urban scenery

Some trees and a thought (not about trees)

First, this photo I took midway down the path to Lower Hume Park, showing trees and the park further below beyond them. I like the spot of sun on the centre tree.

My camera is a Samsung Galaxy S26, which I keep meaning to write a mini-review on.

And looking at the photo, which nicely obscures that it was taken in the middle of an urban sprawl…

The green to the left is Burnaby Lake Regional Park, where I jog. On the trails, not in the lake.

…I was reminded of an infection I got back in 2018. That might seem odd, and it is. Let me explain (or read this post, because I tend to chronicle all of my health issues and injuries for some reason). It was a kidney infection, which turned out to be a much gentler version of another I would develop six years later. This first one still resulted in me not being able to walk very fast as without a lot of discomfort while I recovered. Being forced to slow down made me pay more attention to my surroundings and I started snapping photos of local scenery and especially flowers. I dubbed this “flower therapy” because I found it very soothing to find some flowers, frame them, then snap a few shots.

And I still find it soothing. Lining up the shot of the trees above put me in an almost meditative mood. I’m sure there’s some science about chemicals being released into my brain. Maybe just plain old dopamine. Whatever it is, I like it, and it’s a simple pleasure I still indulge in eight years later, even without any infections (that I know of).

Lafarge Lake, March 5, 2026

I meant to post these shots earlier, but then disabled my PC by accident. But here they are now, once again using FooGallery’s kitschy Polaroid theme, because it just feels right for these.

All shot on my iPhone 12, which may not work well as a phone anymore, but still takes perfectly cromulent photos.

For those unaware, Lafarge Lake was once a gravel pit.

Some shots from around town, February 10, 2026

I was going to post these shots yesterday, but because I had a terrible sleep the night before, then somehow decided it was a good idea to walk 29,000+ steps the next day, I fell asleep instead.

Here they are, using FooGallery’s adorably kitschy Polaroid theme.

More black and white nature

I don’t have any photo editing apps on the new PC yet, so I decided to use the built-in Photos app to take some recent shots and make them all arty and black and white. The results are not bad.

Brunette River, from my usual observation spot.
Rail line adjacent to the river on its north side.
The river, looking to the west (the other shots are toward the east).

All shot on my iPhone 12, which has half-forgotten it’s a phone in its old age.

Cold rail

Shot early this afternoon, the weather app reported 4C but “felt like zero.” At least there’s no snow. Yet.

View of rail and the SkyTrain Expo Line from North Road, Coquitlam.

Lafarge Lake, black and white, November 22, 2025

I was in the area of Lafarge Lake on Saturday and despite the weather being rather soggy, took the time to stroll the 1.2 km path around the lake. I saw a surprising number of waterfowl, including:

  • American Coots
  • Buffleheads (a pair of males)
  • Canada Geese
  • Hooded Mergansers
  • Mallards

If the weather had been better and I’d had my camera, I could have gotten some decent shots. As it was, I took some scenery pics. Here’s one I converted to black and white to be all artsy.

Lafarge Lake used to be a quarry, which makes its adoption by so many species even nicer to see.