Hawthorne Park, North Surrey

March 20, 2010 Maurice 3 Comments

Another beautiful day in Surrey, another chance to visit a new park. Today we decided to visit Hawthorne Park, in North Surrey. The area is currently undergoing a lot of development, with lovely single family homes going in. The area has a magnificent view towards the mountains, which were gleaming under the midday sun. Mt. Baker was clearly visible to the south.

We had a little problem finding an entrance to the park, as we approached it from the west. There were walking entrances, to be sure, but clearly not the main entrance. As we circled the park we found a small parking lot on the east side, across the street from a local school.

We entered the park and had 3 or 4 large gravel pathways to choose from. We headed south, along side a little brook. There were lots of deciduous trees, so the park seemed a little bare right now. Clearly, it will be marvelous in the summer months. As we strolled along we came across a large pond, covered in ducks! There was a long tree that had fallen into the pond. Sitting on the tree trunk, in the middle of the pond was a cat! Too funny!

We walked around the very large pond and discovered the main entrance. There was a large children’s play area, with a water park to one side. There was a mini climbing wall, swings, sit and spins – just lots of things for kids to do. There are a couple of covered picnic tables, and lots of open playing fields.

Nearby were some formal gardens. Pathways crisscross through beds of daffodils, heather, hyacinth, grape hyacinth and rhododendrons. There are lots of blooming cherry and apple trees, exploding with pale pink flowers. Very pretty walk.

We crossed a little bridge and Max got his fill of duck chasing again! There were lots of ducks on this pond, and Max actually got his feet wet in this pond! That’s a first! He does love to chase along the water’s edge; I’m not sure what he’d do if one of the ducks refused to leave!

We spent over an hour wandering the pathways that intersect this park. I’m not sure of the size of this park, but it is quite large. We mentioned several times that it will be a good place to jog, since most of the paths are quite flat, wide and well drained.

As we returned to the car, we explored the north side of the park, and found a grove of large redwood trees, and another large brook. It was another great afternoon in the Surrey Parks System! We’ll certainly be coming back to this park for further exploration on another day.

All About Max, Surrey Parks

Boundary Park, Surrey

March 18, 2010 Maurice 3 Comments

Today was a glorious sunny spring day and so we piled Max into the car and took off for a new park to explore. We decided on Boundary Park, very close to the Delta Watershed, a park that is in the news lately for a rather depressing sign of the times. I’m not going to talk about that, but just focus on how beautiful this park is!

We approached it from the “wrong side,” in that we didn’t park at the main entrance, but entered the park from a side street. It is really quite spectacular with large redwoods towering over the many paths. One fallen tree was over twelve feet across! We had visited a park the other day that claimed to have the largest grove of redwoods, but this park surely comes a close second! Very very nice to wander around in this immense grove of trees.

The park kind of meanders through a neighbourhood of large single family homes, and eventually you come a wonderful little lake. This lake is actually right by the main entrance to the park. It was full of ducks and geese and other waterfowl. Lots of people were wandering around the park, walking their dogs, pushing strollers with their wee gaffers; it was a delightful setting.

Max really enjoys chasing ducks for some reason, so we let him off his leash and let him charge all over. He’s so funny! He takes off at a gallop, steaming down to the water’s edge, and slams on the brakes! He simply won’t enter the water! For some reason, every time the ducks rushed away from the Charging Chow, other ducks made a beeline for him, as if to see what the fuss was all about. Or maybe they were coming over to laugh at this silly dog who won’t go in the water!

This is another example of a city park that is very well done. Surrey is rightfully proud of it’s many urban parks, and Boundary Park is obviously a well-used, well-cared for park. Max simply loved it. And so did we!

All About Max, Surrey Parks

Fleetwood Parks, North Surrey

March 10, 2010 Maurice 1 Comment

Today we explored three North Surrey parks, in the Fleetwood neighbourhood. The theme for our walk was public art, and each offered different experiences, in vastly different settings. The first park was called Meagan Ann Macdougal Park. There is a sculpture there called “Multiples of Three” a steel and granite sculpture of monumental size.

The sculptor is Alberto Replanski, and it was installed in July of 2002. It was pretty much a disappointment. The steel has rusted to a significant degree, and it really looked to me like an eyesore. The park itself is not much either. It is really just a small neighbourhood park that is not that well kept, has a rather small playset suitable for just few children, and the wooded area seems a mess. We had a pretty short stop there!

We then headed over to the Fleetwood Community Center which is ringed by lovely, well-kept grounds. There is a very new exercise circuit, designed for seniors, since there are quite a few seniors residences surrounding the area. There was an unsightly retaining wall, that students of local art colleges have made pretty with various hand made tiles, of fish, animals, plants, and portraits. There are also tiles with script, teaching you the history of the Fleetwood district.

It was there that we learned that the Fleetwood area is named for Arthur Thomas Fleetwood, a soldier who died in the Great War. He enlisted in 1915 and was quickly sent to the front. He was wounded, but returned to the battlefield in May 1917. He was mortally wounded by a bayonet thrust in September 1917, age 39.

His sister refused to let his name die, however, even though he was “a common ordinary man.” She petitioned to have the community center named for him, and now the name Fleetwood adorns everything from pubs, to stores, schools, community centers, condo projects and car lots.

There is a life-size bronze of him, in uniform, with his kit bag at his feet, seated on a park bench. It is a very finely crafted piece, by the sculptor Nathan Scott. It was really quite moving to “see” him. A man of small stature, he seems to be waiting for his sister to arrive, to take him home. His hat rests on his leg, kit bag at his feet. He has a calm visage, patiently waiting. Really moving, and definitely worth a second look.

Next we tried a new way home and discovered a recent addition to the Surrey Parks and it is called Fleetwood Gardens. It’s a very large park, way bigger than we were able to explore in one afternoon. It has amazing facilities for children, with more play areas than any park we’ve been too. There are soccer fields, tennis courts, volleyball courts, softball diamonds, and just miles and miles of trails.

There were wonderful manicured flower gardens, well signed to let you know what is going on. As you stroll through the trails, there suddenly appear marvelous stone sculptures blending nicely with the landscaping. There were even stone slabs with poetry!

And the trails! Miles and miles of trails crossing over streams, lovely bridges, wonderful flowers everywhere. I can see that this park will be on my regular route! Max and I will be exploring it a lot as we train for the Sun Run.

All About Max, Surrey Parks

Redwood Park, South Surrey

March 9, 2010 Maurice 2 Comments

Today we went for a walk in a park we have not been to before, Redwood Park. It is really a remarkable park, with a very cool story. It is on a hill, that had been logged completely bare. It was owned by David Brown, who gave 40 acres each to his deaf twin sons, David and Peter, on the occasion of their 21st birthday.

They had a blank page, as it were, and almost immediately began replanting the hill with trees from around the world, all from seedlings! They planted a huge grove of Redwoods, which gives the park its name. But there are also trees from Japan, Italy, Russia, Austria, France and California. There are over 32 varieties of trees, from beech, to oak, to walnut. There is even a species of tree that was thought to be extinct!

There are numerous trails leading through the park, and there are lots of plaques to tell you the various types of trees all over the park. It is fascinating! The twins lived in a two story tree house they had constructed on the land. But unfortunately it burned a couple of times, and was ultimately taken down as a safety measure. The Parks Board has recreated a small version, and it still stands today in the park.

The park has a large play area for children to frolic about. There are several statues, and lots of viewing areas. It’s definitely going to be on our list of parks to visit over and over! We walked just a few of the trails today, but I can’t wait to get back and do a run through it. It should be very wonderful in the summer, with all the trees full of leaves!

All About Max

Bear Creek Walk

March 5, 2010 Maurice 3 Comments

Max and I took a walk through Bear Creek today and it was really gorgeous. It’s so warm here, very unseasonable. It was so warm I had to take off my jacket and walked around in short sleeves.

There are so many of these flowers blooming, but I’m not sure what they are. They are on a stem that looks sort of like a peony, but the flowers sort of look like balloon flowers. No idea what they might be, but they are blooming all over Bear Creek. Max was always stopping to smell them; not sure why that was, although he does like to smell flowers, these ones really seemed to attract him.

We went down by the salmon stream and it was covered in ducks. Max kept trying to get them, but they would quack at him and move off a little. He finally charged them, and they took off in a loud cacophony of honking and quacking! There was a young mother with a couple kids on a bridge, and the ducks came flying over them, and the kids just loved it! It was pretty funny stuff…

Commentary

We are the Champions of the World!

March 1, 2010 Maurice 2 Comments

Well what a game! And what an aftermath! It was an amazing experience to be able to be surrounded by about a quarter of a million Canadians in downtown Vancouver yesterday. I can’t even begin to describe what it felt like, but if you are a Canadian, I don’t even have to try to explain it – you just know!

So what that we set a record for any host nation, and even, So what that we set a record for ANY nation!? The ONLY Gold Medal that mattered was the hockey gold. If we had got silver, this would not have been a successful Games. Period. Canada would be in depression.

But we won the coveted Hockey Gold medal and all is right with the world!!! It was scary and crazy, and watching the USA tie it with 25 seconds left put an incredible celebration on hold for a few minutes kind of making it even sweeter really. Kudos to the Americans for not quitting! The game was played at a level all we hockey fans can be proud of – hard fought, and clean. Both teams can be proud of how they played.

I’ve separated my shoulder from high-fiving half of Vancouver!!! My voice doesn’t really work today, but you know what? That’s ok!!

It was an ecstatic and classy crowd! So much joy, so much pride. I’ve never experienced anything even close to that. I remember after game 6 of the Rangers-Canucks series, the downtown core was packed with people, but it was a “group” compared to this crowd! We got to Granville and Robson and the place was so packed, we could barely move. It was amazing.

Everywhere you turned, people were cheering, crying, smiling, dancing, celebrating. Well done Canada. Well done all you people who come downtown and were so well behaved – what else would you expect in Canada, eh?

Here are a couple of videos we took downtown.