A Gathering Place at the End of View Street
I pause to gaze down this alley every time I pass. The square is filled with Law Offices, but I rather imagine a bookish resident sitting in a wing-back leather chair beside the window with a great book and a fine glass of wine.
In spring the ivy turns a vibrant green and by the middle of summer its reach covers the entire wall.
Outdoor pub seating, market booths on weekends, and gas lights at night. Bastion Square is an intimate and tree shaded corner of the city. Law offices during the week and artist and craft creators on long weekends. This is a favourite gathering place. A two block pedestrian walkway from Government Street to Wharf Street and the Harbour. Lined with pubs, restaurants and shaded nooks to sit for a while.
The Irish Times Pub
A former bank refit into a classic Irish pub with Guinness, live music, and good chips.
From this corner walking in any direction there exits a pub. Some specialize in a large selection of beers, others in bourbons, or single-malt scotch. All serve a fine meal and specialty desserts. Most have live music, some are dark and others have high ceilings and are well lit. The choice and pleasure is yours.
A Stroll to Beacon Hill Park
When I first arrived in Victoria Pioneer Square beside the Cathedral was a favourite place to come and read on one of its shaded benches. Another lovely spot was the grounds of St. Anne’s Academy. The park there was home to an immense Spruce tree.
The following is a poem I wrote about the tree in 2022.
Lone Sentinel: a poem
Centuries past you sunk your toes into the windswept soil of the island at the mouth of the great sea. Generations of birds and wildlife flew above and nested within as you reached your arms to touch the sky. While decades past you rose above the wild apple, then the oak, and finally your fingers felt the first light of morning above the fir and pine. Once an eternal darkness lay beneath a canopy of limbs. Sunrise to sunset shadow covered everything and evening looked the same as day. The wildness that once enclosed you, your relatives, and neighbours, gone. Tamed and manicured an entire world removed. What loneliness you must feel the lone sentinel of a previous age. None you knew survived, and what remains, don’t know you. Alone in a walled park you share with a few trees and shrubs. Several families of birds nest at intervals up your length. Beneath you, a ring of brown needles fallen from seasons past, and beyond cut grass, dog droppings, and the occasional ball and child. We sit together the tree and me, until only the tree remains. .wLw. 2022 Note: last two lines adapted from Li Po - Zazen on Ching-t’ing Mountain
I continued by saunter south through Fairfield toward the park. Fall leaves scattered across the neighbourhood yards and this unique flower bed caught my attention.
Walking trails and jogging paths crisscross Beacon Hill Park. A large duck pond and resident peacocks nestle among the manicured landscape. The trees stand tall and the ground beneath is shaded. It feels wilder and and more remote than it is.
A quiet comfort settles over a visitor to the park as they walk in shade of the oaks, cedars, alders, and yew. And then. you come across a monster like this…
When I see a tree this grand I just wonder about all the stories that have played out under its boughs. The generations that passed as it held court in its space. I can’t even imagine staying in one place for centuries. But imagine how refined its observational skills must be by now. If you have not read The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, I can highly recommend it. You will never walk through the woods the same way again.
An easy stroll to the top of Beacon Hill pays off with a grand view to the south and the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula. From here you can see all the ships moving in and out of the Salish Sea.
At the southwest corner of the park is the Mile 0 marker for Highway 1. Across the road is the 2.5 km walking path along the southern coastline.
Seascapes Along the Coast
A large Low Pressure cell formed to the west and the clouds at the head of the front are just beginning to touch the Coast Mountains along the western edge of Vancouver Island. For the Next two days the gale force winds blew day and night.
Parts of the walkway split into two parallel routes. One along the tops of the coastline and the other down along the shoreline.
It was a windy day and I was shooting high shutter speed to stop the action of the wind and waves.
All along the walkway are benches tucked into little alcoves in the hedges or prominently hanging on at the edge of an overlook.
Logs piles and jams are common here in the Pacific Northwest. The log booms pulled by tugs along the Inside Passage occasionally loose a few. The eventually pile up on the shore if they don’t make it to the sea.
On a calmer day this might be an inviting place to step into the sea, but not today.
Personal Note
Still getting used to the new camera and reacquiring my manual exposure and photography skills. Though the camera has less noise at low light ISOs. It is still a far cry from the Leica M11 Monochrome’s capability. Everyday I learn something new about how the camera performs and hope over time the tonal range and details improve.
Over the winter I intend to wander and document all the communities and small villages that make up Victoria. Then when I leave in the spring, continue the same along my travels. I hope to share the everyday sublime and places I see roaming for life. If you know of a special place I am heading toward, please add a comment. I have found so many beautiful spots on the recommendation of a local. Be well. Gassho, Lloyd
What I am Reading and Watching…
Kimmerer, Robin Wall (2013) The Democracy of Species - from the author of Braiding Sweetgrass - three essays to connect you to the world around
Watts, Peter (2006) Blindsight - Who do you send to meet them when they come.
Hannibal (series) - top ten villain of all time
Game of Thrones (series) - started rewatching the series, great characters, settings, and story
Next post (every Sunday)
Lovely crisp seasonal b&w photos from all your walks in between the rain and your poem is a great dialogue with the ancient spruce.
Thank you for sharing. I am enjoying your photography.