Day 47 - Haida Art - Chinese Garden

Vancouver, 6 miles total and 13.3 mpg. Totals for the trip, 7462 miles, 27.6* mpg. Those are the stats.

Today sort of went as planned, if you forget about starting around noon. That wasn’t the plan. But that wonderful roast lamb we had Wednesday night baa’ed a lot during the night, keeping us awake, so we slept in a bit. Still, we had time to do the things we had planned.

We’re creatures of habit. Sally-Heath, the artist, knew about Bill Reid, the Haida artist, before our first trip to Vancouver, so on that trip we learned a lot about Haida culture and art, and we bought a few things, including two large serigraphs by Robert Davidson which hang in our living room today (we hope). We love Haida art, and northwest indigenous art, and the wonderful heritage. On our trip to Alaska we always sought out local art, and we bought a few small pieces then also. So it follows that on this trip we would do more of the same.


Today we first visited the Bill Reid Museum. I couldn’t take pictures, and I can’t adequately describe the art (I’m an engineer), but that’s not all the museum is about. So I’ll again ask Sally-Heath to add to this, and here’s my view. Bill Reid was a very artistically talented man who had leadership capability. He was instrumental in the revival of Haida art, and of Haida culture. The things he accomplished in both areas are inspirational. When you see what he was able to do for his people you may feel, as I do, like ‘what have I done (worthwhile) with my life?’(S-H: I read this and it covers it well so I’ll forgo the “s-hak talk” and just say I am grateful for the two days of time to see and learn more about one of my favorite art types)

The story of the Haida people is not unique, unfortunately. In a nutshell, they lived on the northwest coast, doing just fine – thank you – until the English and the Christians decided to remold them. Along the way, 90% (!!!) of them died of smallpox, brought by the English. The English took the land, tried to eradicate their culture, and damn near succeeded. Just as with the Native Americans, there has never been compensation paid for the land – but thanks at least in part to Bill Reid (and I’m sure others like him), the culture revived. Only time will tell – but for the present, Haida traditions and culture are alive and well.


We spent a lot of time in the museum – they have many videos associated with the displays. We could have spent all day and not seen all of the videos. But our attention span is limited, and the boys are on the 6th floor of a parking garage with their legs crossed. So we collect the boys and head to the Gaslight District to eat and then see the Inuit Gallery – the place we bought the serigraphs years ago. After we eat, I dog sit while Sally-Heath visits the Gallery. For me, as I sat outside sipping my JWB rocks, there were a large number of folks interested in Woody and Jake. They got plenty of attention. It was fun, and I paid the tab and moved across the street just as Sally-Heath returned from the gallery.


From there we walked to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. This time Sally-Heath was the dog sitter, and I went in. Turns out Sally-Heath was right, we did come here on our last visit, and I must say that – as far as I could tell – not a thing had changed! Of course, that is what you expect – unchanging peace and tranquility and beauty. It is a beautiful, tranquil place – especially if you can imagine it without all of the tourists. It wasn’t what you would call crowded, but in a place like that, solitude is a really good thing. I took a bunch of pictures, mainly for my friend Ralph, who prefers Japanese Gardens, but is a softy like me and will enjoy this as well.


That was about it for the day. I forgot to mention the trip to CostCo. No biggie there – picked up some vitamins, ibuprophen, and a microfiber shirt. Wanted to print out some pdf files, but CostCo doesn’t do that! Ended up finding an Office Max to get it done. Now I have hardcopy to prove my car is registered, that I have auto insurance coverage in Canada, and a reservation on the ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles. Important stuff! Wanted to get some wine, but CostCo doesn’t sell wine (or beer or hard liquor) in Canada – must go to a ‘state’ store.

Don’t ask why I thought of this – probably because of the wine thing – but they pre-sweeten the iced tea here, just as they do in the US south and Texas. There’s no choice. I wonder if that will change by Olympics time? Somehow I doubt it.

Vancouver is great. Canada is great. If I ever have to leave the USA, my clear options are Oz, NZ and Canada (British Columbia, most likely). In that order.