Revealing Public Works!

 

𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐆𝐄

During Public Works week in the city of Maple Ridge, I cycled to the opening day festivities at the Maple Ridge Operations Centre on the east side of our growing home community. It was an easy ten kilometre ride along the unofficially designated multipurpose pathway along side a very busy arterial road. We have a silent code of logical ethics in our city whereby we respect the safety of all non vehicular traffic on the side paths, formerly called sidewalks. It was a very easy ride enjoyed by many cyclists, and only two pedestrians that morning.

This special event highlighted public works services in our city and helped everyone better understand what services our City provides:  delivering clean water and sewer services, maintaining city roads, sidewalks, streetlights, street signage, and servicing our many parks.

As we wandered throughout the Yard, we encountered a number of familiar and not so familiar machines, equipment, and gadgets. Proud employees were doing demonstrations, answering questions, asking questions, and doing presentations to inform the more than a thousand people who showed up on that sunny day. 

From backhoes, to dump trucks, street cleaners, cherry pickers, forklifts and flushers, snowploughs, road pavers, pothole fillers, signage, water meter readers and traffic meter technology, to educational games and hands-on related activities for all ages, the Open House was absolutely fantastic. 

Knowledge is power and power is awareness, making us all a whole lot more informed and able to better appreciate where a lot of our property taxes go.

Complementing all of it was live “Rock the Block” music, food trucks, giveaways, and photo opportunities.

And so it was — another great weather day; another well organized city event; and, another reason to feel proud to be living in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, 🇨🇦.

LIVING THE DREAM

 

 

WINGING A DREAM

This is another glorious day in my hood! Cycled to Osprey Village in the community of Pitt Meadows, British Columbia 🇨🇦 . 

People often ask why this is a place I frequent. It’s quaint, beautiful and social. But it’s also along side the mighty Fraser River… the River I grew up beside, the River where I met and enjoyed Indigenous people, the River where creating a bold vision of my future began. 

The Fraser at that spot and other spots along its route from the Rocky Mountains to Prince George and south through the heart of British Columbia, seems to be my cradle. It’s where I feel centered and balanced and calmed. The worries and anxieties of little me, and not so little me, are no more when I stand there, sit there or meditate there. It is quite magical actually.

Looking back is fun, funny and fundamentally a good narrative about living the dream of little me sitting on our front porch of our North Bend home, overlooking the Fraser, determined to live this dream life such as it’s been. Seven decades later, I now live in peace along that river and I cannot think of a better place to rest.

HUMMINGBIRDS

 

            

𝗛𝗶𝗺-𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗱 🌎

Our Fraser Valley Public Library (Maple Ridge) has a wonderful selection of free educational presentations for one and all to enjoy. Recently I attended the session called “Hummingbirds of the World” hosted by renowned birdist Carol Matthews of the Vancouver Avian Research Centre. 

Carol is a passionate advocate for birds. She has travelled the world to find the rarest of species, studied, surveyed, researched and shared her findings, and led the way in helping us better understand, respect and honour their importance on this Earth.

I went to this session knowing next to nothing about the hummingbird, and came out of it feeling enlightened. They only live in the Americas and Caribbean. There are over 350 species but only four are known to be around some parts of British Columbia. They each have their plotted territory. They have very small legs that are so far back on their bodies that they can only perch or sit, not stand. Their hearts beat at 1200 a minute and the wings flap 130 times a second! They can fly 13,000 miles without stopping. Their lifespan is one to two years — mainly due to human and environmental obstacles. 🌎 

If you would like to know more about the work the Vancouver Avian Research Centre is doing, their roles and objectives, and how you can help them, check out their website at https://www.birdvancouver.com .

LOCAL TREASURES

 

                   

Finding Local Treasures

I went on a bicycle ride the other day. I had no particular route in mind and no particular area in which I needed to be. I just needed to be outside, in the fresh air, to see, feel, hear and smell the beauty of Spring. It was 20 degrees Celsius.

When I got to Osprey Village in Pitt Meadows, I sat on a bench along the river’s edge. The Fraser River is an arterial passage that flows from the Rocky Mountains in eastern British Columbia, north and west to the City of Prince George, before meandouring south, through many, many villages and towns, to its delta at the Pacific Ocean, a few kilometers from where I was sitting. It is the longest river in British Columbia.

The mighty Fraser was the fur trade route and an ideal base for forts when conquering or claiming land was prevalent. It provides easy transportation for mill logs, work for tugboat, beachcomber and barge operators, fish for fishers and sustenance for our Indigenous communities along the 1400 km route. It has been designated a Canadian Heritage River. I only seem to remember all of that when I sit there and ponder.

As I turn to look at whatever is happening behind me, I see a steady stream of people flow into a multipurpose building. I decide to lock up my bicycle and have a look.

Turns out there is a new exhibition in the Pitt Meadows Art Gallery on the main floor. It’s free so I go inside.

Local Pitt Meadows artist Liz Boulton is proudly sharing her vast array of artistic mediums: water colours, acrylics, clay work, and fabric pieces. 

Her imagination springs from her life experiences, her pride in creativity from imagination, curiosity and moments that have shaped her life. Her work is incredible and her passion is very real. You can easily see it and feel it by just being in that room, but it was especially powerful during my conversation with her that day. This is a very worthwhile field trip for one and all, and it runs until June 21.

As I leave the building and wander over to the seasonal ice cream parlour, I look back at the Fraser and remember when my youthful years had no interest in knowing things like that. Clearly my brain carried the information forward for me to appreciate  now. 

The same can be said about art. It just wasn’t “my thing” in my younger years as I wandered through the Louvre, the Rijks, the Prado and the Uffizi. I just wanted to be on a beach! When I studied art history in university, that all changed. 

As they say, life is all about living. There is a time and place for everything, eventually … for some of us discoveries come later when all the other things are no longer pulling or pushing! Finding them right here close to home is even more appealing.

MOTHERING ON

 

MOTHERING DAY 2026

I woke up this morning to the sweet sound of birds chirping and the sun shining in the clear blue sky above. It’s Sunday. It’s Mothers’ Day.

Since I don’t have a mother anymore and since I am not a mother, what kind of day is this for me? It’s a day like any other so make the best of it in the spirit in which it was intended — remember how mom would want my day to be.

I sprung out of bed and decided to do two indoor things my mom was really good at — laundry and floor washing, and then venture out to do some things that she used to do a lot of in her younger days — cycle to do errands and to explore. I am good at the latter but not the former; but, trying to do well is better than not making an effort, especially on this sacred day.

So with the laundry hanging out to dry on my homemade clothesline, and all the bare floors in the house smelling of fresh Pinesol, I venture off on my Cannondale bicycle. My water bottle is full, my toolkit in place, some sunscreen and bandaids packed, and with my thick, heavy, 560 page Margaret Atwood Memoir in a saddlebag, off I go.

Along the way I see a sign directing me to a Lions’ Club Mothers’ Day pancake breakfast. The scent of bacon draws me in. I enquire about take out. They oblige. I’m given a plate to fill. A volunteer server piles on the scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, and fruit compote, and various fresh fruits on a separate plate. I carry it outside to a picnic table, and gobble the food down as I watch children enjoy the playground. I was a child once. Loved the teeter totter. Why isn’t there a teeter totter here, I wondered.  Oh well maybe it’s a danger nowadays? There seems to be a lot of danger in our world nowadays. I often hear that cycling is dangerous too. Good grief, but I digress.

With stomach full and more adventures to find, I remount my bicycle and head to Osprey Village in the community of Pitt Meadows. The welcoming to the Village is the most beautifully designed and decorated roundabout garden, with long wooden benches, memorial plaques and waste containers inaccessible to wildlife and indestructible by the types of people who find joy in recking property that is not theirs. This is an incredibly clean and peaceful place to read, and today includes completing the 500+ pages of Margaret Atwood’s Memoirs.

I stretch out on the warm bench and feel the sun shine its rays on my body like a warm, cosy fleece blanket, and I start to read.  Her book reveals so much about Margaret the person, the daughter, girlfriend, “other woman”, mother, step mother, and wife. She’s an adventurer, environmentalist, birder, canoeist, educator, writer, poet, essayist and, best of all, she’s a true Canadian literary pioneer and  giant who proudly defines a writing style that is unique to herself.  She had faith in herself early on, worked hard and never gave up in her (motherly) efforts to clear a path for herself and other eager, determined Canadian creative thinkers. Her journey, and theirs, continue to move forward, and followers are catching on.

I close the book with only 25 more pages to read when I go to bed tonight, and travel on to the Village square. It’s a popular place, especially busy on weekends, sunny weekends, with cyclists and walkers sitting with an ice cream or coffee, before or after enjoying the new exhibit at the Art Gallery, before or after meditating along the river’s edge, before or after parking their cars at no charge. 

I find an unoccupied bench. Sit for a few moments to people watch. Lock up my bicycle, explore the Art Gallery exhibit, and walk to the ice cream parlour for a rum and raisin cone. This is definitely how my mom would have wanted my day to be: pleasant, peaceful and perfect, and so it actually was. Thanks mom, I feel your pride in me!