MY SUMMER MEMORIES

It hardly seems possible that summer is over already and now it's Fall. I took advantage of any of the nice days we had and managed to have some interesting and pleasant field trips to the parks and beaches, lots of picnics and fitness walks. Usually I wrote in the morning and had a special trip planned for my afternoons, taking advantage of any days that were sunny. These are the flower gardens in Stanley Park where I'd walk through from the bus stop to the beach where I liked to swim. I'd pass by the Lost Lagoon and then arrive at the beach and the pool for a swim and picnic. (I put some photos on my travel blog of the Lost Lagoon and will post some here later. See: http://travelthroughhistory.blogspot.com )

Here is my favorite swimming pool at Second beach. Deserted, because the city workers went on strike at the end of July so all the pools and rec centres have been closed since then (and still are!). I love swimming here as I can drift in the water and pretend I'm in the warm waters of the Aegean so I was pretty upset when the pools closed. But I made the best of it and went swimming in the ocean because after all, for years, that's exactly what we always did. The water is cold but refreshing. I'll post some photos of my beach trips later. I had many pleasant afternoons visiting the various beaches around the city and having picnics usually by myself but a couple of times with friends and with my son too.

This is the Stanley Park sea wall where I love walking. It's a great place to walk when you are trying to sort out ideas for your writing. Sometimes I play music when I walk, sometimes I walk with the Jenny Craig fitness tape, but often I just walk along and meditate, stopping now and then on a bench to jot down ideas and random thoughts. I can still go walking on the sea wall, even though swimming season is over. It's a place where you can walk in any weather. There are always a lot of in-line skaters, joggers and cyclists as well. It's one of the favorite places in Vancouver for people to enjoy the outdoors.

I haven't done much today as I felt a cold coming on. But I did a bit of writing, finishing up a project for the tour company and making more notes for the novel. I wanted to go for a bike ride but didn't feel up to it, so aside from walking the dog and going over to the drug store for meds I just relaxed. I started my classes last week and felt quite exhausted by the end of the week. Friday and Saturday night I went to have dinner with my extended family and on Saturday with all my sister's clan (a lot of them!) so that was fun and a change of pace which I really needed. I also started Spanish classes Saturday morning as prep for the trip my friends and I plan to take to Cuba for the Havana Jazz Fest. in February. I was a bit stressed this week after being sick the week before, and now I've run myself down so I've been sniffling and sneezing all day long. Hopefully the Redoxin and Tylenol will do the trick!

Progress on the novel has been very slow but by tomorrow I should be back in the grove again.
Meanwhile:

Summer's over
Now it's Fall,
Quite the nicest
Time of all!

ENJOY!