A handy way to avoid the 'bums sleeping on a parkbench in summer' syndrome

Take away the park benches!

On this glorious day, unusual for Whitehorse, I went wandering around the park nearest my place of work. I was pondering sitting down for a bit and reading a bit of my latest trash read, Dean Koontz 'Sole Survivor' and maybe eating the rest of my lunch. Basking in the sunshine, I wandered around and around Shipyards Park. There were no park benches in the sun near the river to enjoy myself, there was only a couple shady picnic benches under a pavilion, where some unruly looking miscreants were drinking. Ugh, no thanks.

I wanted to sit in the sun and soak up what little Vitamin D I could grab...and I looked and looked and no park benches to be seen, for miles of walking trail.

Instead, I went back to my car, rolled down the windows and did what I saw everyone else doing--sitting in their cars eating lunch with the windows rolled down in the park. Shameful.

There weren't any rummies drunk on the benches like I was used to seeing in Vancouver's parks but the sheer lack of any bench-like item was ridiculous. I want to sit in the sun, dammit!

The only park along the river that has benches/appropriate seating is Rotary Peace Park, on the way to the bridge into Riverdale. You have to drive to that one from where I am. Boo.

Rendezvous Wrap-up

The festivities at Shipyards park were pretty neat. Snow sculptures are really coming along, a really awesome Russian/Kremlin one stands out as particularly professional. The 'Cabane a Sucre' served up teeth-destroying strands of maple taffy on sticks, which my friends promptly bought, enjoyed for 2 minutes, and then tossed.

The dog costumes were a real hit, the winner was a cute little ragamuffin dressed up as a blushing bride, with her handler as the handsome groom. So cute! The dog pull (dogs pull their own weight) featured some incredibly huge dogs. Think dog mixed with bear. Also, a chihuahua pulled a styrofoam box.

We stayed to watch the wife carry, which was pretty hilarious. Husbands (or boyfriends) hefted their significant others in a pretty insignificant way...over their shoulders, piggybacking...no fireman's carry though. They trotted through bending poles, along top a balancing bar, weaved through tires on the ground in a figure-8 and jumped a hurdle. One couple fell at least twice. It was pretty exciting!

The burlesque show at Coasters, by touring burlesque dancers 'Soul Sisters Burlesque' out of Vancouver was a great way to end. Expensive ($20 for the night) but a good production with amazing costumes and dancers. Highlights include the 'Alien' dancer costumed to represent the future complete with alien-style headdress and claws, and a shout-out to the gold panners of the Yukon with all the burlesque dancers prancing around in Rosie-the-Riveter jumpsuits and pans of glitter. A loooong night though. Yikes.

All in all, a great way to wrap up Rendezvous. And I wish I could say it did herald the coming thaw, but it is -25 today.