27 December 2022 – Back from Abbotsford (yes! I made it to the Valley for a magical few days with layers & layers of family), I wake to the consequences of nature’s switcheroo from snow to rain.
“Moderate to elevated” risk of flooding in low-lying areas near the ocean, warns the City of Vancouver, due to exceptionally high tides plus strong winds plus rain. Sections of seawall along Burrard Inlet have been closed as a precaution, and False Creek is named as an area of possible flooding.
I pull on my Seriously Waterproof Coat, and go take a look.
In behind the BC Dragon Boat dock, the channel is full to the brim…
and every woofer in sight sports a raincoat.
I cross that same little pedestrian bridge over a water channel west of Olympic Village, and close in on the stretch where gravel and stepping-stone blocks link Hinge Park to the offshore Habitat Island.
No gravel, no stones. Lots of water.
Normally (and thank you TripAdvisor for this handy comparison photo), the pathway looks like this…
but not today.
I gawp at the sight, stepping stones gleaming ghost-pale from the depths. I also wonder whether nature threw that log across the submerged pathway, or workers placed it there earlier, to prevent people from making what could become a dangerous crossing.
Doubling back toward Olympic Village, I peer at more submerged stones…
and rain drops imitating the rain-drop sewer grate…
and then, heading south, I enjoy the comic relief of a Peep-Show Moment On Ontario Street. I am outside an industrial laundry facility, looking in.
It’s a huge, rambling, and pretty old facility — dickensian-derelict on the outside, but still heaving great bright-white hammocks of laundry loads around on the inside. I can hear motors grinding away, and the window panes shimmy to the beat.
And then!
And then I stop off at Pâtisserie Melo for hot chocolate…
and finally walk back home.
WALKING WOMAN 
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
/ 27 December 2022A hot chocolate at the end of a rainy walk sounds pretty good. I understand that the risk of flooding has dropped – good to hear. No doggie raincoats here. We just use a towel and deal with a slight eau de wet dog, literally.
icelandpenny
/ 27 December 2022I was being polite about canine raincoats! I see the value of canine boots on city streets, to protect paws from rock salt — but fancy coats over all that fur? Oh, please.
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
/ 27 December 2022I know you were, but I wanted to be spiky. 😉 Cheers.
Nathalie
/ 27 December 2022Wow I didn’t realize the tide was that high at False Creek. This is important archives you are creating here. Wondering how the residents felt, hopefully not too anxious 😦
bluebrightly
/ 28 December 2022From one extreme to another…again, your good spirits save the day. Our little creek, dry most of the year, is racing now. The highway flooded at high tide but it subsided fairly quickly. What’s next???
(I like the raindrops that imitated the sewer grate).