You never know

what's going to happen at my house in the morning. I live in the busiest part of Vancouver - right on the beach.

So there are always people on the beach, laughing, riding their bikes, rollering on their rollerblades, walking (or swimming - the dog beach is right across the street) their dogs. They might be doing morning tai chi or yoga under the trees on the grass. They might be having a picnic or swimming when the sun is shining.

Four nights a year there are close to half a million of them on all the beaches around watching the fireworks. One Sunday in April there will be 60,000 of them running down the street in front of my building for the annual Sun Run. One Sunday in May there will be less of them, but they'll be running much faster and much farther in the Vancouver marathon. The run for the cure for breast cancer. The half marathon.

And then there are the parades. Not every parade in Vancouver goes down my street, but a whole bunch of them do. The last Friday of every month is the cycling coalition - they ride through the city (almost always down my street) blocking traffic - on purpose - and end up somewhere for an impromptu party.

One of my favorites? The fools' event on April 1. There are jugglers and musicians and, well, fools.

My street is closed or blocked off many times over the year but especially from April to October. And you'd think - I've lived here for 8 summers - that I'd remember what was going to happen next. But I don't. It's always a delightful surprise to see some event travelling past my door.


And this weekend it was - well, I'm not sure what they call it - but I call it the Chariot Parade. It's what they call a rolling stop parade - the police come before and after them and close the street as the parade starts out and then opens it up behind them. It's gorgeous even though it only lasts maybe 20 minutes. And they end up in the park with free food and entertainment for everyone.






I love my neighborhood.




Kate