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I was up in time to see the town being painted red but not as "up" as my feathered friend atop the pole. Click the images to enlarge them.

[caption id="attachment_8681" align="alignnone" width="497"] Early bird get the high ground.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_8275" align="alignnone" width="497"] Surprisingly cold for Vancouver, but we're learning to go with the flow.[/caption]

Waking up this morning I considered things in the light of a new day. While I washed down a mouthful of cheese-flovoured goldfish with left-over coffee in my thermal travel mug, I wondered who dreamt up things like cheese-flavoured, goldfish-shaped snacks -- last night's coffee was still lukewarm; a good sign I thought -- how cold could it possibly be?

I didn't get a block before I had my answer. There was a building's drainpipe, frozen in mid-gush; the water bubbling from the mouth of the pipe and flowing over the branches -- nearly a freeze-frame!

So it's still well below zero, and forecast to stay that way into next week. But, like Canadians back east like to say about their winters -- "it's a dry cold." Click the images to enlarge them.

[caption id="attachment_7585" align="alignnone" width="497"] Oh, look on the steps -- pumpkins -- they are so October. Click the image to enlarge.[/caption]

With that big sky --  those onion domes, this could be... Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but we're still in Vancouver. This is the Protection of Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church, completed in 1981. It dominates a two-square block compound of Ukrainian religion, culture, and cuisine. just a block from Cambie Street, at about 16th Avenue. I cut through here on my way to the bottle depot quite often.

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