Victoria's award winning urinal

Read in the paper about the public urinal on the corner of Government and Pandora that has won an international award for its custom design and innovation. It is the city's answer to nightime bar closings downtown.  It cost $75,000.  For that money, according to the news item, the city has a piece of "public art" with "green" features such as low-flow flushing technology and LED lighting that comes on after dark.

I've been down to the corner of Pandora and Government quite a few times and never noticed the urinal. It really has a subtle design.  There is no door but the green poles that surround the urinal do make it possible to tell if someone is inside.  When I went down to take pictures for the blog there was a maintenance man inside the urinal doing some work.  (At least that is what I assumed he was doing!!)  He can be seen but not seen.  The city is wondering whether it is possible to put a gate on it and make some modifications to allow use by women.   I don't think so!!!

Y walk - November 9 - A Pooh Bear day

Winnie the Pooh, White River, Ontario

Woke up yesterday to a sky full of grey clouds and a very windy and blustery day.  It is what I call a Pooh Bear day.  I almost went back to bed but thought, "Hey, there is snow in Ontario, I can do this!!"  I am glad I did.  There were 20 of us there all bundled up.  The walk was more urban than park but it took us along two ridges where we had stunning views of the water. I love the ocean.  It doesn't matter whether it is shimmering blue or reflecting stormy skies.  Yesterday, because of the high wind, the waves were tossing and tumbling over themselves and cresting with white caps.  Very exhilerating.  We saw three deer in the front gardens: first a stag, then a doe and yearling.  While I do enjoy the ladies and the conversation, I miss walking alone when I can stop and really soak in the ambiance of my surroundings.

Before going on these walks I go online to find out if there are any caches in the area. There is no 'if'.  As I mentioned before, there are caches all over this island!!  I did find one listed for McMinn Park where we started the walk.  This one was an easy find.  The GPS took me to the area and told me to look in a nurse stump.

When doing these walks, I turn on the GPS to record the 'track' and then transfer the track onto the computer using Mapsource.  I'd never be able to find them myself!!