Where has the Courthouse Fountain gone?

As downtown grows ever more tall anonymous buildings, memories of earlier incarnations of Vancouver continue to be erased. The fountain in front of the Art Gallery was always lovely to pass. Now it's been filled in and bricked over. The VAG's days at this location are numbered. I hope this building, with its incomparable stone, marble, skylights and spiral staircases does not fall to the wrecking ball.

Below are Vancouver Archives pictures of the "Courthouse fountain" in 1967.

 

Inspired by winter sunshine filtering into my office

 
If this doesn't get me back to work on my novel, I don't know what will. Christmas is always a season for family and for putting the brain in neutral gear by doing jigsaws. Now it's time to get back to writing.

Art installation or makeshift shack?

Recently I walked along Georgia Street from Homer to Cardero, the first time I've made that journey on foot for a very long time. Passing this mysterious bit of construction with its partial roof and rough seating, I couldn't decide if it was a shack cobbled together by people desperate for shelter, a place for construction workers on coffee breaks, or an art installation. No sign of habitation when I passed in the early evening.

Extra pieces -- part of our jigsaw mythology now

Here's one end of the completed 1500 piece jigsaw. Those three pieces on the right fit together; they're just not part of this puzzle!
Here's what it looks like complete:

This mismatch mystery started four years ago, with the Sherlock Holmes puzzle. 

And that's all, folks. The puzzle season is over for another year.

Deeply puzzling -- how to explain the anomalous pieces?

Christmas is jigsaw time, and this year has deepened the mystery of missing and extra pieces. This closeup shows a piece of paper we placed beneath one hole in an effort to conceal the gap. Some of the problem puzzles are recycled ones I got from the White Rock Library to feed seasonal jigsaw habit. But some are brand new.

Missing pieces are easily explained. They slip between sofa cushions, or pets chew or move them. It's a bit harder to explain how wrong pieces get in a puzzle box. I imagined a crew of library volunteers around a table, counting pieces to make sure the donated puzzles were complete. The table was crowded and two people sitting side by side couldn't keep their piles separate. Unwittingly, they exchanged a couple of pieces without altering the count.

Three extra pieces in each puzzle above. Both also have gaps, yet none of the spare pieces fit. I guess life is like that, sometimes.

Saying adieu to the Christmas season

It's "old Christmas" today. Time to say farewell to our beloved winter solstice seasonal celebrations. To quote a popular carol, may the new year bring hope, peace, joy and love to all. And satisfactorily completed jigsaw puzzles of course, just to keep busy minds in neutral gear awhile.

Rushing into the future with an eye fixed firmly on the past?

This is a bit late (computer upgrade just completed), but here's my thought for the New Year. In this moment of annual introversion, renewal and reassessment, it's important to remember that where we're going is not we've been. Even when we choose to deny or forget it, we're galloping forward into the unknown.

If keeping full attention on the past is like driving a car with eyes glued to the rearview mirror, peering forward is also problematic. Nobody can suss out what's coming next.

What remains is the present. That's a wonderful gift. So let's keep our attention on the moment. In 2018, may we all find ways to be present to each and every experience that comes along. Happy New Year, everyone!