September in Victoria

On one of Victoria's patented summers it's hard not to think you have arrived in paradise. We didn't have much of a summer this year so today was much appreciated- better late than never- and if the weatherman is right it's going to stay this way for a while. Sometimes this kind of weather persists until the end of October.
And I think I must be blessed to live just over the bridge from downtown Victoria. The walk along the Songhees walkway is always full of interest with boats and planes coming and going, joggers and dogwalkers out for a stroll, the sky and the sea always changing, always the same. Theme and endless variation. This morning I stopped for a moment to size up a picture of one of the harbour markers with the tide down. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a little movement on the sidewalk. I had already spotted a mouse (shrew, vole?) scurry into the underbrush. This bit of fluff was a fledgling and at first I thought it was a sparrow or finch or one of the other varieties of small gray birds I am unable to identify, but this one had a bedraggled little crest on top of his head. I think he was a quail. We see a few families of them strutting along the railroad tracks, and somehow they have survived all the construction in our neighborhood. I always enjoy seeing these dapper characters. This little guy looked like he had gotten separated from his elders and wouldn't have survived much longer if I hadn't been there. Three or four drooling sea gulls had also spotted him. A bite sized morsel for a seagull. So I herded him into the shrubbery. See? I may be a paleocon but I've still got a heart. And I like quail a lot better than seagulls.
I often hear locals brag, "I haven't been downtown in years." I never say anything, but I'm incredulous. Are they idiots? Victoria has one of the loveliest downtowns in North America. You wanna see ugly, go to Tacoma. I remember in Vancouver I had a young couple in my cab. We were driving down Arbutus from Kerrisdale, it was a beautiful day, and the North Shore mountains were awesome. The girl was saying how beautiful it was, and then the guy chipped in. "Yeah, but what use is it?" He was from Ontario, of course.
Now that it's September the majority of tourists have gone home, leaving the artisans with slim pickings. But a few die hards are still on the Causeway and in Bastion Square taking care of their customers. Good on ye, guys and gals!