My kid friend loves to "drop in" with moves like this caveman, which he landed, on Sunday afternoon on Commercial Drive in Vancouver

The kid in this picture has a big cast on his arm, but this doesn’t stop him from doing risky things. We met at Leeside Park, near Hastings and Cassiar, in an underpass and had seen him around at other parks.

I drove Toby down to Leeside to meet up with his friends and they were definitely the youngest there. I was what I called their “adult chaperone” and when I arrived there were two police cars parked outside.

I went up to one cop and asked: “How’s it going here?” and he told me the property next door had called them to check out the event. Organizers brought in fencing on a rented flatbed and a generator for powering the sound system that played death metal. But aside from a little drinking in public, it was safe, and the cop asked me to call if anything got out of hand.

His request made me feel like such a responsible mom! haha

The event was hosted by Deer Man of Dark Woods of the Barrier Kult, a.k.a the BA.KU. movement. I learned about it from our friend Max, 12, who was thrilled to win a limited edition Deer Man of Dark Woods board by SKULL SKATES at the skate comp.

“Vancouver is a place of ritual and awe,” Deer Man told the VancouverIsAwesome blog on Halloween.

The boys were definitely in awe and I’m thankful to the organizers (including PD of SKULL SKATES, who I said hi to and thanked). They put a lot of work into the event and were really supportive towards the younger kids like my son and his friends.

Deer Man told my son he could get a t-shirt “if he tried anything” on the barrier. So he gave it a go, amongst all the bigger guys, and won his t-shirt, which he was so pleased with. He also got another one for his friend, along with a big handfull of stickers (now on my car).

I made this video below using the camera on my MacBook, so it’s pretty rough, but I put it on YouTube to show the mood of the event. I wish it captured the swoosh of skateboard wheels and the growling voice of the death metal singer on the recorded music powered by a generator.

So please take a moment and vote now to help the little children of my neighbourhood.

A group of dedicated parents are garnering community support at supportourplayground.org. As I write, they need about 600 more votes in the next eight days. Below is more info about it, from the website created by the Laura Secord Parent Advisory Committee.

Background on the school

Laura Secord students are working in portables in the school field while their buildings are seismically upgraded, in case of earthquakes

Laura Secord Elementary is a large inner city school running at full capacity with 640 students from Kindergarten up to Grade 7. We currently have a very small play structure that is full when a single class of 25 students is outside; when all 27 classes are outside our playground is grossly inadequate. The school is home to a number of community outreach programs, including Strong Start, Neighbourhoods of Learning and afterschool care.

Vancouver has very few wheelchair-accessible play areas and Laura Secord would like to be the first school in our area to offer an inclusive play area for kids with disabilities, including physical handicaps and autism. Our goal is to create an inclusive play environment made from safe and sustainable materials that will greatly contribute to the quality of life in our community; a play environment that will attract families outside of school hours and be safeguarded by our neighbours.

Our French Immersion catchment area includes approximately 9,000 kids who would be served by the new playground, including an estimated 350 children with disabilities.

My son learns to "drop in" at a big angle at the Dry Spot in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. July 22, 2010

By the time I arrived and took the picture, he had done it about 10 times, “without bailing once,” he reports.

He said he felt “scared as all hell” when he decided to try it. I asked what he was thinking and he said his initial thought was: “Oh my god, I’m going to break my neck as soon as I try.”

So, how did he find the guts to try it? (Because, I can honestly say, there is not a hope in hell I would ever try that!)

“By saying ‘I know I can do it’ and just doing it,” he said. “Ben helped me by standing in front of me and holding my hands and then telling me to push down with my front foot really really hard.”

He was talking about Ben Chibber, owner of the Dry Spot and Monke Skateboards. Ben gives private and semi-private lessons along with skatepark day camps in August (some spots still available).

Ben is a natural mentor – calm, patient, and encouraging – and Toby has a great connection with him. Toby said another reason he “just did it” is because Ben was coaching him.

“I just decided to do it because I didn’t want to be annoying,” he said, describing the adrenalin rush it gave him, which he says he loved. “I felt it go from the tips of my hair to the bottoms of my feet in a split second!”

Here in this photo is Dave Dawson playing music with our neighbour friends at our housing co-op in East Vancouver. We share a lot of meals outside during the season of good weather. Too many times I’ve been inside at my computer, listening to the laughter of my neighbours outside, in the distance.

But in the past few days I’ve been outside with all the people – not in here at my computer. When I have been inside, I’ve been working at my paid job on a cool new blog I’m about to launch.

Multi-family dinners

The kids all play together, with older ones looking out for the smaller ones. A dad comes around the corner just in time to help break up a playfight-turned angry between the 10-year-old boys who are getting tired after a long day. They are getting so big and strong, and as the mom, it’s exhausting to keep breaking up these play fights – half-playing, half-angry.

The young adult men are laughing at them in a reminiscing way. A little later I see one of the young men teaching them fighting moves.

Eventually the boys collapse in a hammock. Everyone has overeaten. Lots to tidy up. Not much time for blogging.

The feet of my kid-friend Max at the skate park

I’m a skater mom – and I don’t mean a mom who rides a skateboard (though I have tried it). I keep a lawn chair in the trunk of my car, ready for sitting action beside the bowls and ramps.

We show up at the skate park when we feel like it – no need to rush for practice or game time. I use the time to work, read, or draw, while I sip a coffee and chill.

Once you get the basics – the deck and hardware (in the $100 – 200 range), a helmet (around $40), and a set of pads (around $50) – there are no fees or admission charges. Just show up at the park.

If your kid is interested in this great form of exercise, I recommend Skull Skates or Monke Skateboards, both local outfits owned by good guys who will set you up right.

At the park, I offer my bits of encouragement from the sidelines, but it’s not really a “Watch me mom!” situation any more. My son has been skating for a few years now, so it’s more about doing than being watched. Sometimes, on request, I take pictures or make videos – but these days my son doesn’t want to be a “poser” standing in front of mommy’s camera.

So I just enjoy the great, low-pressure atmosphere – relaxing and doing my thing while my high energy boy wears himself out.

Dave Dawson flexes his mental muscle doing this jig-saw puzzle at our kitchen table at home in Vancouver.

Doing a jigsaw puzzle is a type of mental activity some call “neurobics.” Scientists who study aging – called gerontologists (in case you didn’t already know that) – say our brains are strengthened when we do things like puzzles, crosswords, and learning musical instruments that are new to us.

Puzzle therapy?

According to Trish Donroe Barker, who wrote an article called The Healing Power Of Jigsaw Puzzles, doing jigsaw puzzles can lead to “amazing things.”

I found Barker’s article via Google today, then checked out her company website: Connections Jigsaw Puzzles for Healing.

“Jigsaw puzzles quiet the mind and induce a state of creative meditation. They tap into our creativity and rewire our brains to make ‘connections,’” reads the Connections website. “Several large scale studies (the most notable being the MacArthur Study) found that people who participate in leisure time activities such as jigsaw puzzles have a better quality of life, longer life expectancy and decreased incidence of such brain illnesses as dementia, memory loss and most notably, Alzheimer’s Disease.”

The MacArthur Study on Healthy Aging

Barker’s website inspired me to search for more info on the MacArthur Study. One (of a few) interesting findings was this article published by the Memory Disorders Project at Rutgers-Newark University: “Use It Or Lose It: The Key To Healthy Brain Aging.”

The article describes the MacArthur Study on Healthy Aging, conducted between 1988 and 1996 in the north-eastern United States. Scientists tracked nearly 1,200 people between 70 and 79, looking at their cognitive functions, physical performance, balance, activities, social networks, etc.

The researchers noted commonalties among the folks whose mental functioning remained the highest. Those who exercised, maintained social connections, and kept mentally alert (with the jig-saw puzzles, etc.) tended to stay at a higher level of mental function and alertness than their peers who were more sedentary, less social, and less inclined towards “neurobics.”

I’d call this good news for people who might, perhaps, feel a need to justify their enjoyment of jig-saw puzzles. Not that they need to…

Tiny parachutes ready for take-off

A layer of white fluff covers the ground outside my house in East Vancouver

Wind dispersal of seeds

Known in some circles as “Prince in Pauper’s Clothing” or “Piss in Bed,” the dandelion releases its seeds into the air. Perhaps it has a sexy aspect, if you think about it, but I’ll say no more on this PG-13 blog of mine.

I love this botanist-writer’s description of their flight: “Like an endless army of parachutists released from an airplane, seeds and fruits travel the wind currents and gentle breezes of the earth…” (from “Blowing in the Wind: Seed & Fruit Dispersal By Wind.” Wayne’s Word Noteworthy Plants: February 1999.)

Of course, lawn-owners don’t like them, and some people use weed killers. But in response to health concerns, many jurisdictions – Leeds, England, for example – banned some pesticides and are now seeing a proliferation in the dandelion population. Journalist Neil Hudson talked with botanists in Leeds for his story Leeds dandelions plague.

In this Yorkshire Evening Post article, Hudson quotes Amanda Walker, a countryside ranger near Leeds: “The dandelion is a beneficial weed but has a bad reputation. It has been described as a plant which we once knew the use of but have since forgotten.”

The folks at Australia’s “Herbs are Special” website certainly haven’t forgotten the dandelion, which they refer to as a “…valuable herb… revered… throughout history, regarded as one of the very best herbs known for gall, spleen and liver complaints, and one of the safest and most active plant diuretics…”

The website says the dandelion is “rich in calcium, chromium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, selenium, silicon, zinc” and also contains Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, E.

Dandelion flower in full bloom

Perfect timing! My friend Dean just got back to me via Facebook with details on why he eats dandelions.

“they are free! and every where! and their nutritional profile beats anything found in stores. u can eat/ harvest the whole plant,” he says in a Facebook message to me. “the yellow flower has lotsa lecithin which is good for the liver and the brain! the roots make up a great roasted beverage the greens are super for the liver great for anemics n great for bone health (mineralization).”

For more info, Dean recommends this article The Health Benefits of Dandelions

So… should we just start harvesting them and forget about the lawns?

Geoffrey Vincent, program coordinator of The Bicycle Valet, at Trout Lake Farmers Market in Vancouver, Canada on May 22, 2010

Geoffrey is program coordinator for The Bicycle Valet, run by Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST). This three-year-old program encourages sustainable transportation and all things green by making it easier for families, sports fans, and concert-goers to ride bicycles to events.

The bike parking lot at Trout Lake Farmers Market

Many people in Vancouver used The Bicycle Valet during the Olympics, including Vancouver blogger LeftCoastMama who wrote a great post about her family’s experience parking their bikes.

Taming traffic tension on residential streets

Many people from other neighbourhoods drive to the market, which isn’t the best idea for them or for us neighbours. The parking crunch is even tighter than it’s been in previous years – or at least that’s how it seems to me.

Up til this year, the market was in the west parking lot, closest to Trout Lake Community Centre. But it had to be relocated to the north parking lot this year because the community centre building is being replaced, as I mentioned in this post: What’s up with the Trout Lake Community Centre?

Now people can park their vehicles in the lot by the community centre, just off Victoria Drive, where the market usually is. That’s where Volunteer Michelle is directing market-going motorists – steering them away from the streets beside the new market location.

Volunteer Michelle directs drivers away from Lakewood Drive and 13th Avenue

It was pretty funny to watch drivers ignoring the parking signs and getting called on it right away. On my way home from the market, on foot, I chatted with a different parking lot volunteer (not Michelle, in the photo) who had to keep telling people to move their cars. Once every three minutes, a different driver pulled up, hesitated, and then parked right beside the No Parking sign. The polite parking volunteer approached each car and asked the driver to move – and most of them said: “But I just want to run in for a second!”

Driver ignores the Road Closed sign on Lakewood Drive by the Trout Lake Farmers Market

Cars towed from Lakewood Bridge

Drivers take note: save yourself a big hassle and towing bill!

Do not park on Lakewood Bridge (north of 12th Avenue) when you go to Trout Lake market on Saturdays.

Vehicles were towed from the Lakewood Bridge, which will be an annoying surprise for people returning after the market. The City of Vancouver contracts Busters Towing and the towing fee for cars and light trucks is $70.18 + GST – not to mention whatever violation fees are charged. Doh!