Millennium Dragon: 31 August 2012

The last Long Weekend of the summer coming up....weather clearing, but mornings bring dew on deck and chill in the cabin. I installed my 'Charlie Noble', meaning chimney in landlubber lingo, just in case it gets so cold that I need some serious incentive to crawl out of my duvet in the morning....

But, in preparation for the weekend, a shopping trip to Sidney, stocking up on fresh fruit and such...

First the row ashore across a mirror like pond, that is Tod Inlet. At the dinghy dock a ghostlike jelly fish drifts by, trailing long translucent veils and waving his gelatinous disk in morning greeting

A Giant Starfish, measuring almost two feet across, has wrapped his tentacles around some unseen morsel, and feeds inexorably through an unseen beak into his inside-out stomach underneath all this pale orange mess.

The local First Nations People have placed a new plaque onto the shore of Tod Inlet, proudly displaying the original name of the Inlet backed by two blue grouse, which eerily frame a face that could belong to a Labrador Dog.

Despite clean up of 'invasive' species in Gowland Tod Park, sweet peas bloom everywhere, framing invasive apple trees, plum trees and acres of blackberry bushes

And then to Sidney by the Sea, to explore the newest addition to its manifold attractions: an art walk along the seaside promenade. Here we have a Centaur! Use your imagination, four legs, a face with an eye, and a wire mane. I wonder how many antique Greek Heroes would be frightened into their Trojan horses glimpsing this terrifying demigod.
Art pieces are on display for two years, then another piece of public art will be shown on the freed spot.
In the meantime, interested buyers may purchase the pieces from their creators, and website and contact information are conveniently displayed beside each piece.

A scuba diver, ready to plunge into the concrete surface of a pier, barely missing a light standard.

And here the famous fly fisherman, forever tying an invisible fly. Every day there are fresh flowers put into his fine bronze hands.

A detail of the Fly Fisherman's hands

Maybe one of these fine days, the bronze fisherman will get up, take along his fishing box, his sprig of flowers and his freshly tied fly, wander out on the Sidney Fishing Pier and catch himself a trophy sized Sockeye...

There are benches on the Fishing Pier to take time out and absorb the vast vista East towards Sidney Spit and the Coastal Mountains in the background.

A somewhat whimsical piece: Skate Boarding Bulldog...

Benches along the length of the promenade, small attractive flowerbeds at intervals, it seems to be a popular past time to conduct one's morning constitutional along this stretch of shore..