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Hi everyone! My name is Simone and I鈥檓 stoked to announce that I鈥檒l be taking over the UNPLUGGED column here at 麻豆传媒映画.I was fortunate enough to grow up in 麻豆传媒映画and, like most kids in the pre-home computer era, I spent nearly all my free time outside. I didn鈥檛 have any friends in the neighbourhood so I explored on my own--spending hours documenting what I saw in tidepools and carving cedar branches into magic wands with a paring knife (sorry mom). Since then, things haven't changed much.We live in a reality where information and entertainment is constantly being pinged into our pockets. It's time to get outside, get away and get used to using our senses again. Stop. Put the phone down. Just hang out for a second. Don鈥檛 feel bad if you鈥檙e bored the first few times, you鈥檒l get there. So without further ado, let鈥檚 unplug. |
I live on the North Shore, which is home to hundreds of hidden parks and ravines. Some of these untapped oases don鈥檛 even show up on Google Maps, so the only way to find them is either through word of mouth or completely by accident. One such place is a little ravine at the end of Rosebery Avenue in West Vancouver. I have never seen anyone else in there so it makes for a great place to sit and read or just think.聽In high school I used to come down here to throw rocks into the creek and rage against the brutal injustice of being 14.
Cedars and ferns on the ravine slope.
If you look on a map of the area, you鈥檒l see a green rectangle labeled聽 鈥淏rissenden Park鈥�. Don鈥檛 go there. You will bleed if you try and enter Brissenden Park; it has apparently been set aside as a thorn bush sanctuary. Keep on down Rosebery and you鈥檒l hit a 鈥渄ead end鈥� sign. Disobey the sign and walk past it into the trees.
Aside from the small creek--which actually originates from a tiny lake on the slopes of Cypress Mountain--the ravine is home to some classic Westcoast species like sword ferns, salmonberry bushes, and western red cedars.
Gaze into the water. Become the water. Just鈥ut your face into the water, man. Just do it.
There is a very slippery plank laid over a small stream on your way down to the actual creek, so watch your step. When you get down to the bottom it evens out and there are lots of big, smooth rocks to sit on. There's even a rope swing nearby--though it might be partially in someone's backyard and it's kind of crappy anyway. All in all, a great little wooded gem in the heart of suburbia.
Lulu approves.
P.S. If you鈥檙e using transit, getting to the ravine is dead easy. Just get off the 251 Queens bus at 26th and turn right up the hill until you hit Rosebery, then hang a left.
