Thursday, October 14, 2010

Shoes, Views and Lepers

The other day, I had to take Rusty to his doctor. His 'engine fault' light was lit up and he was due for an oil change, some brake fluid check and a prostate exam... so, off to the clinic. After I picked him up, I decided to go for a buzz up the highway. Weee...! And ended up at Island View Beach.

There, I saw lots of driftwood:




dried seaweed:




wet seaweed:




pretty seashells:




nice sand:




and a salmon that's seen better days:




I did look up at times! And here's the view to the right:




The view to the left:




And straight ahead:




Straight ahead but zoomed so that Mt. Baker can be seen better:




Grim historical fact: One of the islands seen out there is D'Arcy Island and it was once the Chinese leper colony for Victoria and Chinese lepers from the rest of Canada (ie; the railway workers). They were sent there to essentially die... while Joe Whitey lepers were sent to other leper colonies where they received care.

On the plus side D'Arcy Island is now a national park. Part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada.

7 comments:

  1. That was a very tactile view of the world from your shoes point of view! Great day out and I hope the prostate exam went OK for Rusty.

    Grim historical fact indeed - but somehow I am rarely surprised by human behaviour over the years.

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  2. Not a lot of people around, were there? Do you think the fish was eaten by an animal or a human?

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  3. definitely a lot of driftwood. I've not seen that much in one place except for after a bad storm.
    Nice photos

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  4. My mum said I should have a prostate cancer test. I like the sand, the shoes and the driftwood. Especially the sand. It looks delicious.

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  5. Lovely shoes and sand.

    The things that governments do are shocking and none of this is taught in schools. We can be so smug about other nations practices and ignore our own backyards

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  6. Ooooooh! Yes, Ann - tactile! I love that word.

    No, not a lot of people, GB... never really is. That the beauty of most of the beaches around here.

    Yep, lots of driftwood. Lots of forests, lots of logging, lots of storms.

    Simon, I just saw on the Beeb this:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11538881
    I'll send some sand in the post.

    Indeed Leigh, I was not taught very much about the less savory aspects of Canadian history in school. I think it's a lot better now though.

    Thanks for comments, everyone! :-)

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  7. Thx for leaving a comment at my photo-blog re: the Footloose video. That was a good catch, even if it you didn't make it yourself.

    I did find this photo essay to be clever though. It's provided me with some ideas to try (i.e. steal :) ).

    Warm regards...

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