Favourite Places

The Birds by Myfanwy MacLeod

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There are birds in Vancouver’s Olympic Village at the Southeast False Creek Plaza, 1 Athletes Way. Not the ordinary kind that flutters in the air currents above – The Birds prefer to guard the earth with their 18 foot (5.5 metres) presence.  Vancouver artist, Myfanwy MacLeod transformed the common sparrow into something extraordinary.

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“The Birds reminds us of our past, but it aspires to challenge the future. It is my hope that the work stimulates understanding that will lead to a greater sense of shared responsibility and caring.” Myfanwy MacLeod, 2009

The Untravelled World

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 “I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades For ever and for ever when I move.”  Ulysses – Alfred, Lord Tennyson

I first met Alfred, Lord Tennyson when I was in grade 11, long after his passage through this world. The Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during Queen Victoria’s reign still has the power to awaken the imagination of a generation born a century later. My whole life has been in search of archways that open portals to journeys yet to be explored. And age does not impede the effort.

“Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” Ulysses – Alfred, Lord Tennyson

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Camerino, Italy

I Could Not Resist

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When I was growing up in northern Manitoba, temperatures would dip to minus 40 to 50 Fahrenheit. It was bitterly cold; even the moisture from my breath froze on my cheeks as I walked to school in the early morning. But it was never cold enough to mask the wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread that came from the only bakery in our small town. I would slow down and inhale deeply before reluctantly moving on. Fast forward several decades, bakeries are still one of my favourite places. I slow down but I don’t move on until I first walk in..

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