Saturday, April 22, 2006



Routine and boredom are not the same thing. For two years my Saturday routine has been a most exciting part of my week and also paradoxically it gives me a sense of peace and refuge from worry and stress. At 9:45 (when our granddaugthers do not sleep over at our house) I pick up, Rebecca (8½) and Lauren (3½) and drive to Granville Island. At that time it is easy to park. I deposit Rebecca at her ballet class at the Arts Umbrella and walk leisurely to the Granville Island Market. I buy a plain croissant (or sometimes she wants a Smarties cookie) for Lauren and we then sit down at the Granville Island Tea Company for exactly one hour. I try different black teas while Lauren eats the inside of her croissant. I then dunk the crust she does not like in my tea. The young ladies who work at the Tea Company, all talk to Lauren. They are amazed that she will sit for that length of time. The regulars all come and I know what kind of tea they are going to ask for. Lauren and I love this routine. She happily repeats the words of Spanish I expose her to. Every once in a while there are no ballet classes but Rebecca and Lauren and I still go to the island. It is on those occasions that I can manage to photograph them together. For the task I use a Nikon FM-2 loaded with Ektachrome 100G. The exposure is always around 1/30 with a 35mm lens wide open at F-2.