Nance's A-1 tour

Nance Thacker copyright 1984
click on image to enlarge

It's an overcast day out here in beautiful Victoria B.C. Yesterday began the same way too, but while I was caught in the throws of a 3 hr. computer angst attack, the sun began to shine through the windows of SERIOUS CAFE in the Fairfield neighbourhood where I was enjoying a Chai Latte and beckoned me to come outside and play. (Isn't it amazing that one can experience angst AND enjoyment at the same time - I guess that explains the squirrelly dream I had last night, but that's another post.)

So I thought I'd take you on a tour of Victoria. Please push, crowd and shove as you board the virtual bus.

One summer when jobs were unavailable, yoga classes were drastically cut down, money was scarce, the studio above the laundry was hotter than hades and I was house-sitting, I spent most of my time on a beach like this at the base of the bluffs off of Dallas Rd., taking in the sun, tucked in behind driftwood that afforded both privacy and wind-break. Many impromptu "structures" were built by beach bums more inventive and industrious than I. On particularly blustery days when more cover was essential, I would "squat" in their structures while their occupants where elsewhere. It was an unspoken agreement that (though we acknowledged each other's presence with a smile and a nod, rarely were words exchanged) as long as one respected the territory of another, this was OK.

When I wasn't at the beach, like many of my beach "buddies", I was in the library - we may have been poor, but we were a well-educated lot. I particularly enjoyed this kinetic sculpture whose branches move slowly, windmill-like; a metallic tree turning in the wind. And, as I took this picture the haunting voice of a minstrel busker was carried on the light breeze filtering through the passageway. Victoria possesses many locations that afford the best acoustics for musicians and in this respect at least, is a buskers dream.