Cypress, Wreck Beach and selection criterias

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Dahna: People talk about how hard the whole job searching thing can be on your ego, but I have actually started enjoying writing about how good I am and what I have done over and over again. I go to sleep like a new age positive thinking guru, chanting “I am an excellent communicator. I am highly organized. I work well under pressure. I enjoy deadlines….” Etc.

Over the next couple of weeks we did manage to get a few blasts of fresh air and make some spaces between selection criteria’s and cover letters.

I can’t quite remember specific dates now, but shortly after the Lynn Peak expedition we went for a walk out to Wreck beach, which sits on the foreshore behind the University of British Columbia (UBC). So far, UBC has left the foreshore vegetated and in a relatively natural state, so it is quite beautiful. The beach and its huge steep sand banks have been the subject of many debates and protests. Community groups have managed to prevent marinas, oil barge routes, multi-story condominiums, cement walking paths and viewing platforms, sea walls and dredging projects. They have also, so far, dissuaded UBC from building concrete reinforcing walls to prevent its heritage buildings from becoming part of the sand on the beach. Wreck beach is a clothing optional beach, so in summer, it is often strewn with naked bodies. I think there are also a lot of student parties held down here on summer nights. A large part of the beach forms a storage area for logs on their way from the forest to the mill. There is a piece of installation art on the beach, involving a lot of upside down tree roots planted in the sand. I assume it is a reference to the logging industry. The dead trees, the grey day and the confronting art all created a foreboding eeriness that I was happy to visit and walk away from.

Back to writing job applications.

Then up to the mountains.

Cypress Mountain is one of the Vancouver-based ski resorts, which has a good variety of cross-country runs. We thought it would be a good idea to develop our skills (the ability to stand up and move without falling over) in the comfort of a ski resort before trying any back-country adventure. It takes little over an hour to get from where we are living to the foot of the resort via a couple of busses and a sea bus (ferry), which makes spontaneous skiing very achievable. We can just wake up, look out the window, see sunshine and decide to go skiing. Which is exactly what we did. Good fun, and not too outrageously expensive (about $50 each for transport, gear and trails.) Not something we can afford to do too much though, as we watch our savings accounts trickle away.

More job applications. OK, so the enjoyment is waning.

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Photos

Wreck beach
Upturned

wreck beach
the log that got away

Cypress Mountain
And he stands up!