Category: Canada

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By sea and air

What is a more appropriate mode of travel to a fluid mechanics conference than a float plane? I think you have to try hard to find one. It’s a combination of hydro- and aerodynamics, so what else to wish for?

In any case, taking this small plane from Victoria’s Inner Harbour to the lake Union in Seattle has been a highlight to my conference trip. One of the coolest things is that there are no assigned seats, so if you are among the first in line for boarding, you can sit in the cockpit next to the pilot (yes, that’s one of the passenger seats!) On some routes, e.g., between Victoria and Vancouver, they even give you a headset, so you can listen to the pilot’s communications with the flight control.

The drawback of the float planes is that they don’t have much in term of navigation aids (i.e. radars), so they are much more weather-dependant than the larger planes. In my case, it was not certain whether the flight would get cancelled because of the cloud cover until 20 minutes before takeoff.

Still, the flight itself and the views from the cockpit are worth the hassle, I think – it sort of feels like an adventure. Besides, it cuts the total travel time a lot, compared to a more conventional mode (if the flight does happen, that is).

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Things we enjoyed last summer

On the first day of school, my daughter was asked to bring a photo showing a summer activity that she enjoyed the most. We did many interesting things together, but she immediately said that she wanted a photo of her going paddle boarding.

Paddle boarding has certainly been our favourite thing this summer. We got into it last year, taking lessons and many guided tours. This year we were confident enough to go on our own little adventures – hopping between bays, going to the small islands, and even taking Bruno, our puppy, on the board with us a couple of times. Actually, on one of those occasions, he learned that he could swim after falling off the board.

Last year, it was my daughter, who was a passenger on a board, clinging to it precariously and frantically doggy-pedalling after occasionally tumbling off. This past summer, she was on her own board, pedalling by herself (well, sometimes just enjoying being towed behind my board) taking a keen interest in documenting our trips on camera and demanding “more adventures!” I am a bit overwhelmed that she is growing up so fast but still gladly poses for a back-to-school photo before going off to third grade.

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Old cars

During the last week of the past school year, after picking up our seven-year-old daughter from school, we went to a car dealership to trade in our old SUV for a new one. Our daughter was super-excited. As we were driving down the Douglas Street, one of the main roads in Victoria, she rolled down her window and shouted, “Dudes, we have a new car!” A few weeks later, she mentioned that she was missing our old one. This made me think that it is curios why we have such strong emotions towards such lifeless objects as our cars.

Of course, we spend a lot of time with cars every day and get used to them. There are also aspects of cars sometimes being luxury items and status symbols. But I could also see and feel genuine excitement at the old car show in Oak Bay that we went to in July. I think it is because of the human’s joint history and emotional connection with horses, which we project to our vehicles. In fact, this connection is particularly strong in the case of motorcycles. There is something about “riding”, rather than “driving” that makes the experience completely different. I think it has to do with the physical balance. On a bike, like on a horse, I need to be constantly aware of my body position, how far I turn my head to look into the turn, how tightly I grip the handlebars or the reins. Also, riding is both more technically challenging and inherently more dangerous than driving. And because challenge and risk help justify any activity, we are more likely to experience flow while riding a motorcycle. By the same logic, owning an old car and keeping it in a running order is a difficult pursuit, and this is what gives the meaning to the experience. We all understand it intuitively. Even if it is not our car, we are grateful to the owners for giving us a glimpse of this experience.

My only worry is that my daughter is now keen to ride my motorcycle. At least, it’s only as a passenger for now, but if my own experience is any indication, there is no going back from there.

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Storytelling challenge

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I am finding that telling a story in a form of a daily motovlog is quite challenging, when limite by a single point-of-view of a GoPro camera and the absence of any voice commentary. At the same time, there is something to be said in favour of about these self-imposed limitations. I might experiment with including a secondary view from another camera at some point, but the reality is that even now it is difficult to keep up with the footage I generate on my short rides in terms of editing.

Evidently, there is not much drama in my short bike commutes (which is probably a good thing), but that is beside the point. The exercise for me is to practice storytelling by highlighting small details that normally go unnoticed. And it is indeed fun to focus attention on the mundane things. For instance, while scrolling through the GoPro footage, I noticed how the framing rate creates optical illusions with the wheels of the moving cars – one of the things that a human eye normally doesn’t do.

Here is the second video in the series.

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Shooting on the go

I’ve often been concerned that doing travel photography is detracting from the actual experience of taking in new sites, smells, the vibe of new places. For example, lugging the camera gear around is quite a nuisance in itself.

On the other hand, I find that taking photos, and lately videos, while wondering around actually adds focus to the present moment experience. It actually helps me formulate my expression of the new place. In this sense, photo- and videography is similar to blogging and journaling. You don’t really know what your thought about any particular subject are until you speak them out loud or put them down on paper. And writing things down is less intrusive on others because it’s easier to ignore a blog post than to tune out someone’s talking. Stating your thoughts publicly, though, is important, because it forces you to crystallize your opinion and to take ownership of it. This is equivalent to publishing photos and videos, and this is why blogging is not equivalent to journaling, which is inherently private.

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Be indifferent to where you live

I am rediscovering Miyamoto Musash’s writings for myself. “Go Rin No Sho” (“The Book of Five Rings”) and “Dokkodo” (“The Way of Walking Alone”) are some incredible texts. It is amazing how universally applicable the specific teachings are, way beyond kendo. Actually, when I first came across these books many years ago, I did not even practice kendo, and it was the universal nature of Musashi’s advice that caught my attention. Now, coming back to these books (though “Dokkodo” is probably too short of text to be called a book) from a different point in life, I find them even more impressive.

But the Path that Musashi pained so clearly is tough to follow. Any one of the 21 precepts of “Dokkodo” is deceptively simple in its description, but challenging if you look at it closely. Take “Be indifferent to where you live,” for example. I kind of like Victoria. Just yesterday, on our daily commutes around town we saw eight deer. Not in a group, but eight separate deer sightings! Actually, deer are viewed a bit like pests here, but if I think about it, it’s a pity to take this proximity to wildlife for granted. Also, the fact that I can simply put on my running shoes during a lunch break and in a few minutes be in a forest (well, it’s a park actually) so old and dark that it’s cold even in the middle of a sunny day is fantastic. I really missed my usual running path when I was in Milan last year.

My kendo sensei says that there is a good argument in support of the hypothesis that Musashi is a synthetic or perhaps even a completely fictional character. I hope this is not the case. Regardless, the teachings that are attributed to Musashi are remarkably cool in their directness and generality, so he is an inspiration, whether he physically existed or not.

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Warm evenings

Last couple of evenings have been uncharacteristically warm for Victoria. Usually, even in the summer, the moist air from the ocean is just cool enough to make staying outside at dusk uncomfortable without a sweater or a warm jacket. This is one thing that we miss about Italy – enjoying the outdoors in the evenings.

The last few days were exceptional, though. The perfect weather also coincided with the peak of tulip blooming. So this weekend, we made the most of both – went to the Butchart Gardens and did some sketching/painting of the flowers while sitting on the lawn until the closing hours. As we were getting ready to leave, we found out that the gardens stayed open until late at night that day because of the arrival of a cruise ship. So we had a chance to stroll through nearly-empty gardens at sunset, which is a rare occasion in any season, but particularly this time of year, when so many people come there to see the tulips. The weather was so nice that we decided to flip the dinner and start it by eating ice cream at the outside cafe before heading home.

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Sidney by the sea

Sidney is one of the special places in that it always feels nice, even after a short visit. Somehow, it has a feeling of getting away, even though it is only a few minutes drive from home. Probably, it’s the combinations of it’s small size and the fact that every time we go there, we have no particular agenda.

It is picturesque, for sure, but even taking photos there feels relaxed and unfocussed (not in the sense of lacking optical sharpness, but without a purpose in mind). I guess, I have this idea on the back of my mind that while this town is very pretty, it is, essentially, or backyard, and so there will alway be another chance to photograph the same view. Still, these views are some of my favourites, and I don’t mind taking the same photos of them time after time.

“Pure energy”. A sculpture by Armando Barbon in Sidney, BC, Canada.

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Frozen

I’ve been walking across campus for several years now, but apparently there are still curious spots along the way that I haven’t noticed before. The reason is that as I walk from point A to point B, I almost alway take the same route. The force of habit acts as an autopilot of sort. A couple of weeks ago, I realized that my familiar route from the office to the gym is not the shortest one. There were some corners to be cut and diagonals to extend. Not that I was wasting a lot of time before, but the new route I found was was, perhaps, a minute or so faster, so as an engineer, I was compelled to increase the efficiency.

As a result, I discovered for myself a neat sculpture of a whale’s tail sticking out of the pond. I thought that it looked slightly comical, being obviously out-of-scale with the tiny body of water the implied animal is supposed to occupy. It reminded me of the monster-infested swamp on a planet in Dagobah star system, where Luke Skywalker crash-landed his x-wing fighter in Empire Strikes Back. Last week, we had a rear cold spell, and the sculpture looked even more fantastic, with the tail sticking out of the ice. A frozen motion indeed!

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Getting sick abroad

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Falling ill or getting injured abroad is certainly not fun. We have had several brushes with foreign medical services during our travels. The first time, it was in Czech Republic, when my wife got bitten in a leg by an insect while taking a long-exposure night photo on Charles Bridge in Prague. The bite got infected, and, following doctor’s orders, my wife had to spend the next few days in our hotel room with her leg elevated. “But we have vacation plans. How would I get around?” my wife asked the doctor (they were communicating using equal parts of English, Czech and Russian). “You’ve got a strong-looking husband,” she replied, “he should be carrying you in his arms.” I took it as a compliment. This happened on the second day of our trip, so fortunately, she had time to recover while I was attending a conference, and our subsequent vacation travels were not interrupted.

The other couple of incidents happened when our daughter became sick abroad, most recently a year ago in Milan. Just a few days ago, it was my father’s turn to get injured, while visiting us here in Victoria.

Dealing with all the stress and logistics, I thought that it was amazing how time heals the wounds, metaphorically speaking. The worry, the pain, the frustration eventually became blurred in our memories. My wife and I mostly remember the funny details of dealing with the language barrier, the universal kindness of doctors and nurses, the interactions among ourselves during the difficult times.

To be philosophical about it, health issues are a part of life, and they are bound to happen on the road as much as they will occur at home. And a far as travelling with family is concerned, I think that such trips are not so much about the destination itself or sightseeing, but more about spending time with family while travelling. Being on the road only adds a common element of novelty and excitement (and a bit of stress) to experience together. And the sickness or injury, as the time passes and the wounds heal (in the literal sense), eventually becomes just another experience – something that adds to the overall impression of the trip. Just buy insurance before leaving home.

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