one the pilots repeat frequently..

Pilot boats (yellow) with a red Search and Rescue zodiac in the foreground.

I'll continue my exploration of James Bay's diversity in the next post, when I'll focus on the diversity of housing and commercial mix.

Accessing My Friday AM Columns

Since June of 2019 I have had a column in the Salmon Arm publication Friday AM.

The columns can be found at this link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RHBug3PyKzmqHKRS2aFsFsnNmwhJYJpf?usp=sharing

Column titles and topics are listed below:

No.	Issue	Title	Topic
8	March 2020	From Synchronicity to Lawn Grass	Adapting to climate change
19	June 2021	Birds and Beyond	Backyard biodiversity
38	May 2023	Allotting for Nature: The New Fashion	Backyard biodiversity
1	June/ July 2019	Talking Green New Deal	Climate change
2	August 2019	A Call for Visionary Thinking	Climate change
4	October 2019	The Faces of the Future	Climate change
7	February 2020	We have Choices	Climate change
23	November 2021	From Covid to Climate Change	Climate change
41	September 2023	Wicked Problems Resist Solutions	Climate change
15	February 2021	Big Questions	Commitment in a time of challenge
28	May 2022	Being A Good Ancestor	Commitment in a time of challenge
11	June 2020	A Delicate Balancing Act	Disagreements and kindness
24	December 2021	The Power of Listening	Finding common ground
10	May 2020	Small is Beautiful	Finding wonder
17	April 2021	Unsung Heroes	Landscaping for insects
18	May 2021	A Food Dilemma	Local food
32	October 2022	The Courage of Lone Voices	Making a Difference
33	November 2022	On Not Giving Up	Making a Difference
34	December 2022	Giving Up is Not an Option	Making a Difference
9	April 2020	Honouring Trees	Planting trees
12	October 2020	Shuswap Wonders	Protecting intact ecosystems
22	October 2021	An Urban Conundrum	Protecting trees
6	December 2019	Soil - and Beyond	Sustainable food
13	November 2020	Listening to Silence	Urban design
14	December 2020	The Joy of Walking	Urban design
16	March 2021	Getting Back Outside	Urban design
25	February 2022	In Praise of Beauty	Urban design
35	February 2023	People Centred Design	Urban design
21	September 2021	Yes in My Backyard	Urban design and development
31	September 2022	Building ‘In’ Instead of ‘Out’	Urban design and development
36	March 2023	The Missing Middle	Urban design and development
37	April 2023	Keeping Rain in Place	Urban design and development
40	August 2023	How Much is Enough Living Space	Urban design and development
30	August 2022	Three Celebrations	Urban life
29	June 2022	Journey to Sustainability	Urban transportation (Bicycles)
27	April 2022	Shifting Gears	Urban transportation (Transit)
3	September 2019	Finding Joy	Well-being in a time of challenge
5	November 2019	Fear and Love	Well-being in a time of challenge
20	August 2021	We are Not Alone	Well-being in a time of challenge
26	March 2022	Daring to Hope	Well-being in a time of challenge
39	June 2023	Grief and Hope	Well-being in a time of challenge

The current issue of Friday AM can also be downloaded at https://friam.ca/

Many thanks to Lorne Reimer, editor and publisher of Friday AM in Salmon Arm, for providing me the opportunity to share my thoughts.