In Canada few things matter more than hockey, and just to be clear, hockey here is played on ice, not grass (Canadian 101). This year the Vancouver Canucks reached the final of the Stanley cup and as the final matches drew closer Canuck fever gripped the entire city. Almost all shops were jumping on the bandwagon with their window displays and many of them closed early on game days, they were headline news everyday and you could buy Canuck branding for pretty much anything. Each game day the city closed several streets to traffic to erect an enormous screen near the stadium so that fans could watch together. It created an amazing atmosphere and sense of unity similar to that which took hold of the city during the Olympics in 2010, the kind of atmosphere you can’t help being swept up in, hockey fan or not.
Sadly when the Canucks lost in the final game (hockey is the best of 7, so emotions had been fraught for a long time), the actions of some reflected very badly on the city. I, like many others stayed up late that night alternating between watching live footage from helicopters, following tweets and watching the smoke rise from my balcony in shock at the mayhem that was unfolding downtown.
Embarrassed about what had happened the next morning hundreds of volunteers went downtown to help clean up and since then thousands of people have echoed their comments on the wooden boards that are currently all over town replacing the windows that were smashed the night of the final.
We have just finished watching the BBC series Human Planet. It takes the nature format that the BBC excels in displaying and turns the camera on people. The whole series was absolutely incredible and both Mike and I were completely blown away by every episode. Focusing on one theme at a time, the series covers: oceans, forests, mountains, deserts, grasslands, rivers, cities and the Arctic and looks at a number of different groups of people who live in each of these environments.
The cinematography is truly breathtaking and I always enjoyed the 10 minute segment at the end of each episode where you are taken ‘behind the lens’ and shown how the team filmed one of the segments. This includes plucking up enough courage to walk up to feeding lions after days of searching for them and rigging cameras across the streaming Mekong, despite the rain providing enormous technical challenges.
The main reason the series was so awe inspiring though, was the people it focused on. Children who travel through the desert for days to find an obscure well, people who build bridges out of living trees and houses that swing in treetops. People who face huge dangers just to find food for themselves and their families – stealing dinner from lions or venturing under the ice in the arctic and into sulfur mines without protection. The stories of these people are inspirational, mind boggling and terrifying. They make us realize just how easy life is here in the western world – issues in the city episode included bed bugs, rats and pigeons. The series has consequently made us more mindful in thinking about where our food has come from and what we need to survive, and hugely grateful for all that we have.
The extended trailer below gives you a brief glimpse into some of the lives of these people but I could not recommend the series highly enough if you have not already seen it.
As you have probably gathered by now I’m a big fan of lists. This is my stress free summer to do list of all the things I’m going to make time for before this fleeting season disappears.
Eat as many meals outside as possible
Walk barefoot on sand and in the grass
Visit new places, including the Okanagan Valley
Go camping in the BC interior
Go kayaking in English bay
Paddle in the sea
Ride my bike as much as possible
Swim in a lake
Following the lives of Helen and Mike who moved from Scotland to London via Canada. See how they fair as they navigate the charms of big city life, weaving around tourists and traffic by bike, stopping frequently for tea and culture breaks.
