Monday morning. Happy Labour Day from Vancouver. It's just before 7:00 a.m., cool and overcast here. Coffee is good. Neil was clever enough to have some Tim Hortons in his place. I made it extra strong. The sounds of the city woke me up. Somewhere, a garbage truck was backing up, making a helluva racket. As I peeked out the window, something was brought to mind by a comment from one of Neil's friends.Vancouver has an interest recycling system. Poor people, homeless perhaps, are the recyclers. Certainly in the downtown. Set down empty bottle or pop can and within minutes, somebody comes by to pick it up and claim it. This morning, from the height of Neil's balcony, I could see homeless people scouring the laneways and parking lots picking up items. I hope they're okay. There seems to be a lot of homeless in this city. I will have to pick up some loonies and twoonies and make the rounds. The other sounds out here, certainly in the downtown, are the gulls. They're everywhere. They sound annoying, but then again, they remind me of the ocean and that's probably why the air is so clean-smelling and fresh in this city. There's always a breeze. Speaking of breezes, it's not uncommon to pick up a whiff or two of snowboarder smoke. Neil and I were walking by a community festival in one of the downtown parks Sunday and the odor of marijuana was obvious.

We had a bit of rain Sunday night in Van, but Neil dragged me out of the apartment to join some friends at a rooftop barbecue. I met Nolene, his sweetheart, and she put together a nice plate of barbecue salmon for me with potatoes and veggies. Nolene is a very nice, bright, attractive young lady, but as she and Neil were talking to me, I had to zone them out for a few minutes while I ate the awesome salmon dish. Like Homer Simpson, I was thinking 'Can't talk - Eating...' as my taste buds enjoyed the moment. It was excellent. I am being spoiled by fabulous food in this city. Beer seems popular among Neil's friends... I should say specialty beer. I was with a group of the fellows as they popped open a jug of jalapeno beer and poured a round. It was interesting to watch these guys get right into the smelling, tasting and swish-it-around your palette procedure. I chickened out. I was still enjoying the taste of the salmon.

I am posting some extra photos today, click on the pic to enlarge them.

There is a shot of the downtown Vancouver area from the area, somewhere in the middle of that, near the water, is Neil's place. There is a shot of the old Downview airbase in Toronto where our family spent several years when we were kids. It is so changed now. There's also a shot of the log booms on the Fraser River east of Vancouver. I am certain I saw more than 100 booms. There must be a lot of logging in southern BC.