I am now adding this as a permanent page in the Help Others link at the top of the blog.

• There is a link at the top of this blog that I set up, originally on the Easy Ways Blog, to Help Others.  One of the ways is through a donation to Kiva.
• I had a bit of a challenge in doing the loan thing but have figured it out now with help from them.
• My own page is here.  My KIVA lenders page.  You can follow my “loans” there.  Over time I will be making more.

• Basically you are making no interest loans to help others who will pay you back over 6 months to a year and then you can relend the funds or take it back. You are lending funds to the working poor so they can help themselves and their families. I will just keep  relending  the funds.
• To view the complete page. Please Go Here Now Kiva Helping Others Help Themselves.

This can be a life changing event for someone.

Thank you,

Gene

On a walk to from the Inner Harbour around the winding pathway following the seacoast to the Seawall I came upon an interesting tree.  From some perhaps it would evoke a memory of Twisted Sister, but not for me.

Instead it reminded me of a friend from days past.  Quite a few days past.  It kind of goes like this, well it does go like this:

My Friend

Standing naked before me
Gently waiving as if in greeting
Arms reaching toward the heavens
Soaring upward yet grounded are thee

To find more about my friend go here to My Friend. You may ask what it was that evoked this memory.  Well it was this tree:

You likely know you can click on the image to make it bigger then come back using the back button.  This was originally inspired by a tree in St Vital Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Trees, even the twisted ones, have a lot of character and many live longer than we humans.  They are strong survivors and thrive in all kinds of inhospitable environments.

Down by the seawall the tide was out and I was able to take some closer pictures down the side.   I found this to be another interesting sight.

There are more photos which I may post on another day.

Enjoy your day!

Cheers,

Gene

At the end of May I went looking for something and could not find what I was looking for.  Actually I was a day late but did not realize it until later.  But do not tell anyone!  Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.   Hey, it happens.

So instead of heading back home I decided to explore a bit and came across the Galloping Goose Trail and I started to walk north up island way away from downtown.  I later reversed that direction and proceeded to go downtown to the Blue Bridge area.

Well as I walked north I came across an interesting over/under pass. The underpass was part of the trail that passed under The Gorge.  I noticed something from a distance that I did not know was there.

I could see that something looked like it was painted on the underpass wall and ceiling.  I approached to get a closer look and hey, I was walking that way anyway.  People walk and cycle the Galloping Goose Trail for many miles or kilometers as we use the metric system for the official measurement.

I went under the underpass and discovered an amazing sight.  It was completely painted from one side to the other and across the top.

Of course I could not capture it all in one shot nor three or four shots so I just took several pictures and this one shows the artist.

Quite a surprise and I was delighted to have discovered this on this day I was looking for something else entirely.  Goes to show that sometimes there is a reason for things to happen even if we do not know what that reason is.

So off I went towards downtown and this trail lead me to the Blue Bridge which is being replaced soon.  Many are upset as they really like the old blue bridge which was originally designed in 1920 but has gone through changes over the years.

So all in all it turned out to be a great day in Victoria, BC, which is usually does, BTW.  I am all for appreciating what what mother earth, this island, Vancouver Island and the land provides us.  It truly is a land treasure and with all the water around, a sea treasure as well.

Cheers,

Gene

There are likely a few ladies out there who have danced to the “end of love” with Leonard Cohen.  Like Willy Nelson and Julio Iglesias in sentimentality at least with their song To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before, Cohen has had his share of ladies.  But I am not here to talk about Willy and Julio.  Not not Bill “Willy” Clinton! I tend to like to feature Canadian artists as much as possible.

On a recent CBC television interview Cohen says he has not regrets about the ladies and for not having had a one long term partner.  He also talked about depression in the interview.  I do find some of his music melancholy and while I like some of his music I tend to favor upbeat music most of the time.  Cohen started out as a poet, writer, comedian in his early days in Montreal.  Perhaps he was funny back then.   He does a lot of concerts and travels quite a bit.

For the most part Canadians are a tolerant lot and most usually disregard things such as race, religion and philosophy.  That is one of the great features for living in Canada.  The minorities are working at being close to a majority in the general population of Canada.  Most people can speak any language in Canada and people do not mind.  We tend to honor that in people and respect their heritage.  It is mainly about respect and tolerance. Most do not see it as a threat at all.

Somehow Dance Me To The End Of Love fits with that also even though music tends helps to transcend the human condition and rise above so much of the pettiness, violence and the like.   Cohen is Jewish and we do not care.  So here is that video and song:

Another song I liked from a long time ago was Suzanne. (hot) But that is for another day and time.  The wannabe poet in me resonates with that and others.

Also a recent contest in Canada had a number of Cohen songs on it and the version of Cohen’s Hallelujah was done by KD Lang.  Cohen had also said in the interview previously mentioned this version by Lang touched him. Here is her version of Hallelujah:

That is a beautiful version, for sure.  I hope you enjoyed these two great Canadian artists, . We do have a few of them,Canadian songwriters and singers, in Canada and around the globe.  Wink wink.  I’ll see if I can find a few more for you another day.

Cheers,

Gene

Ok, the ducks just won’t go away.  I found a few more of them hogging the bridge at Swan Lake today.  So I captured a few of them, well with the camera that is.  They were tame enough to capture.

A few unique ones as I found out.  Who knew so wild and crazy creatures were here and near?

Then along comes the testosterone Big Quacker a hissing and a prissing with his feathers just a glistening. Hey bud do not piss off the girls or you know what you will be a missing!  And it is not duck soup.

Yup, that boy is tres pretty.  And so the life of a duck seems to be mighty fine around here.  I sure am beginning to think so.

Time to get my beak out of here.

Cheers,

Gene

I went for a walk around Cedar Hill Golf Course the other day and decided to stop along the way and relax at a water spot.  It was fairly quiet with a few people stopping to enjoy the view.  It is kind of a duck world there as it was teeming with various duck couples and duck families of different sizes.

There was a mother duck with her very young fuzzy ducklings.  The daddy, aka The Big Quack, was there also and they were standing guard.   But they seemed to be ok with me being there.  Big Quack took off for awhile making some creative waves as he left the ground into the water and then came back after awhile of being off duty.

So I took the opportunity to just be for awhile then I snapped a few photographs.

Here are a few of them.

Then along comes another little bigger duckie newbie and Mother Duck is Giving that one her scorn.  “You stay away from my duckies or you are going to be one sorry looking batch of feathers devoid of any life form known to duckkind.” Yes, you don’t want to mess with Mom!

Ok, that is a wrap as I got to go.

Be kind be serene enjoy the scene.

Best wishes to everyone.

Cheers,

Gene

I received an email from Scott last night in which contained a link to a video about water.  The video was called Water, The Great Mystery.  Indeed it is, I added the life part because without it life simply would not exist.

The video was compared with the movie What The Bleep Do We Know, which is an excellent movie. I have viewed that movie 5 or 6 times and learned something each time.

Anyway, this video is not quite the same thing but does give some powerful insights on just how magnificent water really is, H₂O.  It has some amazing qualities. Of course we know that life would not exist without water. Our bodies can contain up to 78% water.

Oops, just had to go and get a drink of water.  All this talk about water was making me thirsty.  We are fortunate to have an abundance of water around here.

There are many interesting things in the video, such as the work of Dr Masaru Emoto who has done experiments examining such emotions as love, peace, music, photographs, thoughts, prayers and the effects they have on water. How water responds differently to different emotions and treatment.  Also discussed is how our emotions affect one another and also can be transferred to water.

The video is 1 hour and 20 minutes long so view it when you have some free time, grab some popcorn or a glass or two of water.
Click Here to View, Water, The Great Mystery

Enjoy the movie!

I will leave you with a few more pictures from Mt Doug.  These are hidden treasures that you won’t see unless you hike up the trails.  Worth the effort, for me, at least.

Yes, I want to rename the blog, keeping the creative waves but the rest, I don’t know yet.  Suggestions?

Cheers,

genes creative waves