After the election, I received at least one thank you for having helped Biden squeak out a win by our not staying in Vancouver that night and risking a repeat of 2016. John and I were happy to make the sacrifice of heading to Whistler and are gratified that it worked. We had a nice couple of days despite some rain on day two and three. The Nita Lake lodge, where we’ve stayed once before, is a gorgeous retreat at any time of year. It’s on a lake, as the name suggests, and has a very relaxed and pleasant environment. Last time we stayed there, we actually jumped in the lake but this time, that was not in the cards given the time of year.
When we first arrived, we got out our new Urban Poles and took a 90-minute walk with them around Nita and Alta lakes. We had just bought the poles a few days before at the suggestion of my two favorite trainers from the Berkeley YMCA, Blake and Joy, who have created a new exercise company called Workout With Us and from whom I’ve been taking online circuit and resistance band classes. I have always thought walking poles were silly, especially as I prefer less equipment to more, but I got convinced that since I’m now doing so much walking, I should get some upper body benefit at the same time. These poles have a nicer handle than most and the company is based here in North Vancouver. So now John and I are off to the races with our walking poles.
Upon the return leg, we ended up walking on a train track for a while and there was an amazing amount of bear poop on those tracks. About every 100 yards or so there would be another deposit so that by the time we left the tracks, I’d seen about 20 piles of bear scat. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we didn’t see the actual bears but at least we knew they must be nearby.
On our third day in Whistler, before heading back to Vancouver, we drove North to Pemberton for lunch and on the way there, we took a short hike to Nairn Falls on the Green river. The quantity of water coming down those falls and that river, and for that matter out of the sky for much of our time in Whistler, reminded me of just how different the water situation is here in the Pacific Northwest compared to California. In my mind, I kept hearing “water, water everywhere…” and there was.
We returned to Vancouver last Wednesday and, like everyone else, had to drag our way through the week until the presidential election was called on Saturday morning. I am not a huge fan of CNN’s election coverage but that’s what was on the giant screen in the condo for several days last week as John King, the human computer, sliced and diced the numbers state by state, and district by district.
Finally, on Saturday, we could celebrate Biden’s win. I was not, however, celebrating the California results as I’d put both money and effort into passing Prop 15, and the US senate and house results were also deeply disappointing. Despite all that, here I am with one of the many laughing men that make up A-maze-ing Laughter, a sculpture on English Bay where we went for a walk on Saturday morning.
Apparently, the sculptor, Beijing based artist Yue Minjun, has made an entire career out of paintings, sculptures, watercolors, and prints depicting his own face in a state of hysterical laughter. As the article from 2012 that I read said, “the one thing that is clear is that Minjun is laughing all the way to the bank as his painting Execution (which definitely has some political overtones) recently sold for $5.9 million at Sotheby’s London, the most ever paid for a piece of contemporary Chinese art.”
Speaking of China, it’s been very interesting reading the Globe and Mail as my daily newspaper. I have noticed a lot more articles about China’s influence here in Vancouver than I ever remember reading in the SF Chronicle, and it is rather scary.
The first one I noticed was two weeks ago when the Globe published an article titled “Chinese-Canadian groups laud China’s fight against Canada, allies in Korean War.” It starts “A group of Chinese-Canadian associations are marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean War by publicly condemning the United States and its allies, including Canada, as aggressors and imperialists while lauding China for fighting alongside North Korea.” As a Univ of Calgary historian said about this “celebrating China’s role in the Korean war is akin to glorifying Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939.” Wow, what a way to fit into your new country.
Then, there was a piece about the Confucius Institute that pays for language and cultural programs for students in the Vancouver area. Many people are worried that the children are being indoctrinated because the cultural programming is backed and partly funded by the Chinese government.
A few days ago, Canada’s spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency, made a public warning that Beijing is routinely using undercover state security officials and “trusted agents” to target members of Canada’s Chinese community to silence critics of President Xi Jinping, including threats of retribution against their families back in China. In today’s paper, it was reported that some Chinese-Canadian groups are urging the federal government to set up a national hotline where they can report intimidation or harassment by agents of the Chinese government.
Recently, Canada gave refuge to a few of the democracy activists from Hong Kong and was chastised publicly by the Chinese government for interfering. In my opinion, the Hong Kong democracy activists would make the best Canadians of all the Chinese who could be allowed in but it will be interesting to see if Canada is willing to risk China’s wrath and give more of them them asylum. Other than those Hong Kong asylum seekers, maybe Canada should slow down on its immigration from China. Given all this news I’m reading, it’s not sounding like the safest bet to have an even larger Chinese population here in Canada.
It’s sobering to realize the US, in its weakened condition, is no longer much of a match for a country like China and likely never will be again. I hope Biden is able to repair some of the global alliances we used to have but I fear the 21st century will be dominated by China, not by the US or Europe. At least they seem to believe in climate change, if not human rights, privacy, or democracy.
After our walk to English Bay last Saturday, we continued our celebration by riding our bikes on a big loop from downtown, across the Lions Gate bridge, along the water in North Vancouver to Lonsdale Quay for lunch, then continuing to the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and over that to East Vancouver where we stopped for a beer at Slow Hand Brewery before heading back to the condo just before the sun set. It was a great way to spend a happy day after a tense week of watching CNN.
Yesterday, John and I did yet another walk around Stanley Park with our poles. It’s about 7 miles and I saw some wonderful winter bird life as well as a seal poking its head out of the water under the Lions Gate bridge. The birds are amazing at this time of year. I stopped and watched a group of several hundred, or maybe thousand, Surf Scoters. Gorgeous! The way they land on the water is totally wonderful to watch.
Stanley Park also has some strange looking plant life. Check out this apparently dead tree that has a whole other tree growing out of its side with a crazy curled trunk. It’s hard to believe it’s real but it is.
Finally, I’m adding a photo of a small fountain I saw and loved on a recent walk after a rain, a farewell photo of our condo building (the one with the green glass), and a pic of John and the view from the 28th floor after dark.
We are leaving Vancouver tomorrow and driving the overloaded Prius (think the Clampetts) back to Vernon, probably in the snow. It’s lucky John recently purchased some studded winter tires! 🙂
