As Keira commented, it’s been a little while since I’ve made a post. Work life has been hectic, and the long weekend prompted a kick ass getaway to Osoyoos. Getting back yesterday, I’m right back into the fray. But while doing the work thing last Friday, I saw my first bear in the wild during my first time ever in Whistler.

He came across the hill and ventured down the worn in pathway, nibbling on weeds or flowers or something.

This woman was asking for it. She stood there with her back to the bear to get a picture with it in the background. Did she stop there? No, she started to yell “Hey, bear! Look here, bear!” over her shoulder to get the bear to look her way just so she could snap that amazing picture. Better yet, she started backing up about ten feet, pulling her picture taker with her, towards the bear.

Black bears don’t get very large, but this one seems like it could grow just a little bit more before it’s fully grown. At least that’s what other people were saying. I haven’t a clue.

I would say that thirty yards is as close as I got, some folks got closer only because the bear came in that far. After reaching the bottom of the trail, he turned around and went back the way he came. Needless to say, I was pretty amazed. My co-workers flipped when I said that I had never seen a bear before, so everyone came running to make sure I caught him about a hundred yards out. Didn’t think I would be getting as close as I did though.

Yes, another post about Stanley Park, but a long standing question of mine was answered this morning. Are there any fish in Lost Lagoon? The answer is a resounding yes.

We were passing by this morning and only had my cellphone on us. The quality isn’t the best, but a lot of people were stopping to see all the splashing. The fish, as I say numerous times in the video, are huge. At minimum, a foot long, and their swarms were creating ominous waves in the middle of the lagoon, making it seem like some sort of X-Files[imdb] like creatures had moved in.

We had seen good sized turtles basking in the sunshine sometime ago, and Rebecca found that hard to believe but understandable. After that, I kinda imagined that if there were fish in there, they wouldn’t be much in terms of variety and size. Of course, I’m wrong, but this is amazingly surprising.

Update: Almost uncanny timing, a new video of Nessy has surfaced.

It doesn’t matter if you are in Iowa or B.C. All Canada Geese are mean. This one didn’t mind me getting too close to snap its mug, but a few more seconds, I probably would have been warned.

Yes, it’s Canada Goose[wiki]. After a little reading around various websites, such as here and here, I understand now that “Canadian Goose” is the improper name for them. So from now on, I will call all the mean ones the incorrect name. The ones that don’t flap and hiss at me while running by them will get the correct one.