best of both worlds

One of the reasons I choose to live in Vancouver is the proximity to the ocean. I grew up on Vancouver Island and spent childhood summers with my family on a boat (size: like a small motorhome on the water), cruising the Gulf Islands. In University I spent a summer living in Ottawa to see if I might consider living out there after finishing school, but found that the flatness and lack of ocean was a "con" for me.

Although cycling is a land-based activity (unless you count those odd water bikes-- personally I prefer the classic: a rowboat), I'm finding that in Vancouver it's very much tied up with the water, thanks to the seawall as both route and destination. To be riding a few metres from the sea as it sloshes up against the stone wall below ... this is having my cake and eating it too.



Once, my sister said to me: "If I lived here, I would walk on the seawall every day!"

I try to be thankful all the time that I'm able to live where I do, not take it for granted, and make the best use of it while I'm here.



Then again, that sentiment applies to far more than just living by the ocean... doesn't it?