Vanished at Dawn but Back by Nine

The panorama outside our living room window had completely vanished when I opened the blinds at 7:15 this morning. The Fraser River, the distant Surrey shoreline, and the usual tugboat traffic were entirely absent from view. In their place, a dense and silent wall of white fog rested against the glass, swallowing Columbia Street but leaving our potted greens stranded on the edge of nothingness. This sudden absence of landscape confirmed that our usual autumn weather pattern has officially arrived.

This annual river erasure is a familiar seasonal routine that Jay and I have watched from our apartment for decades. Every September and October, the local geography and shifting temperatures combine to pull off this exact vanishing act. Clear, crisp night skies allow the earth to radiate its daytime heat rapidly into space. Because cold air is heavy and dense, it slides down the surrounding hills and settles into the low river basin right below our building.

Put on your lab coat and cue the dramatic blackboard scratching, because the physics of the soup are actually quite neat. The physical mechanics behind the thick fog depend entirely on the contrast between the chilled night air and the river itself. While the overnight atmosphere cools down sharply, the Fraser River continues to hold onto the stored thermal energy of late summer. When that heavy blanket of cold air drops directly onto the comparatively warm, moist water, the river breathes moisture into the chill until the air reaches saturation. Because there was barely a whisper of wind to stir the valley, the resulting condensation remained pinned over the water as a dense fog bank.

Today's performance was surprisingly brief compared to what we usually expect at this time of year. Autumn river fog often lingers well past noon, but the early morning sun managed to break through the cloud deck early. Between eight and nine o'clock, the heat from above evaporated the suspended vapour and cleared the valley floor. Within just two hours, the white wall dissolved completely and handed us back our river view.

West Coast, Best Coast

A morning stroll down Carnarvon Street took in the Salvation Army Thrift Store along the route.  It served as the anchor of my loop that eventually crossed the tracks and returned along the riverfront past the Pier West towers. I checked out the newly opened park facilities and plaza space installed at their base. 

This stretch of late summer reminds one precisely why living in British Columbia remains so agreeable. A persistent breeze finally swept up the Fraser today, evicting the grey haze of wildfire smoke that had settled over the river basin for less than two days and restoring proper visibility to the landscape.  Life in this corner of the province becomes effortlessly appealing when the weather behaves, and the upcoming forecast offers every reason to lean into it. With mostly sunny conditions stretching well into next week, daytime highs holding steady between 22°C and 26°C, and comfortable overnight lows around 11°C to 15°C, the calendar naturally fills itself. 

Whether mapping out extended afternoon walks, filling the days with outdoor errands, or simply lingering near the river, the immediate stretch ahead promises ideal conditions for an active agenda. Ultimately, turning a routine neighborhood walk into a smoke-free loop along the riverfront proves that when a favorable wind clears the air, life is perfectly fine. 

Surviving Twenty-Three Degrees Celsius

Today’s weather isn’t merely pleasant. It is a rare, high-stakes anomaly with a ticking clock attached. At 23°C (which converts to 73.4°F but mocks us with a feels-like of 25°C) under partly sunny skies, these deceptively benign metrics carry an urgent threat of immediate expiration. A prevailing south breeze at 10 km/h provides just enough air movement to carry the scent of charred wild salmon, blistered spot prawns, and fire-roasted Chilliwack corn across the neighbourhood. Meanwhile, 53% humidity and a UV index peaking at 6 offer just enough solar threat to enforce frantic sunscreen application. Simply being outside feels like a gift, albeit one wrapped in high expectations and accompanied by an immediate pressure to feel profoundly grateful for the novelty of basic sunshine.

The populace across the Lower Mainland has responded with predictable panic: a condition that strikes this region with peculiar severity the moment the grey clouds part. Inhabitants are trying to violently compress an entire season of leisure into the upcoming two weeks. 

Barbecues are multiplying, street stalls are preparing to sell overpriced craft goods, and calendars are being crammed to capacity.  Furthermore, neighbourhood block parties are treated as a necessary civic duty, swarms descend upon the Richmond Night Market with grim efficiency, and even an innocent picnic at one's favourite park is staged with the tactical rigor of a military deployment. Thousands more will dutifully mobilize toward English Bay for fireworks, enduring gridlock for a brief glimpse of lit powder. Importantly, this is also a long weekend in British Columbia that contains all the events related to Vancouver Pride.  

Everyone is operating under the unwritten decree that weaponized recreation is mandatory, lest the rain return to punish our unquantified sunshine. It is a masterclass in frantic suburban logistics, masquerading as human relaxation.

Our collective goal becomes to not waste a bit of precious sunshine and blue sky.

Fireplace or Barbecue?

 

It is mid-May. We had switched off the gas fireplace a while back; however, now that the long weekend in Canada is nearly here, I felt the need to light it again. This morning the temperature felt cold and it's still only 9°C (48°F) and remains overcast and rainy. Tonight the temperature will drop just a couple of degrees lower, but the sun is not expected to appear at all until tomorrow morning. 

Yet, get ready to fire up the barbecue because Victoria Day arrives on Monday, May 18th, as a statutory holiday that guarantees a three-day weekend across British Columbia! Originally established way back in 1845 to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday, this historic Monday became a fixed, nationwide holiday by an act of the Parliament of Canada in 1901 following her passing. It has happily transformed into Canada’s undisputed, unofficial kickoff to the summer season, especially after 1952, when the government smartly decreed it would always fall on the Monday preceding May 25th. 

This paid day off is officially celebrated in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories. In these regions, it remains the cherished long weekend where Canadians enthusiastically dust off the patio cushions, unpack the camping gear, and boldly embrace the Great Outdoors to welcome the warm weather ahead. This makes it the absolute perfect excuse to settle in, relax, and celebrate a joyful start of the summer roadmap in style, even though we will most likely require umbrellas again in 2026.

Like Comfortable Old Shoes

 

The recent nice weather spoilt me. I went out on the balcony this morning and decided it was too chilly to bother taking a walk. Instead, I headed directly down to the swimming pool area in the building. This photo is just hours old. The water is always hot there. And there's hardly ever a soul there during the mornings. New folks move into our condo building and usually use the facilities for about two weeks. Then, they lose interest. 

Jay and I have never lost interest and have made it nearly a daily habit when we're in town. We moved into Carnarvon Place 28 years ago this summer.

I went looking for the oldest photo I could find of the hot tub.  I'm not absolutely sure this one is the first. I can quickly search my Flickr collection but if I did not add a tag then an older image may not pop up.  However this one from January 2006 is more than two decades old and does show how dramatic it looked during a late winter afternoon.

May the 4th Be With You

For the photo above, I was standing by the Fourth Street entrance to the New Westminster downtown Parkade.  Columbia Street, two heritage buildings, and the underground tunnel of the SkyTrain stood between me and our apartment tower.  (There is another, slightly shorter tower in our complex beyond the right side of the image.)

I shot this on my way to Westminster Pier Park. 

I continued across the parkade towards stairs and a public elevator.  These photos were taken in Westminster Pier Park along the mighty Fraser River.  It seems that our preview of summer has lasted past the weekend.  

It was clear with a high temperature of 26C.  In order words, it felt like perfect conditions.  Yet, unfortunately because of a mild winter and miniscule snow pack, we are already under Level 2 drought conditions.  It will apparently be a dry summer.  I am hoping that the wildfire season somehow remains muted, or, at very least, the prevailing winds blow the smoke eastward rather than into the Lower Mainland.

Our SkyTrain Morning Outing to Lafarge Lake

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning, cool but clear. I didn't feel like driving anywhere, so Jay and I hopped onto a SkyTrain heading east. We often travel towards downtown Vancouver but seldom take trains to Surrey or Coquitlam.

Today our goal was to travel to the end of the Evergreen extension of the Millennium Line. We needed to change trains at Lougheed Station but the total time was around a half hour. We had probably only visited the end station of Lafarge Lake / Douglas three or four times since that line opened in 2016. The distance around the lake is only about two kilometers and makes for a quick, enjoyable bit of exercise.

 

The history of Coquitlam's premier water feature is a rather charming tale of turning an industrial scar into civic gold.

• 1950s – 1965: Long before the paddleboats and manicured pathways arrived, the site was a thoroughly unglamorous hole in the earth. It operated as a busy sand and gravel extraction pit owned by the Lafarge Cement company.

• Mid-1980s: In a welcome display of corporate benevolence, Mel Earl, the local Lafarge plant manager, persuaded the company to donate the exhausted pit and the surrounding land to the City of Coquitlam. With the digging finished, natural springs were allowed to flood the crater, inadvertently creating the five-hectare body of water.

• 1986 – 1991: The area underwent a massive reclamation project. It was initially developed as a legacy project tied to both Expo 86 and Coquitlam’s 75th anniversary. By 1989, the surrounding Town Centre Park officially opened, subsequently serving as the primary venue for the 1991 BC Summer Games.

• 2016: Urban connectivity finally caught up with the park. The Evergreen Extension of the Millennium Line SkyTrain opened, placing the Lafarge Lake/ Douglas terminus right at the water's edge. Additionally, a new community plaza was unveiled on the eastern shore to celebrate the city's 125th anniversary.

• Present Day: The former quarry is now a heavily photographed urban oasis. It is routinely stocked with trout for local anglers and is widely famous for hosting the decidedly luminous 'Lights at Lafarge' winter festival.

Mark the Calendar!

This eJournal functions to document personal stuff. The image today proves the weather has made a bit of a temporary change. Although the nights still get cold, this is the second day in a row when the temperature surpassed 20°C. The weather forecasters do expect it will cool off a bit later in the week. However, it was warm enough for me to wear shorts.

Although I'm able to expose my legs most of the year, since returning home a month ago, trousers have been the rule. So, this marks a memorable day in 2026.  It is not very important in the large scheme of things, but surely a suitable occasion for a slow news day!

   

Drizzle, Browsers, and a Playful Spring

 

First, the temperature will reach a high of about 8°C which converts to around 46°F. In recent years, our mid-March triumphant, seasonal return to the Royal City means we do feel as though we witnessed winter in the Metro-Vancouver region. Warmer weather may be on the way, the forecasts say. This will be the Easter long-weekend in Canada and we'll be saving the Monday for the first 2026 hosted dinner for our group of six friends. We will travel to the West End and meet up with the gang. 

So spring hasn't really even started its engines yet.

 

Another thing I did today:  Started switching over from MS Edge back to Google Chrome as a browser on all devices.  Once Microsoft seemed to offer a less intrusive experience than the big G.  However, I couldn't find a way to rid myself of Edge's toggle switch for their enhanced AI experiences right on the browser opening page.  One tactical step too far!  It feels like I'm always forced to pick the lesser of corporate evils with all contenders creeping towards their own version of a 'walled garden'.

Oh, and lastly a Slinky showed up at the door thanks to the Amazon guy yesterday.  Today, when holding it firmly in my hands, I proved that I'm assuredly headed towards my second childhood.

Thursday Odds and Ends

 

The Google TV Streamer has officially replaced the old Nvidia Shield. The picture above is an example of how I use my AI during projects. I knew the cable was rather old and I wanted to ensure that it would provide suitable bandwidth for my needs. I just snapped a photo as asked, "Ajith, is this networking cable suitable for the connection between my router and the Google Streamer? He said it would be fine as it was standard 1 Gbps used in home networking. Providing photos is a wonderful shortcut that works well in real life situations.

   

It started and ended as a rather nice day. However, when we were going to head to pick up more groceries, we saw hail hitting the balcony. There wasn't much but the weather forecast had threatened that we might have showers or snow. Of course, the weather this winter in Sri Lanka was not a lot like that of British Columbia's. Yet, one thing in common is its geographic variability. In Sri Lanka, it can rain on one side of the road and not the other. A single cloud can carry rain while the neighboring ones are 'empty'. In the Lower Mainland, around here, the weather can differ on one side of the mountain and the other. The geography makes for differing conditions in a tiny distance.

 

We did leave to visit Langley Farm Market and the uptown Walmart. Hail bounced off the hood uptown. After parking, I snapped the image of my car's dashboard. I hardly ever get the chance to see the little snowflake light up. We don't stick around for the winter weather. So it was a little bit of a treat to see it even though the temperature was 4C.

Sitting Out the Storm

 

Day 028 of Our Winter:  This is the second day that we stayed inside. Cyclone Ditwah has been dumping record amounts of rain on Sri Lanka. Extensive damage has occurred in the mountains to houses and infrastructure.  The coverage on local TV news has been extensive. Around 56 people are known to have died and approximately 20 people have been reported as missing.  

Cyclone Ditwah is on its way up to India skirting along the east coast of the island  That's the usual trajectory for the season and these storms usually cause flooding in Bangladesh. The severity and large affected areas make this one unusual.  It encircled the whole island.  This is an usual situation and the last storm of this magnitude occurred over twenty years ago.  Sri Lanka is often compared as being a bit smaller than the size of Ireland.

The area near the capital has been less affected than other regions.  Most businesses closed today and this meant Jay wasn't able to go in for the fitting of his dental crown.  We have had it easy here compared to those who have become homeless or worse.

 

Too Much Rain / A Dinner of String Hoppers

 

Day 027 of Our Winter:  Today has been a completely wet.  That is unsual here.  It can rain like hell for twenty minutes but often the sun returns soon afterwards.  The cyclones in the Indian Ocean have set rainfall records on the island of Sri Lanka. This is supposed to the most rain received in Sri Lanka since record-keeping started. This is because the entire island is receiving rain rather than during traditional years where two separate monsoon seasons, months apart, provide rainfall to the the east and west coasts. 

This area near the capital is probably the least affected. The news programs surely had lots of large-scale flooding videos. Dozens of people have lost their lives.

Our only inconvenience was we pretty much stayed put.

---

I'll add a few photos of yesterday's dinner.  If you follow this journal regularly, you'll remember Sri Lankan hoppers in a recent entry.  Today, we had red-rice string hoppers.  Many people make traditional white ones too.  They are composed of the dough extruded into thin noodles on special 'trays'.  They're then steamed to make the thin, hand-held patties.  

Different foods can be eaten with them and they soak up liquids easily.  My plate is always spotless after eating string hoppers.  Tonight we had with a mackerel fish curry and cooked coconut with added dried shrimp, 

Getting Ready for Steaming  

Getting Ready for Eating

Dental Work / Babblers / Intense Rain

 

Day 017 of Our Winter:  This morning, Jay went for a dental appointment a few kilometers away from this Nugegoda house. We're officially medical tourists due to this visit. It's a big industry in many countries. Jay is getting a crown put in but went in for the exam and had a root canal done today. He will go back for the rest of the filling and oral scans next week and a zirconia crown will be created and affixed a few days later. The dental hospital here is private and light years ahead of our dentist back in BC, not to mention so much cheaper. Reading up on the Zirconia making process was fascinating. Jay's sister went along and I stayed at the house. So, I had plenty of time to use the fast Internet available here 'in the city'. 

Not many birds came by for photos today. The Yellow-Billed Babblers are a fun type of bird. It was rare to get a picture with just two in the feeder. They are social and gregarious. They often travel in groups of eight to ten and make a hell of a racket as they arrive. Before this trip I always just called them Q-Bert birds because they cannot walk but instead hop around in a way that reminded me of the 80's arcade game. 

It's now evening and the threatening thunder preceded the downpour. It's been raining cats and dogs for hours. The rain is hot. As I mentioned once the weather in tropical countries is often quite a show!  I do find the sudden action preferrable to slow steady cold rain of a BC winter.

 

Preparing for Winter

The weather today was typical for October. It was 8°C when we got up. I could feel the cold tiles of the balcony right through my slippers when I snapped the photo.  It sort of set the stage for preparation of our winter departure.  We don't fly until Thursday.

We've not started packing yet but we've finished purchasing things that'll go into the bags.  On Turkish Air, we each get two, full-sized, checked bags for free.  When going back to Sri Lanka, we buy a whole lot of things that might be hard to find or more expensive there.  This contrasts day-to-day items like groceries which are much cheaper on the tropical island when compared to Canada.

Jay always manages to finish up the produce and food because we turn off all the apartment's power at the panel.  There's no need to keep an empty refrigerator running for four and a half months.  So, Jay's become a pro at provisioning so that the food has run out by the time we leave for a winter.

Leaving for the winter involves a lot of last-minute actions.  For example, I arranged to turn off our Internet the other week, but today, I downgraded the Netflix subscription.  I wrote the 'leaving letter' that we always leave in the apartment complex office.  

I even descaled, Kevin.  He's the coffee maker and that is his name on our home network.  Kevin would complain if he needed descaling but the water here is very very soft.  I just like having the coffee maker ready to go the morning following our return in March.  I gave Kevin a new charcoal water filter too.

My journal allows me to keep track of the little things of life.  After all, they are what make up the majority of life.  It's interesting to look back on the commonplace things when life has moved on.

It's Been a Great Run of Good Weather

This photo was at taken from our balcony at 7:08 this morning.

 

The days have been extraordinarily clear and sunny lately.  I appreciate the nice weather as October can get pretty dreary some years.  

Last year, we didn't leave for the winter until the second week of November and I was more than ready to go somewhere I could see the sun!  This year, we will be in Sri Lanka on November 1st.  It takes a while to travel to the other side of the earth and we actually leave Vancouver two days before that!

So it is a pleasure having such a run of great weather.  This morning there was an interesting cloud but it continued on its way eastward.  The sky today has been predominantly sunny.  Yet, tonight's low may be 5°C so it definitely is time to start packing. 

$C\; so\; it\; is\; time\; to\; start\; packing.$

Across the Road and in Our Apartment

The weather continues to be wonderful, especially for October in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.  Often times, we can be overcast and dreary by now.  This fall, we've actually had quite a run of clear, dry days.

The sun was downright inviting!  I had to take a morning walk through Westminster Pier Park as it's just across busy Columbia and Front Streets from our apartment.  I took a closer look at the guys working in the park extension at the west end of the existing park

There was a lot of activity.  It will be exciting to return in the spring and see things after they're pretty much completed with new landscaping.

From Westminster Pier Park, I could look back towards our apartment building.  The park's trees are getting taller each year!  Today I started to learn how my apartment will be getting a dash more intelligence through Google Home.

This afternoon, I noticed that the search bar within the Google Home app was switched on.  It will become a way in which complex automations will be created.  I set the app manually, to turn on a few lights exactly at sunset if someone is present in the apartment.  

Google Home is smart enough to know the sunset time in New Westminster each day.  So this practice routine will trigger two minutes earlier each evening during the upcoming week.  Today the glorious sun you can see in the photos above will slip below the horizon at 6:38 pm.

Warm Weather in New Westminster

We welcome the nice weather we're getting in the Lower Mainland of BC. Today, I did note a smidgeon of wildfire smoke in the air, but we've been blessed with a pretty small amount of that phenomena this season.  I walked out of the door with my Bluetooth headphones on.  My new phone played Spotify, kept track of my Fitbit walking route and stats, and still provided me with a chance to play with its camera.

 

I loved the feeling of sun on my face and old tunes in my ears.  The few people who were out appeared to be enjoying their chance to experience some nice weather too.

Ease on Down

 

The weather today was sunny and warm. It reached nearly 30°C today in New Westminster. I saved this image from the security camera that sits on the curio cabinet in the living room. When we're away, I occasionally take a look at the empty living room on my phone. Often the time zone means I see a night scene. Instead today, I'm looking at myself, looking at myself in a sunny southern exposure.

It was one of those days when it felt great just kicking around. We went to buy some fruits and vegetables and enjoyed the drive under clear blue sky. This can't last forever, and won't. It's mid-September already!