Summer In The City...

On days like this, I am so happy to be living in my little tree house by the sea. I can feel the ocean breezes and listen to the seagulls telling each other jokes. And then they laugh and laugh.  This part of Vancouver has always been my favourite neighbourhood.  It very much has a seaside flavour to it.  In the 1960s Kitsilano was taken over by the "hippies" and they preseved all of the older buildings, so that developers could not come in and tear them down in order to build highrises.

When I was a little girl, my Uncle Fred and Aunt Coleta lived in this house, which is close to where I live now.  In the evenings after dinner, Uncle Fred and Aunt Coleta would take me for walks through the neighbourhood and we would always end up at my favourite ice cream stand on Kitsilano Beach.  Uncle Fred would always ask me what flavour I would like, and I always said vanilla.  It's still my favourite.  The ice cream stand is no longer there, but thankfully the house still is, and it has been restored to its original grandeur.  I always thought the house was very grand when I was a little girl, and I still do.

The houses in Kitsilano are famous for their English Country gardens, and most of them don't stop at the front yard. On my walk yesterday, I chuckled at this wonderful clematis growing around a telephone pole. Most of the intersections have circular traffic calmers, and folks have gardening contests to see which traffic calmer can have the most beautiful garden. You will see everything from wild grasses to hollyhocks and roses at every intersection.  They give the whole neighbourhood a feeling of being in a wonderful park.

We can sometimes have long, wet, dreary winters here in Vancouver, but when summer hits, its hits with a bang.  There is fairly low humidity, so the air feels comfortable.  It's the best place to be.

Now I am going to sit in my Adirondack chairs and have a Long Island iced tea, and listen to the seagulls telling jokes.

Cheers!