On my birthday a couple weeks ago (March 21) I went horseback riding in Campbell Valley Regional Park, a 535-hectare park with multi-use trails, picnic areas and even a cross-country horseback riding course.

I’ve loved horses since I was a little girl but haven’t been riding for a few years. It felt so good to put on my paddock boots and slip into the familiar rhythms again.

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Literally.

Today was the day — the official yarnbombing of Joy Kogawa’s cherry tree. I contributed about 100 blossoms and arrived this afternoon to help install the yarn blossoms (and bark!) on the tree.

The executive director of the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society managed to get a fire engine with ladder to help install the blossoms in the higher branches. My dad also dropped off a ladder and I made my way up into the tree (I probably should have signed some sort of liability waver first, eh?).

It was a gorgeous sunny day; the first day of Spring in my mind. And the tree looked absolutely fantastic. There were well over 500 blossoms by my guess, and it was amazing to see the literary community collide with the yarn community. Fantastic day.

Photo above of me in the tree taken by my friend, Jason Vanderhill of IllustratedVancouver. Photos below taken by me.

Finishing touches on the cherry tree bark | My “tag” with one of the blossoms I made.

Finished tree full of blossoms. Even started covering the apple tree beside it and the neighbour’s tree!

Last Sunday I loaded up my bike and headed out to Richmond to meet my bookish-friend Abby for a cycle along the West Dyke Trail. In the summer I’d done the South Dyke Trail solo and Abby mentioned later that I should give a shout if I wanted company cycling.

Well, it took us a while to end up working out a date/time, but we did it! And although I was under-dressed for the weather, it was a lot of fun. Reminder to self: long-sleeved shirt and fleece vest does not cut it in the winter.

Richmond's Olympic Oval on a sunny winter day

I met Abby at 1:00pm at the Richmond Olympic Oval, which marks the beginning of Richmond’s West Dyke Trail, and off we went.

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I first heard about Canyon Lights at the Capilano Suspension Bridge last year and unfortunately couldn’t make it. So when Miss604.com posted a Canyon Lights contest, I entered excitedly. I was so thrilled when Rebecca (Miss604) emailed me to say I’d won!

I went on Thursday with my friend Evan. We didn’t have any kids to bring along on the Family Pass, so we gave them to a family standing in line. Good karma I guess. We wandered around a looked at the lights and historical displays before biting the bullet and crossing the suspension bridge.

Entrance to Capilano Suspension Bridge park

Canyon Lights decorating Capilano Suspension Bridge park

Native totems part of the historical display at Canyon Lights

Initially built in 1889, the Capilano Suspension Bridge is 446 feet long and 230 feet above the Capilano River in North Vancouver. The bridge has been rebuilt several times over the years and the original structure is no long intact.

View of Capilano Suspension bridge (circa 1905) Photo from the Vancouver Archives online database

Vancouver mayor L.D. Taylor and unidentified man on the Capilano Suspension Bridge (circa 1930) Photo from the Vancouver Archives online database.

There is a family story that my mom brought us to the Capilano Suspension Bridge when we were kids, and barely made it onto the bridge before she turned back due to fear of heights. My older sister—who was walking already—was so excited she ran back and forth across the bridge resulting in it swaying. People got mad at my mom but she was trying to control her fears as well as two small children.

Capilano Suspension Bridge all lit up during Canyon Lights

I may have inherited some of my mom’s fear of heights. While I have climbed a 30 foot ladder to rescue Henry from a tree, I think I prefer the idea of a suspension bridge more than in practice. Less than halfway across I was desperately holding on and thinking, “holy crap why did I want to do this again?” We crossed around 7:30 pm or 8:00 and it was very busy in the park — I’m surprised they don’t limit the number of people crossing at one time (although that could be my jelly-legs talking)

Once on the other side, we let our jelly legs settle (which felt like sea legs) and looked around. They’d decked out the area in lights, including Treetop Adventures. The Treetop Adventures are a series of footbridges and platforms 30 feet above the forest floor among majestic Douglas Firs.

Twinkling walkways around Capilano Bridge park

Lights and lanterns reflecting of the pond through the Eco Rainforest walk

Treetop Adventures at Capilano Bridge park

Footpaths through the trees, 30 feet high at Treetops Adventure

I managed to make it back to the other side, safely and relatively calm. Although during the Treetops Adventure I was cursing the small children jumping on the footbridges. And on the return trip across the Suspension Bridge, some girl got freaked out or just didn’t think about everyone else and she started running across the bridge resulting in it swaying and shaking; they even played the Do Not Run warning instead of the calm twinkly Christmas tunes.

Capilano Trading Post

Part of the prize pack that I won included a glass ornament by Malcolm Macfadyen. I was so excited to have this added to my collection as I have a glass ornament that Malcolm helped me make at Circle Craft Christmas Market 2009. The third part of the prize was $100 to spend at The Trading Post souvenir and gift shop. I was so overwhelmed by this and took quite a lot of time to select a gift… and you’re just going to have to wait to see photos of those! In the meantime, here are all my photos from Canyon Lights on Flickr.

This past year, the Park Board announced plans to close the Bloedel Floral Conservatory. Protests and petitions starting rolling across the city to save Vancouver’s iconic dome in Queen Elizabeth Park. I signed a petition to keep the Bloedel, but I have to admit, I cannot recall the last time I’d visted — despite my parent’s house being mere blocks from Queen E.

Jewel Box of Lights display at the Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park

The Friends of Bloedel managed to save the Bloedel Floral Conservatory by partnering with the VanDusen Botanical Garden Association and making a successful bid to take over from the Vancouver Park Board.

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