[not, as is known to those of us in the more bellicose American West, a Military Operation Area

but rather the Museum of Anthropology at UBC whereat we went Saturday morning circuitously seeking the shore, arriving late enough to start with lunch before investigating the galleries

where were, as might have been foreseen,

many awesome wooden objects.

Beautiful things made of grass, in the open-to-all archival storage of the multiversity galleries,

abounded, as did beings evocative

of deep dream states…deeper than one can or will delve into here.

Other Pacific Rim influences led to the Audain Gallery where

a contemporary ceramics exhibition, “Playing with Fire”, had some wonderfully thoughtful tour de force stuff in it like these slipcast walls by Ian Johnston,

a phantasmal installation by Ying-Yueh Chuang [look her up – amazing work!]

and extremely evocative hybrids from Brendan Lee Satish Tang [“]…all BC artists, none previously known to any of us except for Christine, who has been immersed in the culture since arriving at Emily Carr last August.

We exited past Bill Reid’s “The Raven and the First Men” to seek the waters

where standup paddleboarders were being blown rapidly westward down the straits

beyond the tip of town.

That night Christine made tagine, slow-cooked in a dedicated pot, for the six of us and

her colleague Emily Hermant before Bryan went off in the rain to rest up for his 5:30 a.m. flight

back to North Carolina before even Izel and his loyal pit had made it to bed…

For me the next day was mostly lost until early evening and a walk to Via Tevere for a last supper out only, while wandering the neighborhood during the projected hourlong wait, to stumble upon Havana, which, though a little noisome, was easy of access and lots of fun…

Pizza Napoletana as a result to be postponed until another visit.