Chasing Clean Air

Serendipity

Chasing clean air, I've learned to go with the flow and respond to opportunities and roadblocks as they're presented.

I'm not always sure where I'll land like this guy (okay not like this guy) from Axe Capoeira, a Brazilian Canadian Martial Arts group in Victoria, who probably didn't know why he felt compelled to flip backwards and land wherever on his feet, but I imagined his spirit moved to those drummers and hand-clappers in Bastion Square.

Originally, I planned to return to Whistler, BC on Wednesday (2 days ago) but roadblocks came up and rather than push through them, I accepted that it wasn't the optimal time to go.

I just learned a fire is burning on Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler and parts of the resort were evacuated yesterday.

Going with the flow while at times stressful generally works out.

Last night I went to Victoria's Center of the Universe, which I recommend for night sky viewing and education if you're in town.

In between learning it would take 385 earths to circle the sun, and 6 billion years from now our sun will explode but not like a big supernova because our sun isn't that big, and in 1973 folks at the Puerto Rico observatory sent a message into outerspace said to arrive to its destination (if not interscepted) in about 10,000 years, a message that I couldn't even decipher, so good luck to the aliens, and in-between all that and seeing the moon up close, craters and all, and twinkling blue and red stars, I thought about leaving and not leaving Victoria.

I'm headed for a conference in the Bay Area soon, and I haven't committed to a plane ticket and I haven't committed to driving. I'm afraid if I drive I won't come back, and if I fly, I'm stuck figuring out where I'll stay upon my return and to what end.

And then the educator at Victoria's Center of the Universe talked about black holes, and how their force pulls in planetary objects and they disappear and it just happens and no one understands why or how or where the objects go, and meanwhile the rest of the universe is expanding.

Is Victoria my black hole, which keeps pulling me back? (three times in one year) Or will I expand beyond clean air Victoria so far my favorite clean air North American city and next week drive off into the universe?

Hmmm.

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Brentwood Bay's Butchart and Butterfly Gardens

I'm still enjoying clean air Victoria, B.C.

Here are a few of my favorite attractions.

Butchart Gardens is located in a community called Brentwood Bay, which, it turns out, is host to all sorts of great adventures and beauty like Butterfly Gardens and Todd Inlet.

But first...

In the summer on Saturday nights the famous Butchart Gardens comes alive with fireworks and live music.

Birthday wishes

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I'm fortunate dad turns 80 today, still working, vibrant, and my rock in a turbulent world.

Clean Air Saanish Peninsula, Vancouver Island

For miles you see through clean air until a rainbow magically appears through misty rain.

The rainbow takes your breath away!

(Preferable to Los Angeles smog, which has also taken my breath away.)

You wouldn't believe the luck of people who live on the Saanish Peninsula in the vicinity of Victoria on Vancouver Island, BC.

The air is clean, views spectacular and canoeing, kayaking, biking, and long walks are par for the course on a summer day.

Clean Air Getaway San Juan Islands

Did you know some of the cleanest air in the United States can be found in  the San Juan Islands in Washington State?

Just a 90 minute drive north from Seattle followed by a thrilling ferry ride, and America's Pacific Northwest crown jewels bathe your eyes in beauty and lungs in clean air.

Prevailing winds from the Pacific Ocean mix with currents in the Strait of Juan de Fuca to carry air pollution particles away.

Crystal Seas Kayaking on San Juan Island

Thoughts about the cold Salish Sea waters and encountering an Orca killer whale got replaced with the sublime beauty of gliding upon blue waters, which hugged the coast of San Juan Island on my first kayak adventure ever.

Surely, not my last. 

Thanks to Crystal Seas Kayaking, I had the best guide named Adam.

Here Adam and I pose.

Adam was knowledgeable about the terrain, sea life, even seaweed, which I learned grows--uh oh--a foot a day?--and he made me feel safe.

The beauty of kayaking is being close to nature in a vessel, which I was told rarely tips over and if it does, naturally, we simply hold on to the kayak, turn it over and climb in.

We started our 3 hour adventure in Snug Harbor, a beautiful inlet  populated with Madrona trees along its coasts, and offering views of the San Juan Island archipelago.