Five Minute Friday - Park

On Fridays a group of people who love to throw caution to the wind and just write gather to share what five minutes buys them.

Just five minutes. Unscripted. Unedited. Real.
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. THIS WEEK Link back HERE and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Thems the rules!

OK, are you ready?
The topic for today is:

Park…

GO!

 

 
I wasn't 16 when I finally got my Driver's License. In fact, I was just over 18.
It's not like I didn't want it, I just had other friends and family who were driving me all the time anyway, I didn't see the urgency.
I took the written Learner's test at age 16, passed and just never got around to leaning and taking my driving test. I took the written test a few more times to keep my Learner's permit—at that time I think your Learner's ran out after 6 months.

Finally I was feeling ready to take the driving test.
I had been out driving and practicing with my dad several times.
He was a great driving teacher and gave me all the basics I needed not to crash and burn or endanger anyone else on the road.

I even had one or two driving moments with my mom, but they didn't turn out great considering I was driving her manual transmission little car in which I hadn't really practiced before. And there was a hill, and it had been raining! I believe we even had to stop and switch places mid-hill because I just couldn't get the hang of shifting.

One of the best things my parents did for me was give me one driving lesson with a professional driving school instructor.

I was doing well with him on the road, in traffic, until we pulled down a residential road and he asked me to parallel park between two cars.
"Park? Here? Now?" I asked, trepidation evident in my wavering voice.
"Yes, right here looks good. Go ahead"
"But I've never..," I was terrified I would do it wrong and scrape both the instructors car and the cars on the street. Wasn't there some practice area with orange cones I could demolish first?!

However, the wise instructor calmly walked me through what to do.
"Pull up right beside the front car, back up and turn to a 45 degree angle until your front passenger window is even with the other car's back bumper then slowly straighten out as you continue backing into the space" he instructed as I nervously turned the steering wheel. (Of course he added all the safety checking necessary.)

A few moments later, and ta-dah! I had done it! My first time parallel parking and I had nailed it!
I had just needed the right description and the right instructions, simple and straight forward.

I still use his method of parking and still feel like a pro every time I ease into a tight spot without frustration. And I did get my driver's license after one passed road test!



STOP

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Luminara 2008

Have you ever wanted an excuse to put on a costume or a mask or even just some sparkly make-up and walk through a park on a magical evening? Where children can become faeries or unicorns or ladybugs and adults can become their favourite medieval character or an imaginary creature from some other world....all the while you are transported to an etherial glowing woodland with ponds and trees and floating globes and glowing figures....the Luminara Lantern Festival held in Victoria once a year in July is such an evening!

This year I took up the opportunity and donned my green elvish-looking cape, gilded with golden stars and hood, made up my eyes with green, blue and pink sparkles and even splashed a few purple streaks in my hair to enjoy Luminara a little more.

The evening was full of colourful characters, fantastic entertainment, and wonderful creative lanterns both on the grounds of St. Anne's Academy and all over Beacon Hill Park.

Here are just a few interesting shots from the evening.

If you would like to see ALL my photos....

go to my Facebook Luminara Album

(even if you are not on Facebook)

July Fun - Moss Street, Beacon Hill, Camp Friends

This past week has been a full one! 

I met my Mom and some friends at the Moss Street Market and Paint In on Saturday, then again in Sunday afternoon at Beacon Hill Park to watch and listen to some Hawaiian dancers and musicians (and to run around having fun with my dog, Sophie!), then Mom and I drove up to Nanoose Bay Teen Camp for Monday afternoon to visit friends and check out what was happening so far.

Here are a few photos from the past few days.

Jamie and Liam playing before heading to the Moss Street Market

Painting by donation to help...Africa something or other....

At the Moss Street Paint In... 

watching some artists demonstrate their talent.

The next few photos are of a few artists and their work that caught my eye.....

There were many young artists showing a more cartoon, or comic book style of art....I liked this one a lot!

This artist displayed some of his art in his fancy old Mercedes.

Everyone knows I like fish!

Awesome 3D wall art...neat houses, the artists was making one on the street.

This fellow hand-painted cards with scenes from around Oak Bay. Lovely!

A potter at work making small wavy bowls, you cans see some finished ones below.

Crazy characters!!

I am a sucker for the bright and interesting!

This guy cornered the market on 'guy art' - hockey stars, baseball players and all sorts of cool man-type art. Even his business cards were hockey cards...you can see them in the front right.

Then a lovely afternoon in Beacon Hill Park.

Jamie and Liam quickly found out Sophie likes to run...and that she's easy to run with!

I love this one..."Sit!"

After a beautiful drive upisland to Nanoose, we ran into some old friends...here is pretty little Ava.

Ethan... hungrily waiting for supper.

And Isaac, being silly and trying to make funny faces for the camera.

I'm sure I'll have more July photos to come as more friends come into town. Thanks for reading and browsing through my blog!! I always appreciate comments!