Herons nesting in Stanley Park

Taste: two crisp strips of bacon — salty, but not too — which accompany the Hearty Cheddar Omelette breakfast at The Secret Garden in Kerrisdale

Smell: the brisk wind off English Bay bringing with it the whiff of fried onions as the first hot dog vendors of the season set up their carts

Sight: a young woman typing on her iBook amidst windfallen firs in Stanley Park, as we cycle along the partially-cleared path between the Rose Garden and Beaver Lake. She catches up as we pause at a junction, and I learn that she’s a poet visiting from Toronto for a reading on Monday at UBC; poetry rising from a shattered forest like a phoenix from ashes. A bit of Googling from home elicits further details for those with Monday evening free:

PRISM is hosting a reading by award-winning authors Trevor Herriot and a. rawlings.
What happens when lepidoptery meets sleep studies? What significance do disappearing grassland birds have for the prairies and the people who live there? Join us for an evening of readings that explore our relationships with the natural world.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Free admission (no minors, sorry)
7 pm
Thea’s Lounge, UBC
6371 Crescent Road

Touch: the cold metal railing which surrrounds the road-height viewpoint on the south tower of Lions Gate Bridge, as we pause a moment to ogle our city lit by unaccustomed sunshine.

Sound: a mating pair of eagles soaring high above Dollarton Highway — above the trees, above the blackberry brambles beaten down by winter, above the salt water hammered to a matte finish by sun and wind — flirting fiercely with each other as we mere mortals pedal along far below them on the last stretch home